A Chance Meeting

"A Chance Meeting" is a BOTGD 2 Act 1 thread written on June 16, 2019.
==Summary==
Siri meets Will in the tavern one night and the two of them get to know each other until Siri begins making moves on Will, and Will reciprocates, causing the two of them to spend the rest of the night together.
==Full Text==
Siri: Siri walked into Haligan’s tavern with a sigh and ran a hand through her hair. There was a party for her cousin Sven’s sage return. She loved him and was glad he was home and all, but it was just a lot, so she made an escape. Practically the whole village was in the town center celebrating.
The whole village except herself, the tavern owner, a few stragglers, and a cat half-breed she had never seen before.
Huh, unusual.
With another heavy sigh, she dropped into a chair, a few tables away but facing the stranger.
William Verdile: William flicks his tail, looking over at the newcomer as she drops down at a table. All told, he’s a little surprised to see someone else enter the tavern. Most people are at the party.
He made an appearance for a short time, but after the day spent building up Haligan’s defenses, he’d had enough of the crush of other people, and had slipped away to the tavern. At first, he’d thought to drink himself into a stupor, but the idea lost its appeal in the quiet of the tavern, and so William has been sipping at the same drink for more than half an hour.
Siri: Siri noticed the stranger looking at her. She was never shy and there was no reason to start now. She ran her hand through her hair again.
“Not the party type?” She asked with a sly smile, voice a little louder than normal to be sure it carried to the half-breed.
William Verdile: William snorts. “Not particularly, no,” he says, matching her volume. “It’s a bit too crowded for my liking.” He shoots her a grin. “What about you?”
Siri: “I like parties,” she responds. “But when you know practically everyone there and call most of them family, it isn’t really fun anymore. Plus, as much as I love this place, they don’t know how to throw a good party.” Siri smirked. “I’ve been to better.”
William Verdile: “Oh?” William leans forward in his seat. “Do tell. I could use a good story. It’s been a bit of a long day.”
Siri: Siri laughed. “I’ve got a ton of stories I can’t tell around my parents and baby sister that’d I’d be willing to share. Just give me a topic and I’m sure I’ll have a story to match. I’ve been to a lot of places and seen a lot of parties.”
William Verdile: “Hmm.” He taps his chin. “Tell me your favorite,” he says. “Surprise me.”
Siri: “If you come over here, I might just do that.” she replied with a playful smirk.
“I’m going to go get a drink and if you’re not at this table by the time I return, you don’t get to hear it.”
Siri didn’t give him time to respond, instead she stood up and walked over to the bar to order a drink.
William Verdile: William watches after her as she walks away. “Alright then,” he murmurs. Carrying his mug with him, he moves over to the table, dropping down in the seat she’d just vacated. 
Siri: Siri turns around from the bar, cup in hand and snorts a bit at the sight before her as she returns to her table.
“Chair theif,” she teases. She liked this guy. She sits across from him and sets the mug down. “Let’s see… favorite story…”
A smile crosses her face as a story comes to mind. “So I was, Gods I don’t even remember now, well anyway I was away from here where it’s warmer and I met this girl about my age and we hit it off right away. I was there for a few weeks and so, she has me tag along to her slightly younger sister’s wedding. Cute wedding and all but the party was on a beach. Whatever they put in their drinks down there is wild I guess, because the next thing I know the groom is stark naked and ankle deep in the ocean, screaming all kinds of dirty words at his new wife, who was also drunk. And uh, her clothes came off too and she got in the water. And I’m sure you’re smart enough to see where this is going.”
Siri chuckled a bit at the memory and took a sip of her drink before continuing.
“And yes, it was in front of everyone. It was a wild night.”
William Verdile: William snorts into his drink. “And you just watched?” he asks, his voice tinged with laughter.
Siri: Siri rolled her eyes and laughed too. “Watched would be an overstatement. I definitely heard somethings I wish I hadn’t, though. Contrary to popular belief, I have some tact.”
William Verdile: He chuckles. “Well, you could’ve walked away entirely,” he points out.
Siri: Siri laughed. “And miss the party? No way.”
She took a sip of her drink. “Well now that I’ve told you a story, I suppose I should introduce myself. I’m Siri Haralson, child of the Rebellion.”
Quite literally, she added silently to herself, as she extended a hand to the stranger.
William Verdile: William reaches out to shake her hand. “William Verdile. Also a child of the Rebellion, actually.” He grins at her. “Are you staying on Haligan?”
Siri: “You could say that,” she leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. “You’d be more accurate in saying I technically live here, though. You?”
William Verdile: “I’ve lived here for a few years, now,” he says. William’s tail swishes as he thinks. “It’s a little odd that we’ve never met before,” he muses. 
