"Wow it's really packed tonight." Danny said after both they and Ashley stepped through the large wooden doors of the bar that was called, "Ric's Bar & Grill" and saw the place crowded with students. It was the only place cheap and close enough to campus for students to hang out at. Ashley and Danny had just finished finals before the Thanksgiving break and decided to spend a night together before Ashley went home to visit her family. Danny was not looking forward to it because they were going back to their parents which meant four long days of being away from Ashley.
"Want to sit by the window?" Ashley asked as she saw a booth open up in the corner that was lit by the street lamp outside. Danny nodded and two of them walked hand in hand together to their seats. It wasn't long before a waitress approached their table and took their orders. Danny ordered a Guinness while Ashley ordered a glass of wine. Once the waitress left, Ashley looked around the bar in awe of the fact that there seemed to be no room left to sit down. .
"Busiest drinking night of the year." Danny commented, "You excited to see your family again?"
"Yes." Ashley said, "I miss them. Do you look forward to hanging out with your family?"
Danny's lip curled at Ashley's question. Family events were something Danny lever looked forward to and it was always awkward talking about that with others. "Eh, I'm mixed. Our Thanksgiving dinner's aren't always kittens and puppies."
"Why what goes on?"
"My grandparents and cousins come over, my cousins are a few years younger than me and they aren't the most open minded of people. They call me names just like the Three Furies and neither their parents or mine really do much about it."
"Oh that sucks." Ashley says, feeling a pang of guilt for bringing up what she imagined to be a painful experience for Danny. "Then this weekend is going to be hell for you?"
"Nah not really." Danny said with a wave of their hand. "I get numb to it after a while. Right now I keep telling myself that my cousins are still in high school my hope is that they'll eventually understand queer identity. Overall my family is pretty conservative so I guess it's to be expected that the children would be too."
"That's still no excuse for them to say prejudice bullshit like that." Ashley said as she felt her face get warm. "How do you deal with all this crap from people? I don't know how I could."
Danny smiled at Ashley's attempt to understand the experience of being queer and took another drink. "I just try to prioritize who is worth my time and who isn't. My cousins, even though they can be pains in the asses, are just angry teenagers like I was in high school so when they get older if they want to engage me about my life, I'll do it but until then I have no problem ignoring them or telling them to fuck off." Danny's eyebrows raised as they drank again and continued, "For the Three Furies, well I know there's no hope reaching out to them. Normally I'd avoid them like the plague, but-" Danny smiled and flashed their teeth at Ashley, "Since they fucked with my partner, then I'm going to have to fuck back."
Ashley giggled as she lowered her eyes. It still felt strange to hear that she was Danny's partner, not because it was Danny but because she was already in a relationship after being in college for three months. "That sounded so naughty."
"It seems like our whole relationship was started based on naughtiness." Danny said, sliding a leg against Ashley's. "Speaking of which, that demonstration was interesting huh?"
"Yeah it was." Ashley said, rubbing her arm as she looked down at her drink.
Danny could see a shift in Ashley's mood and was surprised that this was the first time that she conveyed ambivalence about seeing Natasha. "Did it weird you out?"
Ashley sighed and leaned back in her seat. "Yes and no. No, because part of me felt like it was a show we were watching that Natasha agreed to perform in but yes because of some of the things people called her, like "bitch" and "slut." It was just hard for me to see a friend get degraded like that, but then again I guess that was the point. I just don't think I could be comfortable having sex and talking dirty in front of that many people."
Danny sipped their drink as they listened, nodding on occasion in agreement but choosing to remain silent before adding their two cents. "But really what I think bothered me the most was that part of me felt self conscious being there." Ashley added, "Like it wouldn't be too hard for someone from school to see us there and tell others. After we left I thought about that and that's why I'm uneasy about it now."
"Why is that?" Danny asked.
"I guess it's because I worry that one of the faculty might find out about it. Mistress Victoria said that this is a conservative town and I guess I'm afraid that by going to that place it might hurt my academic reputation."
"Because you're studying to be a teacher?"
