it's human nature

Paloma was walking around muggle London when she spotted a pub. While she wasn't keen on going to them alone in places she didn't know, she felt thirsty and tired, and needed a drink and a place to sit for a while.

She sighed and walked in, looking around and seeing a few people already there. She walked to the bar and sat on one of the stools. "I'll have a coke," she ordered the barman.

So intent on drowning her drink, she didn't even notice someone sitting down next to her until the person spoke.

Lainey had just finished wiping the back tables. Rather than continue to some useful task, however, she seated herself on one of the bar stools and rested her head on the counter.

"I want a cola, too," she told Ben.

The man scoffed at her. "Shouldn't you be - oh, I dunno, working, maybe?"

"Bite me," Lainey retorted. "I'm on break. And I feel sick to my stomach. Be nice to me, for once."

"'Sick to your stomach'? And you want a cola? Sure you aren't pregnant? Could be cravings," her coworker opined.

"Why do you always ask that? A woman can be nauseous and want a cola, you sexist prat," the redhead snarled, raising her head to glare at him. "Now, gimme my damn drink and leave me alone!" Ben handed over the drink with a smug smirk as Lainey laid her head back on the bar.

"Don't mind him," Lainey told the girl seated beside her, dragging her glass across the counter so she could press it against her forehead. She was starting to get a headache, too. "He hardly manages professionalism when we're busy. He thinks he's charming."

Paloma watched the exchange in silence, sipping her cola, and smiled at the woman next to her.

"It's alright," she told her, "I'm kind of used to sexist men, who act like a dick and think they're being 'charming'."

Boys will be boys, Paloma thought. She really had met a lot of boys like that, most were her age and she thought maybe they grew up after a while. Well, apparently not.

"Headache?" she asked the woman, smiling sympathetically.

"All men are dicks," Lainey offered with a wry smile. "It's in their nature."

The redhead shrugged a shoulder. "Just all around bleh. I think I might have caught something. I'll be alright, though."

"And yet some say they are the superior ones," Paloma smiled and rolled her eyes.

"You sure?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, "I may have a pill around here somewhere. . ." The Uchitel searched through her bag, sure her sister had put one there.