» we'll leave this town in ruins [Claire]

[elliotdavis]

After arriving at the hotel, Elliot and Claire had parted ways, and he had gone to his room where he had spent a couple minutes getting adjusted and cleaned up after the long bus ride over. He was planning to meet Claire downstairs in the hotel lobby soon and he was currently walking around his room in a pair of black skinny jeans that hung somewhere down around his butt and a slightly tight t-shirt looking for his belt in the deep red duffel bag laying, a mess already, on his bed. He stumbled around, flattening his hair with his hands after his shower, picking up his glasses which were on the bathroom counter and placed them on his face, cursing the genes that left him nearly blind. He turned around and immediately spotted the black leather belt with the sliver belt buckle hiding under a pile of shirts on the corner of his bed.

It was almost amazing at the mess he had already made, it was like he was a fucking girl or something but he couldn’t help but want to look good. He had no idea what they were going to do, it was only their first night but he had just spent six hours on a bus and had energy to spare. Throwing a black, wide-rimmed hat on his head and a pair of Vans on his feet, Elliot grabbed his cell phone, wallet and a cigarette and walked out of his room, finally ready to go meet Claire downstairs.

He ran his hand along the wall on his way to the elevator, full of energy and wonder at what the place had to offer. Pressing the down arrow on the elevator, he stood and waited for it to come up, and then walked calmly in. Elevators were never his thing, Elliot hated the way it always felt like stomach was going to come out his ass. Sighing, he waited patiently as it stopped on other floors and various other random people entered. He nodded at a couple who he knew, otherwise he stood there, picking at his nails, waiting for the elevator doors to open and the lobby come into view.

Finally it did, and he shimmed his way out past the others and walked towards the center, suddenly self-conscience as he didn’t see Claire anywhere. Whatever, she would be coming and he checked his watch by habit. The night was still young and he was ready to have the fun his life was missing for the last couple weeks with a girl he was falling for.

[freddy]

Claire gnawed down on her lip as the last of her bangs became straight. She and Elliot had agreed to meet up in the lobby an hour or so after they'd arrived, and since then, she'd been running around like a chicken with her head cut off. She hadn't realized how much sleeping on that god forsaken bus had screwed up her hair. Normally, she wasn't as paranoid about crap like that, but around Elliot, that mattered to her for some reason.

Her room wasn't that much of a mess yet. A couple pairs of jeans were tossed on the bed with her suitcase, having been discarded in a hurry. After a while, she'd become more content with her outfit . It looked like something she would wear, but also looked fairly good on her. Her hair, newly straightened, was back in a pony tail, with a small amount of bangs hanging over her eyes. Jesus Christ, Claire. Get a grip. She dictated to herself as she flipped off the straightening iron, unplugging it.

Grabbing her room key and shoving it in her back pocket, Claire took a quick look around the room to see if she'd forgotten anything. Coming to the conclusion that she hadn't, she pulled on a pair of tennis shoes and went out into the hall, resisting the urge to run the the elevator. Pushing the down button, she took another deep breath. As the door opened, she stepped inside, pushing the lobby button. Closing her eyes, she listened to the music that was playing in the small room, thankful that no one else was coming down at the moment.

When the door finally got to the lobby, Claire stepped out, looking around at the absolutely amazing area. it had shocked her that one hotel could look so nice. Then again, she'd been used to being in smaller hotels for only a few days. Finally, she spotted Elliot and strode over to him, rearranging her scarf a little. "Hey." She greeted with a smile. "Did you miss me?" She laughed, putting her hands in her pockets.[/color]

[elliotdavis]

Elliot was busy admiring the walls and worry about how he looked when he heard a familiar voice speak from behind him. He smiled as Claire came into view. ”Hey,” he replied to her and thought about how to reply to her next comment. The truth was that yah, even in that hour space they were apart he had missed her. After hanging out with her at the Pier that one day, Elliot had decided that he most definitely liked her and instead of wasting away like he had with Nikki. This trip was either going to make or break them in the sense of the direction of their relationship… or at least that’s what he had decided. He wasn’t completely sure how Claire felt about him, but it was his mission to find out.

”Of course,” he smiled shyly at her. ”I always miss you,” he added, a note of teasing in his voice although he was completely serious. He adjusted his hat and pushed up his glasses on his nose. He didn’t even know where to start for what they were going to do. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and took another glance around.

”So,” he started. ”What do we feel like doing, eh? ‘Cause I don’t even know where to start.”

