this is how we make our mark, Lanny!

[Jenna Palladino]

Jenna had heard this song three times on the radio today already. First, it had been the tail end of the song as she climbed into her car to go to school. Second, an obnoxious niner had been blaring it over the speaker of her iPod in the hall, audible in the scratchiest of ways to everyone five lockers down on either side. The third was her sociology teacher, humming relentlessly at the front of the class whilst her students looked on ashamed. But things had a way of becoming more pleasurable in a better environment with better company, and the bass line was far less irritating now then it had been all three times previously today. Jenna moved to it now- hips swayed to the sound of the music as she and her girlfriends took over the dance floor.

Tonight she had set out fully intent on dazzling. Jenna had learned early on in these partying days that the easiest way to not get id’d was to allow for a little objectifying. She had opted for a glitzy one-shoulder number that had been hanging unabashedly in her friend’s closet. She had paired it with a glorious little red clutch and the most important part of any outfit when you were 5’2” Jenna Palladino. Her feet sported a glorious pair of red leather pumps that brought her up to near human heights. She felt sexy, and it was written all over her face. Her hair was curled and hung elegantly down to the middle of her back, but anyone who knew the girl knew there wasn’t much elegant about her save for this long hair and the fancy shoes. That girl was quiet for now, though. Tonight she was a powerhouse, and she didn’t care about anything else.

It was that time though, and she reached for her friends shoulder and nodded her head towards the bar. ”I’m going to get a drink. You want?” She yelled over the roar of people. Her friend ran her fingers across her neck in a ‘no thank you’ gesture and Jenna nodded, blowing her a kiss as she wriggled her way off of the dance floor and towards the also-crowded bar. She gave herself a mental mind prep. Okay, Jenna. Get ready to turn on the charm. It’s wiggle time. She pressed herself between strangers, offering them a sweet smile whilst hiding her irritation. Why stand by the bar if you didn’t need a drink? Fucking move, she wanted to tell them, but she’d always been good at pleasantries.

And then appeared before her the mountain that not even Moses could move. She couldn’t tell how tall he was, but she was certain that not even the highest heels in the world could afford her the opportunity to tell if it was raining first. She peeped around him, ensuring he wasn’t waiting on a drink. Indeed he was not, and so she placed a hand on the small of his back and deeked around him, turning her head over her shoulder to offer him a bright smile. ”Sorry!” It was a conventional ‘sorry’, meant only for the inconvenience. But my goodness, what a face. She paused for a moment and her smile grew. It was followed by a wink as she turned back around to make for the bar.

[Lanny Darling]

Lanny was in his element. The music was pulsing, and the crowd was doing the same. He could feel the rhythm beating in his chest, egging on his heartbeat and asking him to come alive. After God-only-knows how many beers, and tequila shots to follow up, it didn’t take much for him to comply with the request. Even standing by the bar with his friends, not joining in wit the dancing masses, his body was moving in time with the smooth bass from the loudspeakers.

“Jesus, how many is that?” Jake asked, coming up to him from behind and putting a hand on his shoulder, at the same time as gesturing to the half-full pint of beer that Lanny was grasping in his hands.

Grinning and shrugging, Lanny took another unashamed draught of his drink. “I’m a big guy. It takes lots of beer to get me into the party mood.”

Jake snorted, though Lanny couldn’t hear him over the noise in the club. As if. It took next to nothing to get Lanny Darling into the party mood. If anything, it was his default setting, and alcohol didn’t so much encourage as enhance.

“You’re going to be on your knees by the end of the night,” Jake warned, but with an impish smile that suggested that this was an enjoyable prospect, not a curse.

Lanny wiggled his eyebrows. “Well, there’s a lot of talent here tonight, so I don’t mind if I do.”

The statement made Jake explode into laughter (not entirely sober himself, obviously), though Lanny was distracted by a hand in the small of his back, as well as head of long blonde hair that ducked around him. The girl turned to apologize for interrupting him, and she had a face that went well with those gorgeous curls of hers, especially when it lit up in a smile.

His own grin brightened and widened at the sight, and then again when she winked at him as she continued her walk to the bar.

“Here,” Lanny said, promptly handing his beer to Jake. With a wink of his own towards his friend, he followed the blonde, parting the crowd much more easily than she had, thanks to his height and stocky build.

Giving the bartender - Joey - a little wave, he leaned against the counter next to the blonde, his body angled towards her.

“We meet again,” he deadpanned, a lopsided grin on his features. “If we’re going to keep on running into each other like this, I’m going to need to know your name.”

