young folks. [tag; jorund]

Uh-oh.

Erika Trickett was well on her way to becoming brain meltingly sloshed. Utterly trollied. Three sheets to the wind and loving it. The tall blonde was sat on a bar stool in the middle of a usually quiet and cosy pub in the English capital. Everything was low light, sumptuous arm chairs and black leather sofas, old paintings on the wall and everything was polished, dark wood. It felt more like a cottage snug.

She had no problem drinking alone. There was no shame in it. The rounds would be cheaper at the very least.

She was currently propping up the bar, her legs crossed at the ankles, the limbs peeking out from her black scalloped shorts. After returning from her most recent jaunt to Egypt, her usually pale skin had taken on a healthy, tanned sheen and she was keen to show some skin, despite the horrible November weather.

Her long blonde hair had been tied back and up into a ponytail, the ends of her hair curling against her slender shoulders as she downed her drink. Was it gin? Vodka? Whatever it was was delicious! "Can I have another?" She called to the barman, extending her arm and wiggling her fingers at the poor man flirtatiously as he filled her glass. "Oh you are delightful," she purred with a slow smile. "I'd love to order a pint of you," she said with a wink.

She'd been here for about an hour and she'd attracted a small crowd, mostly men, purely because the girls couldn't keep up with her. They'd all been downing shots for a while and some of them had broken out into song. "This is so fun!" Erika roared into the ear of the nearest man. He was tall and broad shouldered, dark haired with blue eyes called Paul. Apparently. He was also wearing a leather jacket that Erika quite wanted to steal.

With a laugh, she draped an arm around his neck, partly to flirt but mostly to keep herself upright. A cheer erupted as music pumped from unseen speakers. It must have been a popular song but she didn't know it but the beat seemed a vaguely familiar.

The pub was rowdy but the good kind. The harmless kind. The fun kind. The kind where no one was getting hurt and everyone was having fun. Erika wasn't totally alone. She'd actually arranged to meet her very favourite uncle, Jorund. But she couldn't find him anywhere.

"Have you met my new friend, Paul?" She asked with wide eyes, sipping her drink and leaning into the stranger, waving at another man who she didn't know. "He's amazing," she gushed with a dopey grin. The alcohol was seeping into her now. Her brain was fuzzy and her reactions were slow but everything was kind of nice. Mellow. Her head felt like cotton wool.

Her glass was empty. It wasn't even that late, a little after ten on a cold winter's evening. "Tequilaaaa!" Erika yelled suddenly, raising her glass into the air to the cheers of her new drinking buddies.

She shifted but misjudged her distance. Rather than having her pert little bum collide with the squishy bar stool, her hip smacked the metal edge and she landed on the wooden floor with an audible bump! Suddenly, Erika laughed. Her slender body was sprawled out on the sticky floor and she was doubled up with laughter. She was seeing stars. "This is so much fun!"

She was definitely seeing stars. Little twinkly ones in formation when in reality, she was just seeing dots from her bumped head and looking directly into a light. Erika didn't feel any pain but she would in the morning for sure. The floor was pretty comfy. No one was standing on her or falling over her or even noticing that she was sprawled on the floor. Amazing.

Hang on.

"Uncle Jorund!" The tall blonde called out with a wide grin that lit up her entire face and made her ocean coloured eyes twinkle in the dim light. "Hi!" She called, still on the floor as she wiggled her fingers to him in an invitation for him to hold her hand. She liked holding hands.

A pair of large ones loomed into her line of vision and she quickly took them, one hand sliding her fingers into his while the fingers of her free hand grabbed his wrist and she let him take the slack as he hauled her to her feet. Without skipping a beat, she bounced in her high heels and threw her arms around Jorund's neck and squeezed affectionately as she pulled him into an embrace.

"Alabama Slammer," the treasure hunter replied to a blank looking barman. She frowned. "It's pinky orange?" She explained to the man as he blinked at her placidly. It wasn't really a cocktail kinda joint. "I don't know what's in it but it's delicious." she informed them both. Her shoulders sagged in defeat. "Just a vodka soda please," she said, sounding downcast. "Oooh! With lime! And one of those little umbrella thingies."