[freddy]

”I always miss you,”

She laughed, striking a pose that consisted of putting her hand on her right hip and pretending to flip back her hair. "I know. I know. It's just because I'm so popular." She batted her eyelashes a couple times before laughing too hard to keep the pose. "Yeah...Right." Shaking her head a little, Claire put her hands back in her pockets and shrugged. It was a really random thing to do, but she'd just spent six hours on a bus. Energy was practically bouncing off of her. That, and she was still a little tired. There were two things that Claire was liable to to when she was tired; get pissed, or get hyper.

She thought for a moment, recalling all the million things that she'd been told about Vegas. What should they do first? There were too many things she'd never done, and too many sights she'd never seen. "Well, let's see. That depends on what mood we're in. Personally, I'm a little hyper, if you couldn't tell. I kind of wanted to go to a club or something. But if you don't want to, that's okay. We can compromise." She almost laughed at the thought of Elliot dancing, but there were a few things that she didn't know about him yet. Maybe he was a big dancer.

"What are you in the mood for?" She asked with a small smile, rocking back and forth on her heels as they stood in the lobby. Not surprisingly, a lot of people from Valkyrie were already leaving the hotel. After spending six hours on a bus to get here, other people apparently had the same idea they did; party as much as possible.[/color]

[elliotdavis]

He chuckled as she struck a pose and shook his head. ”Oh yah, Miss Popularity, soon you’ll be too good to hang around me anymore,” he replied, laughing back at her and her sarcasm. His eyes felt slightly heavy and it was almost like a wave of drowsiness had come over him, he shook his head in an effort to get rid of it but really he needed something to keep him awake. In his mind that meant alcohol and loud music.

”Haha, hyper are we? Well, I’m down for a club,” really she could have suggested they go watch click flicks and paint each others nails and he would almost say yes just to spend time with her. He wasn’t much of a dance, but get a couple drinks in him and he lost all ability to care about what he looked like and let loose, not only embarrassing himself but anyone else in a five mile radius. ”As long as you’ll be able to handle my mad dance skills however,” he added rolling his eyes, a smirk on his face. Oh, jeeze, this would be interesting.

”So, m’lady,” he held out his arm for her. He had no idea of the clubs located near or in the hotel and figured they’d wonder ‘til they found one that looked to fit their needs.

[freddy]

”Oh yah, Miss Popularity, soon you’ll be too good to hang around me anymore,”

"I'll be the next Haley Summers." Claire said with a laugh, then turned a little more serious. "Who I'm sharing a room with apparently." Rolling her eyes with a small frown, she shook her head. When she'd found out, Claire had been a little pissed. Before she'd managed to get out of the hotel room, Haley had shown up. Sarcasm had gone down, plus other shit she'd rather not think about. She was here to have a good time, not think about old friends who had ditched both her and Elliot for other, more popular people.

"Mad dance skills?" Claire held back her laugh as he said it. Maybe he was secretly a dancer. "Okay then. I'm excited to see this." It might take her a couple drinks to losen up, but Claire was an alright dancer when she felt like it. Besides, after spending all day on a bus, what better way was there to loosen up your muscles than to go dancing? "But you'll have to keep up, because I'm killer on the dance floor."

She hooked her arm around his and walked out of the lobby with him. She had no idea of clubs around either, but figured that they'd just walk around until they found one. After all, this was Vegas, there was bound to be one maybe a block and a half away or so.[/color]

[elliotdavis]

“Pfft,” he scoffed at her as she brought up Haley and couldn’t help but feel sorry for Claire as she brought up that they were sharing a room together. “Oh, well that’s awkward,” he had been friends with Haley just like Claire before her big makeover, he didn’t let it bother him anymore that they were no longer friends. Whatever, what’s in the past is in the past and he shrugged, displaying his feelings. He liked to think that he was above petty fights and getting angry about stuff like that, but he understood Claire’s bitterness, he wasn’t the one rooming with his former best friend who had ditched after becoming hot.

“And don’t even mock my dance skills Claire Bartnett, you have no idea the treat you’re in for,” he nodded, sounding completely confident, even though he was lying through his teeth. “Seriously.” He smiled widely and made a noise that sounded a lot like “pfft” as she bragged about him having to keep up with her on the dance floor.

He let her hook her arm with his and walked out of the lobby and outside, feeling the warm breeze come over his bare arms. He couldn’t help but stand there and attempt to take everything in before leaving. The city just looked so… bright. He had expected it sure, but still the way the neon signs all over the place lit up the dark sky was enough for him to want to stand there and stare at it for hours. He didn’t however and turned his head to Claire. “So, this should be an adventure, eh?” he was referring to them finding a place and then actually finding their way back home later that night.

