Singles Night {OPEN}

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Singles Night... What a stupid idea. Some idiot, a long time ago, had the brilliant idea of mixing discounted alcohol with desperate singles. Somepony might think that it was invented by a single who wanted to increase their chances of finding somepony else. That somepony who thinks that is wrong. It was invented by businesses to prey on the hopeless attempts at romance that idiots suffered from. They'd put on a show, invite you in, introduce you to other singles, and then subtly introduce you to their menus and drink selections. Can't find true love on an empty stomach, right? Why was Melody here? Well, a good thing that came from Singles Night at the Bucking Bronco, a personal favorite bar of hers, was that their alcohol was generously discounted every Singles Night. Melody sat back at the bar, downing another shot. While these desperate idiots were searching for somepony dumb enough to go home with them, Melody was taking advantage of the cheap booze. She'd drink till she had enough, and then slip back home for a good night's rest. Romance was for fools, and Melody was no fool. "Hey babe." Speaking of fools... Melody took her time turning to face the obviously drunk stallion. Well, wasn't this just the most eligible bachelor in all of Canterlot? "Do you know karate, because-" Seriously? "I swear to Roc, if you say that my body is kickin', I'm going to knock your teeth out. Because I actually do know karate. And you're revolting. Seriously, go use lame pick up lines on somebody who doesn't know how to rearrange your face." Melody swiveled back to the bar, and looked at her empty glass. Damn. Why was the booze always gone? "Hey bartender! My glass is drier than the San Palomino Desert! How about helping me out with that?"

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In Hindsight, maybe Twilight was right. Taking the train would've been much quicker and a lot less exhausting than walking from Ponyville to Canterlot. It wasn't so bad until the last leg of his journey, when he climbed the side of the mountain. A pegasus Guard had approached him as he made his way up, asking for a reasoning behind his actions. After dealing with the guard and entering the town, he was tired and he was thirsty. He walked the streets of Canterlot for a short time. As with Ponyville, ponies got out of his way, and gave him odd looks. He sighed, deciding on one establishment that looked pretty lively. 'The Bucking Bronco' ... Why did that sound Lewd to him? He shook the thought from his mind and entered, keeping low to attract less attention. He slithered his way to the bar, and caught the bartenders attention. "Could I get a glass of water?" The bartender glared at him, causing Ari to shift slightly. "Er... and the Blue Ribbon?" The bartender placed a glass of water and a dark brown bottle on the bar for the dragon. Ari left a few bits and made his way over to a table in the corner of the bar, pulling out hs journal and scanning the crowd as he made notes. Two new headings entered his journal. "Bar Life" and "Singles Night." He smiled a bit, happy to be able to gather new information for his Encyclopedia. He looked up, hearing a voice over the din of the crowd. Specifically the threat of knocking teeth out. He had heard that griffons were fiery, but he'd never had the opportunity to meet one up close. A third heading entered the Journal. "Griffons." This night was just getting better and better!

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Hm... Melody wasn't getting much luck with that drink. She glanced around, and noticed a dragon. That wasn't something she saw every day. He wasn't even paying attention to the singles around. He was writing. That made her even more curious. What could a dragon be writing about in the middle of a bar? Why would he be writing about something in the middle of a bar? Oh, look, the bartender finally got her drink. Took 'em long enough. Melody swiped her glass, and made her way over to the dragon's table, avoiding more hopeless hopefuls along the way. "Mind if I join you?"

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Argentum was busily writing about what was going on around him. 'The Desperation mingles with the scent of alcohol and sound of music. I have heard some horrible pickup lines... my favorite so far being ".Did you used to be a pegasus? Because you look like you fell from the heavens." Perhaps that line would have held more merit being used on a pony that didn't have wings..."

Argentum didn't even look up at first when the voice asked to join him. He wasn't expecting anyone to want to join him, so when he did finally look up to take take a drink of water, he almost jumped to see the Griffon. "Ohum... Yes that's alright. I don't think I'll be much fun to join though." he mentioned, tapping the journal before setting the water down next to the untouched alcoholic beverage.

"Im Argentum. And you are?" he introduced himself, but didn't reach his claw out for a shake quite yet. Wouldn't wanna worry anyone.

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Not be much fun to join? "You look sober enough, you're not hitting on me, and if I sit with you, everyone else will leave me alone. You're a cart load of fun." Melody sat down with him, and extended her talons. "I'm Melody. Don't often see dragons in Canterlot, let alone ones who are willing to come to things like this. Let alone ones who would come to a thing like this and write." It was nice to see someone changing the way ponies saw things. Most thought dragons were fire breathing monsters... A lot of them might as well have been, but they weren't all like that. It was just like how griffons weren't all proud jerks.

