2019-10-16 - Two Cops and a Skater Walk into a Bar

"No mom, I'm not going to be home for dinner. No you don't have to make-Mom. I'm not 15 anymore. I'll be home when I get home okay?" There was still chatter on the other end of the cellphone even as Esme hung up. Her shift had just ended but, let's be real, a detective's work is never really done. So no use going back home and getting comfortable just yet. Instead, Two if by Sea called to her! For a drink and maybe something to eat. Had she eaten today? Esme couldn't remember.

She stepped into the bar with a casual glance, taking note of all who were currently inhabiting the building before striding over to the bar to take a seat. "Can I get a Corona please?" She flashed the bartender a light smile and then relaxed against the counter top. Her attire is suitable for the weather. A pair of black dress pants and a long sleeved blue button down, hair pinned up in a bun. She's wearing a long wool coat over it all to help with the chill.

The green and blue haired girl who comes in from outside is dressed in a black t-shirt over a white long-sleeved t-shirt and shorts with black and white horizontally striped thigh high socks tucked into bright neon green sneakers. She wanders on up to the bar and plunks herself down there, folding her arms in front of her on its surface and swinging one leg idly back and forth. Her presence gets a look, and the bartender cards her because she doesn't exactly look her 21 years. She is, however, and since her iD is legit, she's allowed to stay, even if all she orders is a cherry coke and a plate of cheese fries. It's a Tuesday. It's not like the bar is particularly hopping.

Esme's attention, of course, is drawn briefly towards the new arrival. A once over to assess if she's any sort of threat. The first word that Esme thinks is delinquent, but hey - not her problem unless a problem occurs in the building. She takes a sip of her Corona and adds to the bartender, "Get me a plate of those too? Cheesy fries? With bacon bits if you have them." She explains. "Nice hair." Is said to Daisy. "I could never pull something like that off." Flashing her a smile.

Daisy chews on the end of her straw idly as the cherry coke is set in front of her, taking a sip, and then grinning around it over at Esme. "Thanks," she says, "It makes me happy." Then she studies Esme for a moment or two and then says, "You probably could. But with your dark hair, I'd probably just do a streak of some subtle color that would catch in the light, so it's not as obvious, you know? Something a little more ... mysterious." She stirs the ice in her drink with her straw as she thinks about it.

Esme laughed at the idea of any part of her being mysterious."Hm. Maybe. Shame that I like the bright colors better. But then again, probably a good thing the dress code is what it is at work. Else I'd be trying all sort of crazy things." Looking amused at the idea. Perhaps trying to picture it even. "Did you grow up around here at all?" Just curious. "I've just moved back, it's amazing how much has changed and at the same time, how much feels the same.

"Bummer," Daisy says at the idea that work might limit one's self expression. "That's why I work with people who don't worry so much about that stuff. As though your hair affects your job. If anything, you'd think people would want their workers to be happy, you know? Do better work when you're happy," Daisy says as she continues to fiddle with the straw and wait for her cheese fries to arrive. "Yep, lived here my whole life. How long've you been gone?"

Well this is somewhere Malachi hasn't gotten to yet. Finally getting to check it out. Slow walks brings him towards the bar as well, near to where Daisy and Esme is as he listens to them while waiting to order. Once done leaning forward on the bar. "Oh, get some mozzarella sticks as well." Offered before glancing to Esme and Daisy again. Perhaps recognizing the former some. If he'd ever seen her at the precinct . Nothing on his appearance really stands out, black jacket and dark clothes. Though his eyes do wander from person to persson. From how the bartender works and uses his hands to Esme's and Daisy's body language and gestures. Not outright staring though.

"If I showed up at the precinct with pink hair I'm pretty sure everyone'd give me shit for it." Esme laughed, moving her coat a bit to show off the badge tacked to her belt. "They would, right?" She raises a brow to Malachi. She can't remember if they've been formally introduced but she recognizes him vaguely. In that way you know you've seen someone around before recently. "But hey, whatever works for you I'd think. Working someone where theres' freedom of expression like that is probably good for the soul hm?" She took another sip of her beer. "Been gone oh, a little less than twenty years now? Just transferred in from Spokane. The name's Esme."