“So, I hear the House of Blues is really good, if we wanna hear something live, otherwise I have no idea about anything,” he shook his head. Tonight was going to be all on a whim, just like coming on this trip had been. So far, he had nothing to regret, and hopefully it would stay that way.

[freddy]

“Gee, ya think?” She asked with a small tone of sarcasm. “Actually, so far it’s not bad. I’ll admit, I kinda chewed her out for a few minutes, but guilt got to me.” Claire laughed a little. “I apologized for what I said, and we kinda talked for a bit.” In truth, what she’d said was kind of rude and just a little uncalled for, but Claire was one to hold a grudge when her pride was hurt, as it had been when Haley ditched them for the more popular crowd.

Claire smirked as Elliot made a “pfft” sound when she talked about her own dance moves. “I won’t make fun of your 'dance moves', Elliot Davis, if you don’t make fun of mine.” She smiled, making air quotes as she said the words 'dance moves'. She looked around again at the vastness of the lobby. It could almost compare to the city itself. Huge, sparkly, and beautiful.

She closed her eyes for a moment as they stepped into the night air. It was a perfect night; cloudless and warm, with just a slight breeze. “Yeah, an adventure.” She answered with a laugh. “I’m just glad I brought my camera, because this could be interesting.” In the small purse she’d decided to carry, she’d put her phone, a little money, and her camera. What else did she need? Claire looked back at Elliot as he turned his head, smiling at him.

“As for the House of Blues, I hear that’s a great place to go.” Her dad had come to Vegas a few years ago for business, and had gone to a show there. He’d come back with a shirt for her, that she had upstairs in her hotel room, in fact. It was a little old, and she was glad he’d gotten it a couple sizes too big, because it was one of her favorite shirts. “Lets go there.”

[elliotdavis]

“Oh, well who would’ve thought that Vegas would actually help your relationship with Haley. I still feel sorry for you having to share a room with her thought. Brutal,” he shook his head, thinking about how he hadn’t talked to the other girl in such a long time. The whole ditching her old friends was a really low move in his book and if he was Claire, he would’ve apologized, but then again he probably would just ignore her and let the feud go on forever. So he was proud of the girl for actually saying something and bettering life for herself. Being stuck in the same room as your enemy had to suck balls.

He laughed as she told him not to make fun of her dance moves and she wouldn’t make fun of his and nodded, his face suddenly turning as serious as he could handle. ”You have yourself a deal,” he stuck out his hand for her to shake and make it official. However, the deal wouldn’t last long. Elliot was like your fat uncle after too much wine at a wedding, uncoordinated and painfully embarrassing. He didn’t trust Claire for a second not to make fun of him and yet it hardly bothered him. I mean here she was in mother fucking Vegas, and she wanted to go clubbing with him, Elliot Davis, king of the dorks. That had to mean something, something that his lack of dance skills wasn’t going to change. The more he thought about it, the more his ego inflated with thoughts that she might actually like him.

”Alright, sweet deal,” he replied as she said the House of Blues would be fine. He had never been there before, just like he had never been to Vegas but heard good things. Plus, live music, no matter what kind, just seemed to appeal to him. ”But I have another rule,” he said, looking at her as they walked along. ”I’ll let you use that camera, but you have to PROMISE, no blackmail,” he shook his head, pushing his glasses up on his nose. ”And I mean it Claire, you are never, ever, allowed to hold anything that may happen tonight against me,” of course he was only referring to his horrible dancing abilities.

[freddy]

Claire reached over, shaking his hand, attempting to look serious as well. It didn’t last long; slowly, her lack of smile wavered, until she started laughing a little. “Alright then. But you can’t go back on it, no matter what.” She was still smiling, but her tone was more serious. Still not completely; it had a streak of laughter in it still. To be honest, she wasn’t that great of a dancer. She was okay, when she got a couple of drinks in her and wasn’t so worried about it, but she sure as hell couldn’t compare to half the people that would be in the House of Blues that night. Not that it mattered; she was going to be with Elliot. As long as he didn’t laugh at her for her lack of dancing ability, she’d be fine.

In order to shake his hand to seal their deal, she’d had to un hook her arm from his, so now as they ambled along the streets of Vegas, she shoved her hands in her pockets. Claire nodded at him as he made another rule of their venture. “Okay…But you can’t hold anything against me either. I mean it too.” Her face was more serious now. “And we can’t tell people about the details of this event. We can tell people we left, and about the bands that were playing, but that’s it. Promise that, and I promise that I won’t let anyone see the pictures that go on this camera.” She pulled her camera out, holding it up by the gray strap. “Deal?”