Siri: “Not that surprising.” She replies casually, flipping hair over her shoulder. “I travel around a lot and have for a few years. I usually only come back for a few days at a time, but with everything that’s happening I wanted to stay with my family for a while, you know?”
She takes another sip of her drink. “Your family live here now too? Or did you ditch home like half the Rebellion kids I know?”
William Verdile: William shrugs a shoulder. “My sister’s gone off gods know where, and my mom lives near Perch Hall. She just keeps the records. I wanted to do more than that.” He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. “What about you? What has you traveling so much?”
Siri: She flips her hair over her shoulder. “It’s just too quiet here for me. My family, my parents, did a really good job of keeping me safe. Really good job. So good that I started feeling a little suffocated. I wanted to leave, see new people and new places, do more things. My family means everything to me, but we’re very different.”
She sighs. “Also, I’ve got a personal mission to uh, make things right in the universe.”
She didn’t know why she would tell any of that to this William, a practical stranger. But she was doing it. There was something about him that was comforting in a way, she liked his company.
Siri frowns. “I- I’m sorry about your dad. That’s gotta be hard.”
It seemed like most of the Rebellion kids had some sort of dad problem. Vox left his kids, Greg died, she had a dad but didn’t know (and didn’t want to know), her actual dad. And now William’s father was dead too.
William Verdile: “I was pretty young. Honestly, I don’t remember him much.” William gives himself a shake. “Sorry, sorry. Today’s supposed to be a day of celebration, isn’t it? There’s no real point in dwelling on the past.”
Siri: “It’s okay,” Siri replied, taking another sip of her drink. “Sometimes memories come up from weird things. You don’t have to apologize.”
William Verdile: He lets out a humorless laugh. “Thanks.” William rubs the back of his head, searching for another topic of conversation. “So, uh…”
Siri: Siri finished the rest of her drink and leaned forward on her elbows so she was looking directly into William’s eyes. “There are other ways to celebrate things, you know. Rather than parties. And one of those ways might just be to come back with me.”
She smiled suggestively. “If you know what I mean…”
William Verdile: William smirks at her. “You know, I just might.” He leans forward, lowering his voice as he continues, “If you’re offering.”
Siri: She smirks in response and matches his volume. “Oh, I’m offering.”
William Verdile: “Well, in that case, I’d be happy to,” William says, leaning back in his chair with a challenging gleam in his eye. After you.
Siri: Siri smirks for a split second before her mouth draws into a straight line. She rises from her seat and walks over to William. She grabs the front of his shirt and pulls him up, surprised that he let her yank him up so easily and a little surprised by his height.
Either way, she didn’t care. “You are coming with me,” she says in a low voice.
William Verdile: “If you insist,” he says, smirk still firmly on his face. Nevermind the fact that he has to crane his neck to look Siri in the eye. “Though,” he starts, “I can walk on my own.”
Siri: “Mhm, really? Didn’t seem like it.” She replies dryly, looking down at him with a smirk of her own.
She kicks her chair back in with a clatter and only then does she release her hold on his shirt. “Follow me,” she says, nearly in a whisper before heading out the door.
William Verdile: William blows out a breath. “Well then,” he whispers before following after Siri.
Siri: It feels like it takes longer than usual to get back to her house, but eventually she gets there, and knowing her parents and sister are still at the party, she fiddles with the door before it swings open, and she roughly pulls William in behind her before shutting the door.
She heaves a breath before making up her mind and grabs William by the arm, leading him to her room in the dark. He doesn’t know his way around her house in the dark like she does and they don’t have time to waste.
Finally, both of them are in her room and the first thing that she does is back him into the corner. “Took me twice as long to get here because of you,” she tells him in a low voice. “Tell me again how you can walk on your own?”
William Verdile: “I can walk just fine,” he retorts in an equally low voice. “You’re the one who was walking slowly,” he teases. Raising himself up on his toes doesn’t give him as much of a height advantage as he’d like, but–well, she’s leaned towards him anyway. “What are you gonna do about it?” he breathes.
Siri: Siri barely allows him to finish the question before crashing her lips into his, pressing his back against the wall.
She’s done this plenty of times, to plenty of people in plenty of different places. But for some reason, this time feels different. Whether it’s the fact she’s in her bedroom at home or she’s with Will, she doesn’t know. She doesn’t even know if it’s a good or bad kind of different, or if it’s just different all together.
She pulls back from the kiss just long enough to whisper “That’s what I’m going to do about it,” into William’s ear.
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Act I
Category:Events
Category:Siri Haralson
Category:William Verdile