Kori sighed and sat back in the chair she was perched on. She ran the tip of her index finger against her glass which was now almost finished. Her eyes fell upon the remaining amount of liquid and she felt torn. The outrage of her failed wedding ceremony had died and now all she had to hang onto was the sadness that filled her heart. She didn't love Xavier as much as she had practically pretended to but it still hurt to know that he had betrayed her. She felt sick at the thought of her sister and her ex together. It made her well up a little too; how could her own flesh and blood do that to her? Well, Kom did say she loved him. Maybe love causes you to do reckless things... Kori wasn't convinced.
Jenny frowned at the evident sorrow etched against Kori's face. The pink haired girl sighed and deflated, "C'mon Kor. This getaway is supposed to cheer you up and make you forget about that sleazebag." She stated, waving her hands around for emphasis of her point.
Kori sighed, "I know... It is just... I am still so angry! H-How could my own sister do that to me?"
Rachel blinked, "Um... Because your sister is a complete bitch?" She replied,
Kori shrugged, "... She said that she is in love with Xavier..." she mumbled,
Karen sat up straight in her chair and nearly choked on a mouthful of her beverage. She stared at Kori, letting her brown eyes burn against Kori who couldn't quite meet her stare, "Oh hell no! Please tell me you are not trying to be the loving and good natured person that we know you are. Don't you dare go forgiving either of them Kori. They don't deserve it." Karen declared.
"Damn straight." Jenny agreed, earning a nod from Rachel too. Kori sighed once again. Karen chewed her lip a little. None of them liked seeing Kori in this kind of state. She was usually the cheeriest and bubbliest of them all. It almost seemed unnatural when she was anything less than happy. Karen suddenly quirked a smile at the idea of something that would lighten everything up... Maybe. She placed a gentle hand against Kori's shoulder, causing the red head to turn and face her with question evident in her eyes.
"I know!" Karen announced, "I saw a little tavern on the way down here. How about we go get some alcohol in our systems? That'll make you feel much better."
Kori had a hesitant expression across her face. Rachel rolled her eyes, "I don't think drowning her sorrows in drink is going to help." She said, emotionless.
"No... But, it might take the edge off a little," Jenny commented,
"What'd you say, Kor?" Karen wondered. Kori tilted her head from side to side in consideration of Karen's idea.
"I am not the biggest admirer of alcohol consumption but... I suppose... One may not hurt..." Kori responded, standing up and giving into a small smile.
"Yay! In your face, Roth!" Karen teased. Rachel rolled her eyes but laughed nonetheless. With that, the four of them set out to find the tavern that Karen had spotted earlier on in the evening.
Karen stared up at the tavern with a small smile. It was an oak type of place with windows with X's through them. It had vines climbing and crawling over the walls too. At length, it seemed like a cottage you would find in a Disney movie or something... Or that's how Rachel described it at least.
They entered the cottage like tavern and Karen pushed Kori by the shoulders. Kori was whining and groaning about her life and all the girls could really do was humour her. Karen guided the lost beauty towards the booth by the wall. Dick, who was sitting patiently at the bar, couldn't help but notice their entrance. He instantly remembered them from the morning. The only reason he could remember them was the fact that the red headed beauty was with them and she was apparently rather unhappy. He couldn't find it in himself to look away as she sat down with a frown sewn to her face. He coughed and turned a shade of red as her pink haired friend got to her feet and made her way over to the bar. Dick fumbled for his phone to make it look like he hadn't been staring at all.
In complete honesty, he had only been glancing... Sorta. He sighed and thought to text the guys. He was supposed to be meeting them there and yet they were taking forever. A small smirk came to play on Dick's lips as he noted the pink haired girl ordering drinks beside him. Wally had gone on about how he would love to meet her so Dick got his messages up and texted Wally, telling him that the pink haired girl he was staring at that morning was there too.
Dick slyly threw a glance in Kori's direction. He couldn't help but notice how her sad pout was extremely endearing.
"C'mon girl! You can't be depressed forever!" Karen said, lighting punching Kori's shoulder for enthusiasm.
"I know..." Kori sighed, "Truly, I am attempting to do the cheering up but it is proving to be most difficult."
"That's because you don't have any alcohol in you yet! Yo, Jen! Hurry with the drinks! Kori needs to feel numb!" Karen called, grinning.