[Jenna Palladino]

In all honesty, Jenna didn’t expect to see him again. It happened 50% of the time – a quick, flirty exchange and fifteen minutes later they’d be on opposite sides of the bar making out with other people. It was the nature of the party beast, and though she had gladly taken a moment to appreciate his larger-than-life appearance, she didn’t expect much more. Jenna wheedled her way through to the bar and joined the masses looking for a beverage that might make the night just a little more interesting.

And then he proved to be of the other 50% of the Bishop City tribe.

The strange man pushed in beside her, giving the bartender a wave as the playful grin spread back across her face. He turned his focus back to her, and she laughed in accordance with his lopsided grin and his cheesy introduction. “So we do.” She turned her body to face his, resting her elbow on the bar casually to unintentionally mirror his cool and relaxed stance. Evidently for the both of them, this came like breathing.

Jenna eyed him for a minute, taking the time to assess what stood in front of her. He was drunk, possibly just as drunk as she, perhaps a little more. He had a happy face, unhardened by frown lines or a miserable constitution. Jenna decided that stranger danger at this time was not in effect. So when he requested her name, she was happy to oblige. “It’s Jenna.” She was going to ask for his own in return, but she felt a push from behind as another body shoved its way through to the bar and she was pressed closer to this new stranger with a little ‘oof’.

“What can I get for ya?” Again she was distracted by the bartender this time, who seemed to be familiar with the jolly giant in front of her now. “I’ll take a cranberry and vodka, please.” She requested, turning her focus back on what she was certainly more interested in at the moment, bobbing a playful eyebrow. “And your name, if I may be so bold.”

[Lanny Darling]

“Jenna,” he repeated, as if tasting the name. A smile was playing in the corners of his mouth, and he held her eyes as he said it. “It’s pretty. Suits you.” Joey was already busying himself with making the requested drink, but out of the corner of his eye, Lanny could see him grinning.

“I’m Lanny,” he continued, jabbing his thumb into his own chest. “Nice to meet you.”

“Here, let me get that.” The drink was done, and Joey put it on the counter in front of Jenna. “And another one for me, please.” He fished a crumpled twenty dollar bill out of his back pocket and handed it to the bartender, who, without asking, got Lanny another bottle of Killian’s Irish Red.

“So,” Lanny said, studying Jenna intently. A slight frown appeared on his forehead. “I have a very serious matter to discuss with you. I need you to be absolutely honest with me. Really, the future of our relationship depends on it.”

He paused, taking a deep breath as if bracing himself for what was to come.

“Skittles: Purple or red?”

[Jenna Palladino]

Jenna. It’s pretty. Suits you. She enjoyed the turned up corners of his mouth, the way it made the little laugh and smile lines crinkle, making them more obvious. This guy looked like fun, and that was just what Jenna looked for in a person. Porcelain faces never cracked a smile – this one looked like the exact kind of trouble she enjoyed the most.

She thanked him as he paid for her drink but watched carefully as he interacted with the bartender. It didn’t seem casual enough to be friends, though not wholly unfriendly enough to be strangers. How long had he been here? Did he come around often? Jenna wasn’t sure what the right answer was – she hadn’t been on the scene long enough to know if he was a regular around here, and she certainly hadn’t seen him here before. She would have remembered, in any state of inebriation.

Jenna’s focus was back on him as he turned serious, and she in turn shifted her features to mirror his. So, I have a very serious matter to discuss with you. I need you to be absolutely honest with me. Really, the future of our relationship depends on it. She nodded gravely and took a sip from her drink, setting it down with intent. “Alright. Hit me with your best shot.”

Skittles: purple or red? Jenna didn’t miss a beat. “Purple. They’re delicious, and I’ve always had a thing for the underdog.” She nodded, and in just a moment her stern face shifted once more and a playful smirk came across her face as she sipped once again from her glass, peering over him from the rim.

“My turn. Answer also depends on the future of our relationship.” She leaned casually against the bar, crossing one leg over the other where she stood. “Who’s your team?”

[Lanny Darling]

Her answer was immediate. She liked the purple skittles. Lanny broke out into a wide grin. “It’s official. I’ve found the girl of my dreams. It’s you.”

Though he wasn’t going to tell Jenna, at least not yet, he had always joked that he would marry a girl who liked the purple skittles best, so that he would have the red ones all to himself for the rest of his life. In his opinion, eating all the red skittles counted as irreconcilable differences, and it would be just as well to avoid that hurdle right from the start.

His smile faded into seriousness again when she said that it was her turn. He took a long swig of Killian’s, as if to brace himself for what was to come, then nodded curtly to signal that he was ready for whatever question she had to throw at him.

“Oh, we’re really getting into the deep stuff now, aren’t we?” he deadpanned. It wasn’t a hard question though. In the Darling family, there was only one acceptable answer, and he wasn’t about to get disinherited.

“The Yankees. And since my daddy ain’t here to hear this, the Comets too. It’s not really cheating if it’s a different sport, is it?”