She grinned broadly at her uncle, reaching out to squeeze his arm. "You too," she said warmly. That much was true. He was clearly her favourite. She loved her family, all of them but Jorund and she were like two peas in a pod. They had a lot in common.

The comment about him being high made her roar with laughter, slapping the dark wood bar hard. "Nuuu!" She hissed with wide, innocent eyes. "Dad's gonna kill you," she chuckled, extending a hand to receive her drink. "Er, excuse me?" She asked the barman. "I didn't get an umbrella." The man behind the bar didn't really seem to care what she did or didn't ask for but after explaining they didn't have any umbrellas, he simply reached over the bar and dunked a cherry in her glass.

"Cool," she said brightly before taking a sip. She snorted. "We're going steady," Erika replied with a drunken grin. "Nah, I'm kidding. I sort of fell off," she explained with wide, unfocused eyes and wild gesticulation. "Is there anything stuck to my bum?" She asked, hopping off the stool and spinning to offer him her backside where there was a napkin stuck to her left cheek.

The men in the bar hooted and hollered, causing Erika to roll her eyes. "Oh behave," she chided them, shaking her head so the ends of her long golden locks whipped her cheeks. Someone laughed. She tutted darkly. "Honestly," she said, sounding exasperated. "If I was looking for a date, I'm better off visiting the zoo."

She sat back down again and swung her long legs to face the bar, taking a sip of her fizzy drink once more. "I got you a present," she said quickly, fumbling in her bag to extract a small shot glass, wrapped in silver tissue paper with the great pyramids of Giza etched on the glass. She grinned at him. "It was either that or a paperweight," she snorted.

"Hey!" Erika called out, frowning, flinging a hand at a pretty redhead who walked past. "She got an umbrella!" she whined to the barman, her full lower lip jutting out to form a frown. "Rude."

"I know, right?" Erika said, sounding forlorn as her plump deeply red lips down turned into a frown as her shoulders slumped in defeat. She felt considerably hard done by, having the bar tender not even try to mix her favourite drink. "Where did he learn his craft anyway?" The tall blonde asked her uncle. "Bartending school? Isn't there some sort of manual?" Absolute bastard. He was. He didn't even care! How rude.

"I'm in sooo much trouble," Erika squeaked, her big crystalline blue eyes wide with childlike innocence. Her dad was lovely but Jorund was right; he was a bit of a square. Her mother had to talk him into letting her take the Gringotts job because she'd be spending so much time in foreign countries with foreign men. Sugar lumps. What if he saw her now? Scantily clad, boozed up to the eye balls in a bar full of burly men? Her grandfather would high five her.

"I'm not allowed to try any drugs," she said matter-of-factly in a small voice, taking a big gulp of her drink. She shrugged again. "I don't think he thinks I'm al all responsible. Which I totally am," she blabbered as she swayed on the sticky bar stool. "You know you're my favourite, right?" Erika asked in a stage whisper, watching Jorund with wide, pleading eyes.

Her happiness at receiving a cherry was over the top. She snorted. With slim, nimble fingers, she plucked out the cherry by the stem and popped the small fruit into her mouth and chewed, well aware someone was watching her closely. "What is it with boys and cherries?" She asked her uncle candidly, confusion creasing her pretty facial features. "Just because I can tie the stem into a knot with my tongue does not mean I'm going to tie anything else into a knot with my tongue."

Erika laughed before sipping her strong, bubbly drink. "I wanted to," she said softly but the mention of another trip had her totally focused. "Where?" She asked, placing an elbow on the bar and rested her chin on an upturned palm, eyes sparkling. "Borneo?" She suggested. "They have orangutangs!" She gushed, throwing her hands into the air and in the process, accidentally slapping a man in the chest. "Oh I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, making grabby hands at the man as she initiated an apology hug.

More cherries!

Her initial joy was soon replaced by confusion, panic and then downright laughter. "Uncle Jorund!" Erika yelled, her hand reaching out to grab the back of his shirt as the bottle spun, the clear liquid splaying around and spraying the patrons. "Are we playing spin the bottle now?" She asked, which really only made everyone else cheer. Except the bar tender. Said bar tender was not happy.

She let out a squeal as the bottle made another pass, sending gin directly at her. This was quickly becoming an accidental wet tee shirt competition. Erika turned, throwing her hands up to try and deflect the alcohol. She'd spent many a night passed out on an alcohol covered floor to know that when it dried, it stuck like glue.

