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[eloquencejones]

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[theambassador]

It had always been expected that Inara would go to university. There'd simply been the matter of which university and what sort of major she'd want to pick. Her father had pushed for her to go into politics. Her mother had wanted her to go into teaching, which was something that she'd considered. Ultimately, Inara had decided she'd prefer public relations. She hasn't regretted it yet.

Of course, she's still stuck with taking the core classes: math, science and the like. She has a number of electives she enjoys as well: art and drama mostly. She's got a wide circle of acquaintances and doesn't want for a social life in any way, but she's not close to anyone. Inara learned early on to wear a mask and show only the parts of oneself that one wants to be seen, that one wants to be open to ridicule and criticism. Having a father in politics will do that to a girl. She grown up in the public eye, but always in her father's shadow. She didn't mind it that way.

University is the first chance she's really had to develop who she is and not be her father's daughter. After years of private schools and being carefully watched, it's liberating. There are things about her that haven't changed. For example, she's generally dressed far more formally than any of her peers, but she likes pretty dresses and makeup.

Overall, it's been exactly the experience she'd wanted, but she's obviously still just getting her toes wet.

[virginscotch]

For Tony, university has been an experience, sure he's a bit younger than the other students and a bit smarter than most of them, and sure he's got a lot of work on his plate with all the electives he's piled on, but nobody here knows him. Sure he's still being followed around by the shadow of his father, but here he can use it, it gets him invited to parties (as does the money he can offer up for booze) and girls actually talk to him! ...They usually stop talking to him pretty quickly, but it's still a hell of a lot further than he ever got in high school. Keeping up with his classes was easy enough, which left him plenty of time for partying.

He's still working on the reinvention that everybody seems to be going through, polishing his flirtations and trying that air of aloofness that he hasn't quite mastered yet, but feels like something he wants to aim for. He's not quite comfortable in his own skin the way he wants to be, but he's starting to get there.

It's at one of those parties he's so fond of that he spots Inara. He recognises her, of course, everybody does, but while other people might sidle up close for her contacts or influence, he immediately sees a kindred spirit. So he wanders over, ready to practice his debonair persona.

"Inara, right? Can I get you a drink?" he waves the cup in his own hand. Plastic, and bright red, unfortunately, but it's got alcohol in it at least.

[theambassador]

She understands how liberating it can be to have the chance to be someone else, someone that you can discover. It's fortunate that Inara happens to like younger, awkward, entirely uncertain of themselves men. She does have to work a little harder than Tony at classes (but don't most people) but she manages to have a social life and keep her grades up.

That's what college is for, or so Inara hears. She is reasonably comfortable in her skin, or rather she's comfortable in the skin that she shows everyone else. Her private self is a different story, and that's a self that almost no one knows. It's a side of herself that she's not comfortable showing anyone, even in this place where she's supposed to get a fresh start.

The debonair persona has her smiling even as he approaches. She knows who he is, even if their paths haven't crossed yet.

She ducks her head a bit, pulling her bottom lip through her teeth before she looks up at him, catching his eyes. "Yes. To both my name and the drink, Mr. Stark."

[virginscotch]

A pretty girl had responded to him, would wonders never cease, clearly there was something to this person he was constructing, however painfully slowly the transition from awkward dork to smooth socialite was going.

"Call me Tony, please, all my friends do," not that he had that many of them, but fake it 'till you make it "What can I get you?" he was already mentally plotting the quickest route to the kitchen and back to minimise the chance for her to wander away or get distracted before he returned with the drink. Not that that had ever happened to him before or anything. And it definitely hadn't happened more than twice.

[theambassador]

But the awkward dork was so much more charming than the smooth socialite, at least in Inara's opinion. She'd had enough smooth socialites to last a lifetime; she was entirely aware of the hypocrisy of that statement since she was considered a smooth socialite. She blamed her parents; she was practically born a smooth socialite.

"Tony then and yes, I'd very much like a drink," she told him with a smile and a glance around the room. "I think it'd be too much to hope for something fruity and bubbly in this crowd, but something with vodka will do nicely." Really, she'd follow him to the kitchen. He needn't worry about hurrying. In fact, she even take his arm so he could guide her to the kitchen. It would be nice to be slightly removed from the din anyway.

[virginscotch]

"Fruity and bubbly, unfortunately I can't help you with. Vodka, I can definitely do," he grinned, though after a moment he dragged it down into a slightly less stupid looking smile, and turned on his heel to head to the kitchen. When she not only followed him but took his arm, he had to lean on her momentarily as he nearly fell over his own feet in surprise. He recovered, just about, and tried to look cool (unsuccessfully).