He took a deep breath and tilted his head to one side. “Did I pass?”

[Jenna Palladino]

Jenna laughed and shook her head at this Lanny, who was quickly becoming her most favourite stranger in this bar. “I’m absolutely flattered.” She graced him with a little curtsy and took another sip from her drink, hunkering down for what would certainly either spark a debate or end in a great amount of rejoicing. If his stomach was the way to a man’s heart, the right sports team was the way to Jenna’s. She had a rule through most of her life; no Bruins fans, no Capitals fans and absolutely, never in a MILLION years, not a Dolphin fan would ever step foot in her home.

And then he spoke the words truest to her heart. The Yankee’s – god bless him, a boy after her own heart. She grinned a mighty grin and raised her glass to his. “Good news for our future, Lanny.” Jenna clinked the glasses together delicately and took another sip. “So, tell me, Lanny. Are you a serial killer? Why are you here alone? Just while we're getting all the rough stuff out in the beginning. Don't want anything hairy popping up later.”

[Lanny Darling]

He balled his fingers into a fist, and pumped downward once in a victorious gesture, grinning as he hissed a ‘yes!’ Not only had he gotten the question right, but this had to mean that Jenna was either a Comets fan or a Yankees fan. If it was the latter, his father would definitely approve. And though Lanny wasn’t about to kick a looker like Jenna to the curb over a sports team - it was a bonus just to find a girl that was into sports - he imagined the famous cat who got the canary felt much the same as he did right now.

Taking another sip of his beer, he listened to her barrage of questions, but when she reached the end, he had to be careful to avoid his drink going down the wrong pipe.

“That’s what she said,” he smirked, one eyebrow quirking slightly. Then the smirk turned into a laugh, and he shook his head at himself.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist. But joking aside, I’m not here alone. See that guy over there, trying to work up the courage to talk to the redhead who’s way, way out of his league?” He pointed over to Jake, who probably felt his ears burning and glanced over to Jenna and Lanny.

“That’s Jake,” Lanny explained, smiling as he gestured at his friend to quit stalling. Jake made a face back at him, but he gave a quick wave before turning his attention back to the redhead.

“Now, for the million dollar question, which I suspect was what you really wanted to know all along.” Lanny set his beer down on the counter and his features settled into a serious expression. “I’m afraid I am a serial killer.”

He paused and took a deep, calming breath before he continued. “A serial spider killer, but a serial killer nonetheless. I live on the dodgy side of South End, so what’s a guy to do, eh?”

[Jenna Palladino]

Jenna took another sip from her glass, peering at him over the rim of her glass as he pumped his fist. She chuckled and pulled the glass away, setting it down on bar. By the looks of it, they’d both done something right for each other already – and they’d only been talking for five minutes. Purple skittles and Yankees. Who knew? When the classic ‘that’s what she said’ joke fell from his mouth, she was incredibly glad she’d set her glass down because a loud laugh burst forth from her – she thanked god a mouth of Vodka and Cranberry hadn’t followed it.

Jenna shook her head with him – she’d walked right into it and he had taken full advantage of her fumble; she loved it. But Jenna paid close attention to where he pointed and she caught site of both the man and the redhead. She wiggled her fingers at his friend and gave him a hopeful thumb up – however she thought Lanny might be right on this one. The redhead looked like a black widow spider, and Jake looked like an appetizer. Yeesh. She thought to herself, but selfishly her thoughts turned back to Lanny and Jenna found herself increasingly more impressed with the guy in front of her – he had yet to disappoint.

She watched as his face switched to one that was significantly more serious and she took up her drink again, taking another sip. He was a serial killer. Her eyebrow arched until she found out what kind of serial killer and then she laughed again. “Cheers to that.” Jenna clinked her glass and his bottle together lightly, draining the last of its contents gingerly before she set it back down on the bar. “If that’s the case we should both be on America’s Most Wanted – I perform centipede genocide.”

Jenna peered up at the Southie boy and examined his face, a smile spreading across her own. He was too cute for his own good. “A regular old Bonnie and Clyde, you and me. Finish your beer and come dance.”

[Lanny Darling]

He laughed at her reaction, moving his beer bottle to meet her class in a congratulatory toast. “Centipedes, huh? We best be laying low, you and me.” He grinned mischievously again, then took a long sip of his drink.

However, laying low was apparently a part of Jenna’s plans tonight, and she was being bossy about it too, ordering him to finish the beer so that he could dance with her. At six foot five and two hundred and fifty pounds, Lanny was anything but graceful on the dance floor, but that was a fact he couldn’t care less about, so he followed her command and drained the bottle.