As the Guinness came out of her uncles orifices, she laughed. She slammed her hand against the bar and roared, feeling giddy and plain ridiculous. "That's disgusting!" She exclaimed. "Do it again!" She pleaded, bouncing on her bar stool as she applauded. "That was so much better than the Trevi Fountain! Excuse me," she said sweetly to the bar tender who had clearly had enough. "You don't have any snacks for me and my friends, do you?" She asked with a smile, fluttering her long eyelashes at him as he said he'd have a look. "Sucker," she snorted. Men were so easy.

Erika leant into her uncle's arm, letting him effectively keep her upright. "You're a terribly influence," she said fondly. He wasn't really. Jorund was very much on her wavelength and perhaps the family member she was closest to. "You need to come and see my new apartment," she urged him. "It's decorated now and it's pretty close to his super good Chinese take away place. I've befriended the owner," she said proudly.

She took a swig of her drink. "You also need to set me up on a date," she said quickly, nodding at her uncle. "I've got a new mattress and it needs testing out properly."

"Totally," Erika replied with a roll of her big, expressive and deeply blue eyes. Honestly? It was downright rude and terrible customer service. Erika thought she'd make an excellent bar tender, personally. She'd flirt with customers and have a laugh and she'd be able to make a fancy fruity cocktail. Erika snorted into her drink, thinking of her father. "I'm twenty threeee," she drawled, flapping her hands at him. "I'm in the prime of life! I should be getting drunk and I should be sleeping on people's sofas. I'm not his little girl any more."

She bounced on her stool excitedly, catching the gaze of a nearby man and she clapped and grinned. "You are no fun," she drawled, poking his arm gently. Chocolate! The tall blonde pounced on it, shoving a chunk into her mouth. "Do you always have food on your person?" She asked interestedly, tilting her head.

Just then, the bar tender placed a small plate of delicious, oohy-gooey looking mozzarella sticks in front of her. She grinned. "See?" She told Jorund, pointing at the bar tender. "I told you he liked me. Thanks cutie," she purred, winking at the man in black who was drying glasses. Some of the magic was lost when he was quick to tell her that he wasn't the one who'd bought her the snack but rather, another person in the bar had. Oh. She frowned a little. "I don't know why you hurt me so much," she told her bar tender, pouting and batting her eyelashes at him but he seemed disinterested. Rude.

"I love chocolate!" She called out, leaning precariously off her stool to kiss her uncle on the cheek. "Perfect," she said brightly. "Honestly?" Erika asked, eyes wide and innocent as she supped her peach coloured drink. She wasn't even sure if it was her drink. It was just kind of…there. "I thought you might hit on my flat mate. She's really pretty," she was quick to add as she nodded. Lulu was. She was very model-esque. "I think she's coming to the Christmas party," she said casually. "I could really go for some prawn toast right now," she said, biting into her mozzarella stick and holding the plate out for Jorund.

"Oh sorry," she was quick to add, offering him a cheeky smile as she stuffed half a mozzarella stick, a cherry and a chunk of chocolate into her mouth, all at the same time. Delish.

"Oh I dunno," Erika said with a sigh as she frowned, still drinking. "I'm not that fussy. Someone nice. Someone preferably unmarried," she added as she wrinkled her nose in distaste, hinting at the fact that she had dated a married man once and it hadn't ended that well. "I like someone with an accent," she added hopefully as she looked around the bar expectantly. They were in London. The land of accents. "Maybe not shorter than me but I don't mind. I can always not wear heels. Or underwear."

She paused as she thought about what else she wanted in a partner. "Nice eyes," the blonde added. "Someone who's able to take a drink because if they're tee-total, I'm so not interested." She leant back on her bar stool again, crossing her long bare legs as she frowned again. "Don't mind if he has kids," she offered casually, thinking of Murphy. Ava was a doll. She'd met the little blonde a few times. "Good sense of humour. Strong. Likes to travel. Likes dogs. Likes spicy food. Big hands," she said suddenly, holding her own out. "I like big hands. They cover a bigger surface area quicker. What about you?" she asked turning back to him. "You seeing anyone in secret?"