Claire laughed, shaking her head slowly. "Man, Elliot. If we have any more rules, this is going to be no fun at all." She put her camera back in her bag, rearranging a few things while they walked so that it all fit better. She looked around at the city lights around them, loving the way they lit up the entire street, even late at night like it was. It was absolutely breath taking to look at. Suddenly, she was thankful that she'd come. She was walking down a street in fucking Las Vegas, going to the House of fucking Blues with Elliot Davis. Granted, the only thing that would make this night better was if he actually liked her in return, but hey, nothing was perfect.

[elliotdavis]

He placed his hand on his heart. ”I swear on my life that, I, Elliot, will not tell anyone of the goings-on of Claire & Elliot’s night on the town,” he nodded, showing that he indeed meant it. The adrenaline of being in a strange town with a pretty girl was going to his head, and his hyperness level was slowly rising. He lowered his hand and stuffed it in his pockets, his eyes wide and alert as the bright lights surrounded them on their walk down the strip, looking for the infamous House of Blues, the place where their evening was to unfold.

He laughed at what Claire said next. Their night seemed to have a lot of rules, something that didn’t make sense when the sole purpose was to have fun. He shrugged, a smirk on his face. ”Hey, I just gotta protect my reputation, you know? I don’t need people to know that I actually can’t dance and act like a retard when I’m drunk,” he sighed dramatically. ”You know how it is.”

They came up to the club and joined the somewhat short line that was waiting to get in. ”Well, this is cool,” he said, even though they were still outside. He watched the bouncer lift the rope and let people in. Elliot’s hand was in his pocket, caressing the fake I.D. he was prepared to hand anyone who asked for it. However, they both escaped that moment of awkward terror and were let in without having to display any proof of age. ”Time to party it up!” a goofy grin was plastered on his face, excited for what was going to happen.

[freddy]

"Aha!" Claire said, elbowing him. "So you can't dance!" She laughed a little and shrugged. "That's okay, I can't either. Sounds like this will be fun and completely not embarrasing." She rolled her eyes to show her clear sarcasm, but smiled. Her heart almost stopped though when they reached the House of Blues, seeing the bouncer standing at the door like some kind of bulky guard. That's what he was, she supposed. Unlike Elliot, she had no fake ID to show if the bouncer asked for one. She'd be toast. Panic passed, however, as the bouncer waved them through with hardly a glance.

Inside, music was already blaring. As they opened the door, it seemed to jump out them as if just waiting for someone to dare. Claire found herself glad that she'd worn a tank top, because the room inside was considerably warmer than it was in the night air. Then again, there were probably a hundred people or more in there, as compared to outside where there were only a few stragglers that remained on the streets. A band that she'd never heard of was playing, and the strong smell of alcohol hung in the air. She simled, already having a pretty good time, although they'd just arrived.

Turning to Elliot, Claire had to lean close to his ear in order for him to hear her properly. "Drink or dance?" She asked him, then pulled away, shrugging to show that she didn't know which she would rather do. This night was going to be fun, she could already tell.

((Bleh. Sorry Erin. It's kinda cruddy.))

[elliotdavis]

He listened intently as Claire leaned in to him to speak. "Drink or dance?" As she shrugged her shoulders, a look came over his face as if to display he was thinking hard about the question at hand. ”Drinks, I thi-“ he began to answer before releasing that over the music, Claire would barely be able to hear him. So, he leaned in. ”Drinks,” he repeated. ”So that way I can attempted to dance later.” Elliot nodded, stressing the importance of drinking. All he really wanted to do this trip was get shit faced and hang out with Claire, hopefully doing both in the process.

TIME LAPSE (cause Erin is lazy xD)

”I like your scarf. It’s purrrdy,” Elliot said before breaking into a loud, obnoxiously drunk laugh. ”Haha, I just said purrrdy.” he placed his hand on Claire’s shoulder as they stumbled there way out of the club. It was sometime after one-thirty, and although the party was still ranging inside, the party that consisted of Elliot and Claire had decided that they take theirs outside to the warm night. They had spent the last couple of hours, drinking and flirting themselves up a storm. ”Claire, you’re purrrdy too,” he nodded over-exuberantly, allowing the hat that was barely sitting on his head to fall off. He bent over to pick it up, holding on to Claire in an attempt to keep his balance. Standing back up, he put the hat back on his head, which was now spinning more then before with the sudden downwards movement. ”Oh, don’t bend over,” he warned putting on of his hands on his forehead as if holding it would stop the spinning.