Kori allowed her shoulders to slump as she gave into a full giggle at her friends' desperation to cheer her up. Kori looked up towards Jenny and couldn't help but notice the dark haired male beside her. She tilted her head a little. He had a mess of dark hair which made him very attractive. He was a little pale and from the light of his phone, she could almost make out that he had crystal blue eyes. She felt her heart flutter a little bit as he suddenly glanced over at her. His eyes locked with hers for a moment and she felt an odd feeling in her stomach as the dark haired man flashed her a smile. She was a little stunned at this. She hadn't actually spoken to nor had interest in a guy for a while considering... Well... Xavier and everything. She blushed a faint pink and she bowed her head so she wouldn't raise questions among the girls.
"So... What are you going to do when you get back home?" Rachel queried,
Kori ran a slim hand through her auburn bangs, "I do not know... I am certain that I will think of something..." She exhaled. Rachel nodded as a response.
"Ugh. I wish there were some attractive guys in this place. I haven't seen ANY yet!" Jenny complained as she placed the drinks down and perched on a seat. Kori giggled and her jade like eyes flickered in the dark haired guy's direction, involuntarily. She was surprised to see that he was still softly smiling at her. They both must have felt similar emotions right then because they both looked away from one another.
"I know right!?" Karen agreed, "Seriously. We really need to-"
Karen was interrupted as the bartender walked up to their table with a friendly smile on his face. He held a round tray with a single cocktail drink of sorts, sitting upon it. It was a mixture of pink liquids infused together with a lemon wedged onto the edge of the glass and it was topped off with a little blue umbrella. The bartender placed the pretty drink in front of Kori and looked her in the eyes as he spoke, "Compliments from the dark haired gentleman at the bar, miss."
Kori couldn't stop the glowing blush that leaked across her cheeks. Kori tilted her head at the bartender and raised an eyebrow, "Me?" She squeaked, not believing what she had heard. The bartender nodded and returned to his post as Kori's friends gave into a wave of, "ooooh!"
Kori glanced up at Dick with a light expression of shock and confusion. He lightly raised his glass to her and gave her another smile. Kori allowed her own smile to form and she mouthed back to him, "Thank you,"
"See that!? I told you! Not even been a day and already, a guy has taken an interest in you!" Karen exclaimed,
"I would not exactly say that-" Kori got cut off,
"Hey girls? I'm gonna go to the ladies room. Anyone coming with?" She asked, mischief leaking through her words. Although Rachel didn't completely approve, she found it somewhat amusing and so, she shared a glance with Karen and they got up together.
"Sureee." Karen sang.
"Could you look after our things, Kor?" Jenny grinned. Kori opened her mouth but faltered for her words. She raised a finger as if she was about to protest,
"Wait- Oh, I... Uh!" Kori stuttered,
"Thaaaanks!" Jenny chimed as herself, Karen and Rachel hurried towards the bathroom. Kori sank into her seat a little, blushing. She slowly began to realise what they were attempting to accomplish.
Kori sighed and let her eyes travel across the space of the tavern. Her eyes were apparently drawn to the dark haired guy as she kept staring at him, unwillingly. He was thinking about something apparently. He looked like he couldn't decide on something.
With another heavy sigh, Kori looked down at her hands which were situated within her lap. After a moment, Kori felt like there was someone in front of her so, pushing a stray piece of red hair behind her ear, she meekly looked up. The male who had sweetly given her a drink was standing there, looking... shy?
He had a hand on the back of his neck and his somewhat confident smile from earlier was melting into a nervous one, "Uh... Hey there," He greeted. Kori shivered a little at his voice. It was deep yet it held a rasp like quality to it.
Kori giggled and sat up a little, "Greetings," She replied, evidently causing the male to visibly relax a little. He gave her a cute little lopsided grin and Kori felt herself smile more. She was captivated by the blue shading of his eyes.
"Mind if I sit?" He asked, politely. Kori shook her head and gave him a wave of her hand to signal that he was permitted to do so.
"Thank you again for the beverage..." Kori stated, watching him as he took a seat in front of her, "You truly did not have to..."
He gave her a sincere smile, "Mm... Beautiful drink for a beautiful woman; made sense to me," He explained. Kori blushed which apparently caused the man to gain an aspect of confidence,
"I'm Richard by the way, Richard Grayson but my friends call me Dick,"
He outstretched a hand to Kori across the table and she politely shook it,
"Korina Anders however almost everyone calls me Kori..."