"So, Inara, what are you studying again?" he asked, hoping to distract her from his failure.

[theambassador]

"I'll take it," Inara said with a soft smile. Functions like this were so much more fun when one had a drink. Of course, Inara was always careful not to over-imbibe. Photographs lived forever, her father was fond of telling her. Besides, she'd heard horror stories of what happened to girls who'd drank too much at parties like this. Not that she thought that of Tony. She didn't know him well enough to think that, but her caution was there all the same. She chuckled softly when he stumbled, a genuine smile on her face. It was somehow brighter than her practiced smile, setting her eyes to twinkling. It's not a smile she used all that often.

"Psychology," she told him. "There was a push to put me into politics, but I rebelled. What about yourself, Tony?"

[virginscotch]

He lead her into the kitchen, neatly sidestepping a young woman nearly falling-down drunk just by the doorway, before stepping away from her and rounding the counter, grabbing bottles and playing the bartender, trying to come up with something drinkable given the copious spirits and minimal mixers scattered amongst the red plastic cups.

"Me? Oh, computer science, robotics, a dash of mechanical engineering. I lose track." he wasn't even trying to sound particularly blasé about his large course load, he genuinely was studying a fairly large number of things. Most of them as minors, but still more than he occasionally could remember.

[theambassador]

Inara winced, drawing against Tony as they sidestepped the woman. For a moment, she wondered if they ought to help, but as she looked over her shoulder, some of the woman's friends seemed to be doing that. Inara watched Tony play bartender with her head tilted, an amused smile on her face.

She laughed softly at the casual way he rattles off his various minors and course interests. "I see you're keeping your mind open." She sat down on a barstool, her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. She looked softer in that moment, more approachable and casual. "You seem to be adjusting to college life well enough."

[virginscotch]

"Wide open," he agreed "How else is all that knowledge going to drop in there?"

He finished up his attempts at a decent drink and slid it across the counter to her, watching her for her reaction. He was pretty pleased with what he'd come up with, but he wasn't sure how it would actually taste without the proper ingredients.

"College is great, it wasn't too hard to adjust."

[theambassador]

"I bet your professors love you," she laughed softly, the smile lingering on her face.

She murmured a thank you for the drink then picked it up and took a sip. She nodded a bit. "You did well. Now you have to name it."

Her eyebrows went up a bit. "That's not a reaction many people have. Did you like high school?" Because she'd discovered that many people who had a difficult time adjusting did quite well in high school. She was curious if the opposite were true.

[virginscotch]

"Eh," he wobbled his hand, pulling an uncertain face "Love me as long as I'm not correcting them, I guess." he couldn't help but point out when things were wrong, and he was pretty sure he hadn't mastered the confidence to pull it off, he probably just came across as more annoying.

"I call it..." he paused dramatically, partly for suspense, partly to give himself a chance to think of something good "Serra-Tonin. Because it's got enough booze to make you happy." he grinned a little. It wasn't the best pun he'd ever come up with, but he was still pleased.

"Now that would be telling," he winked, working on mixing his own drink, though he wasn't quite quick enough to hide the face he initially pulled at the question, it was obvious the answer was no.

[theambassador]

Oh. So he was that student. Honestly, it made him all the more attractive to Inara because it meant he was smart and who didn't like a smart guy, besides the professors. Confidence was something that would come with time and age. She had no doubt he'd gain it and something in her wanted to help him gain that confidence. He'd be a force to be reckoned with then.

Maybe not the best pun, but it was good enough to make her laugh. "I'll let you know by the end of the night if you've got a career as a bartender or not," she teased him She took another sip of the drink. He'd managed to fulfill her requirements quite nicely.

She smirked, eyebrows arching a moment. "I did very well in high school, but I didn't like it much." She'd been expected to do well and her father wouldn't stand for anything else. Besides, Inara was competitive and that had gotten the better of her. It helped that she liked her studies.

[virginscotch]

"Well, once you're done with that one just let me know and I'll mix you up another. Unless it's terrible, in which case I will not do that." he grinned. He took an experimental sip of his own drink, the strength of it making him cough slightly (oh, very smooth Tony, good going). While he was embarrassed at his own reaction, he didn't want to make himself look worse by adding more mixer, so instead he took another sip, this time fighting back the cough.

"Yea? Would've thought a pretty girl like you would have had a great time at high school." he said conversationally.