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Argentum took a few moments to process what Melody had said, quickly scritching something into his journal before gesturing a claw to the seat across from him to offer it to her, and then shaking her talon gently. It took a little longer to get questioned about why he was here than he had expected, honestly. And he just smiled at the Griffon, placed the pencil in the book and folded it closed. "I didn't come here for the event. I came here because I was thirsty after walking here from Ponyville." He explained, taking a drink of his water. "And I'm sober because I haven't drank." He nodded, looking about at the ponies that were once watching Melody, now keeping their gaze averted from the dragon she had decided to sit with. He let out a light chuckle and tapped the table with a gentle claw. "Using a dragon to scare off ponies isn't nice, you know."

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He seemed like one of those scholarly types, not there was anything wrong with that. "I'm not using you in the sense that you're a dragon. I'm using you in the sense that if it looks like we're hooking up, these hopeless losers will stop pestering me. Just sit there and look interested in what I'm saying." Melody winked, and took a sip from her drink. "So, what're you writing?"

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Argentum listened to the griffon speak. A strength to the tone was almost masked by an unexpected sweetness from such a keen hunter. A sweetness that was almost betrayed by what she had said, seeming to insult everyone that was here and trying to get to know this griffon better. Why would she come here if all of that had annoyed her? She seemed to know what this event was. "Cataloging my experiences in Equestria. I'm hoping to write an encyclopedia bringing together knowledge from many cultures into one place. Currently I am writing about 'Bar Life', 'Singles Nights', and 'Griffons'. All three new things for me to experience." he said, looking to the alcoholic beverage in front of him, sliding it forward to offer it to the griffon. "I don't drink alcohol, if you want it..." He smiled to her as he took his journal and returned it to the pack on his side. Look interested in what she's saying... Hard to do when he keeps looking at the leatherbound book.

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He was a scholarly type. Making an encyclopedia definitely fell under the category of scholar. She wouldn't say nerd. The dragon was too laid back and friendly to be a nerd. Scholar had a more uplifting context to it. Melody took the drink from Argentum, smiling. Without hesitating, she scooted closer, pretending to laugh at a joke. After some onlookers turned away, the griffon reverted to her normal expression. "I get to be your model griffon~? I feel honored. Maybe I'd feel more honored if you'd picked me for my quality, instead of being the only one here." Melody sipped the drink. "Mmm... Good stuff."

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Argentum seemed confused by the laugh for a moment. He hadn't said anything funny, had he? Then it dawned on him that it was a fake laughter to deter the ponies that were around. Argentum took a moment to give the onlooker a stoic look before turning back to Melody. Hopefully catching the eye of a dragon would make him think twice. He took a sip of his water, listening to Melody speak. "Perhaps even if there were other griffons here, I'd choose you as a subject, or my research would be about interactions between Griffons, instead of the actions of a single griffon." He said. In his head, that sounded like a compliment. Outside of his head, he didn't seem to realize it didn't really count as one. She took a sip, claiming it was good. He wouldn't know. "The only alcohol I've tried was Hearth's Ale in Winter's Rest. Ginger and Nutmeg. It wasn't the worst thing I've tried, but I don't think I'll be trying anything else any time soon." He said, looking to the bottle. "It's not too warm, is it? It has been sitting for a short while."

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"Thanks... I think?" By this point, most of the ponies who gave her lewd looks moved along, searching for something easier to attain. Melody relaxed next to the dragon and took another sip. After his question, she just smiled. "I've definitely had worse. And if it becomes unbearable, I can always get some ice from the bartender..." Her voice suddenly raised a few octaves. "If he knew how to do his job faster!" She gave a smile to Argentum, like a special little present. "So, an encyclopedia, huh? That's a bit noble of you. What brought that on? I know it's not every day that someone wakes up and decides to make an encyclopedia." She could've left by now if she wanted to. He was too interesting, though, and she wasn't ready to stop drinking.

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Argentum smiled a bit. "No need for the bartender." He said, reaching across and grabbing hold of the glass. He held it in front of him and breathed a light breath on it before setting it back down in front of Melody, the beverage now chilled. He thought for a moment. Why an Encyclopedia? It was an interesting question, one that he wasn't even sure if he fully knew the answers to himself. "I grew up in a town, surrounded by ponies. A town locked in a Perpetual winter by the mountains around it. The mayor, Icy Wind, would always talk about other places she'd seen, and different cultural things that happened around the world." He paused for a moment, taking a sip of his water as he tried to find the right words for his next comment. "It... inspired me? I wanted to learn more about the world. And as a Dragon, coming of age, I've got this primal urge to build a horde. But the studious par of me doesn't want it to be meaningless, like most Dragon Hordes. An encyclopedia would be my own horde, a collected knowledge from around the world." He said. After a brief moment he lowered his head, as if a bit embarrassed.

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"An ice dragon... Huh." Melody took the glass from him and tapped her talons against the frosty glass. Now that was something she hadn't seen before. Melody continued to listen to him through the entire little monologue he had. An ice dragon from an icy place. Gee, who would have guessed? Melody sipped the drink. By the time he finished, she felt she knew a little more about the dragon. "So, it's noble and selfish at the same time. Heheh... I like it. There's worse things an ice dragon could do. I could probably name about fifty of them." Not that she was going to name fifty of them. She had better things to do.