"It's really nice to meet you, Kori,"
Kori smiled as a response and leaned against the edge of the table. She decided to carry on the friendly conversation, "So... May I ask what brings you to this area, Richard?" Kori wondered, hoping that she didn't sound too forward or anything. Dick felt a pang against his chest as he heard his full name roll off of her tongue so perfectly,
"Ah, my buddies and I decided that we all needed a break from everyday life,"
"Oh, so you are here with your friends, yes?"
"Yeah. They should be meeting me here but... I guess they're running late..."
Kori slowly nodded to show that she understood,
"What about you, Kori? What brought you and your friends here?"
"Oh... Uh... Similar to your reasoning... We were also in need of the break..."
Dick nodded and smiled patiently while he listened and hung on every word she uttered. He momentarily forgot himself and he stared at her flawless face,
"Please... There is... Something upon my face, yes?" Kori quizzed, touching her face briefly. Dick chuckled and shook his head, simply intoxicated by her mannerisms.
"No, no... You're just... Really pretty is all..." Dick replied, quietly. Kori made an 'o' shape with her mouth and Dick's heart dropped into his stomach for a minute, believing he had overstepped the boundary.
"Sorry," He stated, nervously scratching the back of his neck, "Too much?"
Kori blinked a couple of times before she shook her head, showing him that she did not mind,
"No, it is just... Males do not tend to call me that very often..." She answered, bashfully.
"Seriously? I find that very hard to believe." Dick responded, honestly. Kori blushed and raised her fingertips to her lips and giggled. Dick's shy smile widened and he simply stared at her with awe. She was such a beautiful and bubbly girl; she was practically perfect.
"So-" Dick was cut off by the sound of the tavern door swinging open with force. He turned in his seat and sighed. He was happy that his friends had turned up of course, but he really wanted to continue talking to Kori for a while. There was a certain trait about her that made her undoubtedly the most endearing woman he'd ever met.
Wally, Vic and Garfield filed in, creating noise as they bustled past tables. Wally's eyes locked onto Dick and he grinned, "Yo! Dick! We're here and-" He stopped abruptly as he noted the red headed girl from that morning sitting with him. Wally's innocent grin spread into a very sly smirk,
"Are we interrupting something, Dick?" Wally asked with a mischievous glint in his eye. Kori innocently smiled from Dick to the guys, to back at Dick.
Dick sighed to try and relieve himself of the annoyed feeling he felt towards Wally at that moment, "N-No... Guys, this is my new friend, Kori Anders. Kori, these are my friends. This is Wally West, Garfield Logan and Vic Stone." Dick explained, pointing to them each as he spoke. Kori nodded her head and smiled at each of the boys, shaking their hands politely in the process,
"It is nice to meet you all," Kori chirped,
"It's nice to meet you too, little lady!" Vic replied happily. Kori's smile increased and she opened her mouth to speak once again but she faltered as her friends practically fell through the door of the ladies lavatory. They wandered over to her, giggling away until they saw the group of boys hesitating around their table.
"Uh, Kori? Did you wish for boys to appear while we were in the bathroom?" Karen asked, a slight chuckle edging her words. Kori laughed and shook her head,
"Gentlemen, these are my friends," Kori smiled, "This is Karen Beecher, Jenny Ashbrook and Rachel Roth,"
The girls gave the guys small polite smiles. Wally was grinning and standing beside Jenny not even a second later. He tried to lean against the table and gain a 'cool guy' appearance but Dick just thought he looked like he'd belched really well or something.
"Well hello there..." Wally smoothly said, deepening his voice for effect, "Your hair is... delicious..."
Dick slapped a hand over his own face, "Oh my god." He mumbled.
Kori closed her eyes and giggled quietly, making Dick smile. She has the cutest giggle... Dick thought to himself.
"So, you guys joining us?" Karen wondered, a small smirk slipping across her face. Dick chanced a quick look at Kori and bit his lip before he slowly got to his feet. He rubbed the back of his neck,
"That's okay. We wouldn't wanna intrude on your night-" Dick was cut off by Karen, who waved her hand,
"Psh! The more the merrier!" Karen announced.
"Oh, I like her." Vic admitted, matching Karen's flirty grin she was throwing his way. Dick was lightly pushed away from the chair he had been sitting on by Wally who apparently wanted to get closer to Jenny. Dick rolled his eyes at Wally and noted the new free space. He smiled shyly as he sat beside Kori. While the others began to talk, Kori and Dick simply continued in shooting each other shy and bashful grins. Dick chuckled after a minute or so of the smile action and bit his lip to try and stop another smile from breaking out across his face. It didn't work...