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Lorna was getting drunk. She'd figured out that asking politely for real alcohol was all she had to do to get it and she was taking advantage of that fact. After seeing her life in another universe, meeting a sane version of her father, and seeing him as a kid she was sick to death of the Enterprise and Q's shenanigans.

The vodka and lemonade wouldn't, ultimately, help her out and she knew it. Getting drunk was rarely the solution she needed but it was a damn good distraction. She wondered if maybe she ought to track down that therapist guy, but she rejected the idea as soon as it occurred. She'd deal with her problems on her own.

To distract herself between drinks Lorna was writing down things she missed about home. The list read

"Al
ben and jerry's
Jamie
Guido back in the day
the sky
paperclips"

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Inari was drinking tea. She had no real reason not to indulge in alcohol if she felt like it, but some of the habits and disciplines she'd trained herself to when she'd been working to keep the Hunger at bay had stuck with her. She did prefer the kind she had to brew herself, when she could get it, but she was much less fussy now than she had been in her teenage years. She wasn't really doing anything. Just sitting, sipping tea while she read.

But every now and then, she'd look up from her reading to watch the people as they came and went.

Lorna didn't want to get up to get another drink, but by the time she'd listed, 'My jeep' she wanted the drink more than she wanted to sit. She wobbled as she went, almost tripping onto Inari when she lost her balance. Flustered and not thinking she used her powers to stabilize herself, filling the air around her with mild static.

Inari might not have noticed if she hadn't been with Harry for the past several months since coming to the Enterprise. Harry tended to discharge a lot of weird static when he used his magic, and Inari's senses were becoming more attuned to such things. She felt the tiny hairs on her arms stand up when the tipsy woman's powers flared, and her brows rose with curiosity.

"Are you all right? I think the floor is out to get you."

Lorna looked at Inari and nodded solemnly. "Looks like. I didn't hit you, right?" In this state she couldn't exactly be certain. She was very drunk and she wanted to stay that way.

"Oh, no. Just rattled the table a little," she said, "My tea's half-cold already, anyway. No harm done." She smiled, hoping to lighten the mood. "Besides, I'm tougher than I look."

"You're cuter than you look too," Lorna said with a broad smile. "Wanna new tea? I feel awful for bumping into you."

Inari blushed, her dimples deepening as she smiled back. Maybe you didn't have to be a sexy vampire to turn heads after all, but she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to it.

Not that she was shy, or anything. "Sure," she said, dabbing at the few small droplets that had reached the table before getting up from her seat. "I'll walk up with you."

Lorna nodded and offered her arm to Inari, giggling madly. She forgot to be mopey, now that she was with a pretty lady. "I'm Lorna. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Inari." She took the other girl's arm, hoping that it wouldn't end in both of them tumbling headlong into someone else' table. She didn't mean to flirt, exactly, but emotions were contagious, and she liked seeing people in a good mood. "Have you been here long?"

"Moooonths." Lorna replied, making an exaggerated motion with her free hand (and hitting someone else in the process). She scooted closer to Inari as they made their way to the bar. "You?"

"The same," Inari said, trying to steer her new companion clear of the more congregated areas of the lounge. "It's hard to keep track, out here." There wasn't a whole lot to break up the endless star-field outside the windows, even if you did manage to get yourself a job with regular hours and establish a routine. "I take it you're getting a little stir-crazy, too, huh?"

"A little," Lorna said, shaking her head. "I was bored, then I was someone else, then my dad was a kid and I'm honestly not sure if being bored or being subject to Q's experiments is worse."

She sidled up to the bar and asked for a drink, only to be informed she was cut off.

"Oh, yeah," Inari agreed, "those were an interesting couple of weeks. I guess there's always going to be a downside to any kind of excitement." She ordered green tea for the both of them, instead, figuring that they could sit and talk a while before sending Lorna back through the throng.

Tea wasn't vodka but she sat down and took a sip. It wasn't bad tea and she generally liked warm drinks. "I just want to feel useful, yanno? Like I'm doing something worthwhile."

"I know." Inari cradled the tea cup between her hands, inhaling the bouquet, and exhaling a soft sigh. "It's not always easy to fit into a new place. I should know--I've bounced around a lot since I left Chicago. But it's been good to spread my wings, so to speak."

"Chicago's nice." Lorna noted with a smile. "I'm from San Francisco myself. Or, you know, close-ish. You'd like it, I think. Kinda miss it. Or I miss being a kid before things got. . ." She waved her hand, trying to find the right word, "Weird."

"San Francisco would be a nice change from LA," Inari agreed. "But 'weird' is kind of the status quo for the people I usually hang out with." The weirdness of the Enterprise and Q's shenanigans was just another day in the life of the paranet, really. "But I know the feeling. Occasionally, I miss the days of blissful obliviousness."

"Oh man, LA was insane when I visited. I don't ever want to drive there." She made a face at the memory. "Plus vineyards stink. What took you out there?"

"A boyfriend," she answered with a shrug, and a faint coloring of her cheeks. It seemed silly now, running away with some guy. "That, and it got me far, far away from my father's house. Which was a much needed change."

"Ugh," Lorna noted when Inari mentioned her father. "Fathers can be the worst. I mean, I'm trying really hard to get to know him and maybe matter to him a little bit, but it's hard to forget what he's done, how he's hurt me and others."

"At least you've found a way to do that much," Inari said, sipping her tea. "I'm not sure I ever want to have anything to do with my family, knowing what I know. Especially not my father. But none of them are here, so I don't have to worry about it."

She knew her sisters had just played the hand they'd been dealt. The deck had been stacked against them. Only her brother Thomas had taken it upon himself to reshuffle the cards, and give her a chance to beat the game. "I hope things work out better for you, in the long run."

Lorna nodded, accepting that Inari's dad was probably a real piece of work. She seemed pretty nice and friendly, so anyone who couldn't get along with her must be a real jackass. "Sucks. At least I didn't have to deal with him when I was a kid."

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