Elliot wasn’t a stranger from being extremely wasted, although he hadn’t drunken this much since the Halloween party, and well, that was a disaster to say the least. One difference however was his state of mind before hand, usually he had no controlling over what he did when he was drunk, but his depressed state had lead him to Nikki. Tonight, he had been happy and hyper before loading his system with alcohol and the result was aloud, obnoxious boy who simply didn’t have a care in the world.

”Hey Claire-sey-kins,” he called, although the girl was walking right beside him, giving Claire a newly thought-of and oh so creative nickname. ”Are you okay?” the question was random, but Elliot simply wanted to know how she was feeling. It wasn’t a question asked in concern, and Elliot was far from worried about her, it’s just what he felt like asking her.

[freddy]

Being a very giggly an inexperienced drunk, Elliot's comment made her well...Made her laugh. She wasn't quite as wasted as he was, but still had an extreme buzz that dulled her senses and slowed her thoughts. Not a state she usually enjoyed, but being with Elliot made her jumpy and hyper, which made everything more exciting. Having lost track of time hours before, she didn't even have enough sense to look at a clock before they'd left, to see if they should get back to the hotel, or let the party roll on.

Her already pink cheeks flushed a little deeper as Elliot called her 'purrrdy'. Granted, the small, not yet drunk section of her brain said it was the massive amounts of alcohol speaking, but the other, more dominant part of her brain almost wanted to throw herself at him for saying it. "I'll keep that in mind." She giggled as he stood up, leaning on him as they walked as much as she was leaning on him. That was the thing with being drunk; it made walking extremely difficult.

"Yup. I'm perrrrfect, Elly Belly." Not having enough brain power to come up with a better nick name for him, she came up with the first thing on her mind; Jelly Belly's. She had a really big Jelly Bean craving all the sudden. "Excellent, in fact." She continued, seperating from him for a minute while attempting to skip down the sidewalk. It only suceeded in making the world tilt faster on its axis. Stumbling a little, she caught a nearby wall and leaned on it while waiting for him, trying to control another spout of laughter.

[elliotdavis]

They walked along the road, Elliot’s head filled with the fuzziness after a night of drinking and being unable to comprehend much of anything. He laughed as she called him “Elly Belly”. ”Well Claire-sey-kins, I’m glad that you’re excellent, ‘cause that means I’m excellent too,” he nodded. Elliot really liked her, that he knew and as much as he didn’t want her to know with the risk of rejection his drunken state was proving otherwise. His level of intoxication was blinding all the logic from making it’s way into his head. He had the overwhelming urge to lean down and kiss her, but instead burst into a fit of giggles as she skipped ahead.

”Haha, nice one,” he called as she stumbled and grabbed on to the wall. He attempted to run to catch up, but like Claire soon discovered that was a bad idea. Throwing himself up against the wall as he came up to her, he was still laughing, almost unable to catch his breath. ”I love the wall,” he said amongst the giggles, placing one hand up as if to pet it. ”Haha! I’m just joking Claire-sey-kins, the wall is dirty!” he turned around so his back was up against it, before coming of it and standing in front of her. Using one hand to pull up his jeans which were beginning to fall down a little bit, he placed the other on his hip.

As he stood there, about to open his mouth to say something even more brilliant, a hooded figure came up from behind him, placing their hand up against Elliot’s lower back, as if to imitate a gun. ”Hand over everything you have!”

Panicking, Elliot stuck both hands up in the air, not really paying any attention to anything else but the fact that someone was holding a gun to his back. His eyes, large and filled with fear flicked to Claire, and he lowered one hand into his pocket to remove his wallet. It had nothing more then a twenty and his ID, but even in his drunken state Elliot was aware enough to know not to argue that. The gunman turned to Claire, turning his what-looked-like-a-gun hand to her and demanded the same thing. ”Come on baby, cough it up,” his voice was harsh and demanding, his face covered by a black ski-mask.

After Claire handed over whatever she had, the guy left, running off, leaving Elliot and Claire scarred and in shock. After a second of staring, wide-eyed, at Claire, Elliot suddenly burst out laughing. ”Oh. My. God. Claire-sey-kins, we were just robbed!” The situation was far from funny, and yet the boy couldn’t catch his breath from laughing so hard.