Having finished his drink, he jumped off the bar stool, and with a wink for Joey, he offered Jenna his hand with a flourish, and then, when he had it, dragged her along into the crowd of moving bodies. He started to move in time with the music, or at least try too, but his only saving grace was that his moves were more of a shuffle than a disarray of flailing limbs. But at least it was a shuffle accompanied by an invincible smile on his face.

[Jenna Palladino]

A mischievous bob of the eyebrow accompanied the mischievous grin on his face when he told her they should be laying low. She liked the way he played so far, and she was certainly impressed with his willingness to set his empty bottle down and come dance with her.

She took a hold of his hand (the size difference was almost laughable) and curtsied the best she could, following him through the crowd. It was much easier when you were two times her size, evidently. Tonight this was her forte. Yesterday it had been the football stadium, arguing the rules with a man twice her age and half her brain function. Tomorrow it might be the garage where she’d school the new mechanic in the function of piston rings and sumps. But Jenna was on her game, and so when he stopped in the middle of the dance floor to begin his adorable little shuffle, Jenna couldn’t help herself. He only became more endearing to her when she realized he had the controlled coordination of a drunk monkey.

Jenna laughed and inched closer to him and placed her hands on his hips, swaying her own to the beat of the music playing loudly through the club. She looked up to him with a grin and took a hold of his hand to spin herself so her back was facing his. A familiar face looked back at her – her friend had found herself in the exact same position. Jenna laughed as her friend mouthed a very clear ‘skank’ in her direction. Jenna nodded shamelessly and turned back to Lanny, sliding that little bit closer. Why the hell not?

[Lanny Darling]

Lanny’s grin widened as she inched closer, placing her hands on his hips. Her sense of rhythm only helped marginally with his own lack of the same, but regardless of his dance skills, he had snagged the best looking dance partner on the floor. A couple of other guys eyed Jenna and the way she moved to the beat, swaying and moving like her limbs were liquid.

He willingly spun her when she indicated it, not at all sorry about the view it gave him of her backside. The dress she had on fit her perfectly, and he had a feeling that she knew it. Attitude was half the battle though, and the girl in front of him had that in spades. Already, he was spellbound by her sass, not to mention awestruck of his own sheer luck.

She faced him again, inching still closer to him. He could feel his pulse thumping in time with the bass now, and his temperature was rising as the heat from the other bodies reached him.

They kept dancing for a few more songs, until Lanny could feel a drop of perspiration trickling down his neck. He leaned in closer to Jenna, until his mouth was right by her ear. “It’s boiling in here!” he half-said, half-shouted. “Let’s go outside.”

Without waiting for a reply, he took her by the hand again and led her through the crowd, which again parted easily for him. He grinned cheekily at the bouncer as they passed him, receiving an order to behave in return, which only worked to make the grin cheekier.

He pushed the door open and the cool night air hit his hot skin like a caress. Letting go of Jenna, he smiled at her. “Didn’t manage to scare you off with my two left feet. I’m impressed.”

Happy birthday, sweetling!

[Jenna Palladino]

Jenna didn’t notice the other eyes on her, but she knew where his eyes were trained and she was pleased. Lanny was turning out to be an excellent dance partner, and as she turned back to face him, the smile on her face was a devious one, meant only for him. She didn’t know him, he didn’t know her, but here on the dance floor they could get to know each other well enough – she was sure there’d be time for talking later.

Time really did fly when you were having fun. She didn’t know how much time had passed, only that they’d been on the dance floor long enough for the heat to eat at her and her breath to catch short. Jenna couldn’t have agreed more when he suggested they get outside for a few minutes, and she had just enough time to nod her consent before he grabbed a hold of her hand and led her off the dance floor. Jenna caught her friend’s eye and winked, giving her a low-down thumbs up for confirmation. She saw her friend laugh in recognition and turned her attention back to him, giving his hand a little squeeze on their way through the crowd.

She took a deep breath as soon as they got outside and the fresh air felt incredible in her lungs. She let go as he let go of her and stepped back to rest against the brick wall of the club, taking a few more deep breaths to steady herself. She looked up at him and laughed when he spoke, pushing her hair out of her face before she responded. “It would appear not. Well done.”

She eyed him for a moment, trying to riddle him out. Jenna was more than comfortable with her instincts and that gut feeling told her that she was safe – that Lanny wasn’t the kind of guy out looking for someone to harm. And so she smiled and nodded, motioning down the road. “Wanna get outta here for a bit?”

[Lanny Darling]

Lanny's eyebrows rose at the unexpected question, but it was soon after accompanied by a widening grin that proclaimed his answer just as well, or perhaps even better, than any verbal respsonse could have. There was, in fact, nothing he wanted more at this particular moment than to get out of here with Jenna. Still, he couldn't leave anything to chance, so he was quick to nod his assent.

"What did you have in mind?"