"Ooh, mozzarella sticks are the bomb. Well, anything with cheese. Fried cheesey cheese with cheese on top," Daisy says as she grins over at Malachi when he makes the suggestion. "You should join us. We're having cheese fries. You're welcome to some of mine." The offer would have been made to Esme as well, but she ordered some of her own already. "I'm Daisy, by the way," she introduces herself to the pair of them. She nods in agreement with Esme and says, "Definitely good for the soul." Both brows raise when Esme says she's been gone a little less than twenty years, "Oh, so a while. I was going to try to figure out what's changed but.. I was probably like.. three."

Malachi does let out a soft chuckle, "If nothing else I am sure we all would be amused if you run around with pink hair." He offers and smiles, perhaps giving himself away as well. Turning to nod to Daisy about mozzarella sticks, "OH, they are. Want some?" He asks and grins. Nodding at the offer from Daisy as well as he join them. "Perhaps I will. I'm Malachi." Introducing himself as well. Nodding some about having been gone twenty years. "Passed through here about that as well. Or well, 15 years perhaps." He admits and grins. "But I don't remember much."

"Cheese and bacon might as well run through my veins." Esme agreed with a grin, thanking the bartender as her own fries get here, indeed sprinkled with bacon bits. She nudges it towards the center of the trio. Why not share! "Well, now I want to show up with pink hair.Maybe some streaks. All, subtle and such." She chuckled. "It's nice to meet ya Daisy. And you, officially, Malachai. I've seen you around the office." She grinned to Daisy. "I'd kill to be in my twenties again. But alas, with my luck I'd end up spending it all behind bars because of killing for it."

Daisy smiles when Malachi joins them as well, "Nice to meet you, officers," she says to both of them, taking another sip of her drink through her straw before she says, "Guess none of us would remember the same things, then." One leg continues to swing idly back and forth, as though she can't currently sit entirely still, a bit of restless energy in her. She pushes her own cheese fries into the middle as well, so that the entire pile can be shared betwixt the three. She grins at Esme then and says, "Murder's probably a bad idea, particularly for a cop. For what it's worth, you look like you're in your twenties?"

Malachi chuckles and nods. The mozzarella sticks set in the center as well, once it arrives. "Same to you, Esme." Turning to Daisy, "And nice to meet you as well, Daisy." Grinning at Esme's joke. "Well, then we know the price you pay for it at least. Makes our job easier." Noting that restlessness, but he won't comment. His own drink of choice seem to be a stout. Sipping on it. An agreeing nod about Esme's apparant age. "Indeed."

"Yeah, it's probably not the smartest thing I could do." Esme laughed. "Thanks, always nice to hear that you look younger than you are." She plucked up a couple of her fries and looked between them. "And you're right Daisy. I think we'd all remember different things. Funny isn't it? You get three people in the same room who all grew up in the same town at different times and chances are slim they'll have any recollection of the same events." Another, longer sip before she snagged a mozzerella stick. "So what brought you back to Gray Harbor, Malachai? And what'd made you stay?" That second question is asked towards Daisy with a lifted brow.

Daisy reaches over and grabs a mozzarella stick once they are set on the table and bites into it, oozy stringy cheese gooeyness attempts to escape and she manages to catch it with the remaining half, swirling it up before it drips everywhere. Deftly, she maneuvers the cheese stick until she manages to eat it all without losing any of the precious melty goodness. Slowly, she twists back and forth, rotating the stool with her hips, always a little bit in motion. "I mean, why wouldn't I stay? I grew up here. I live here. My friends and my stuff is here." She gives a curious little grin at Esme. "I mean, I'd like to travel and see other places sometime, sure. But I like Gray Harbor."

Malachi smiles and nods, "Quite interesting. Didn't grow up here though. Was only passing through as a kid." He admits. Seems to be more there, but not going into it. A bit of an explainer to Esme as well. "There was something about this place. Also met someone that was curious back then. Then lastly, apparantly I'm from here. Adopted. So wanted to see if I could find biological family." He goes on. Turning to Daisy to hear what she has to say. Nodding some. "There is something about Gray Harbor." He agrees with a small smile.

Esme says, "That's fair I guess. I had a lot of dreams of moving out, getting famous, or going to the moon. But I left after high school for college and the academy and didn't look back. But I figured, my parents are getting a little up there in age? So it'd be nice to be closer to them." Esme offered for herself. "A lot of people find themselves coming back. S'what I've heard at least. And I guess that makes me one of them too." Taking a bite of the cheesy fried stick and sighig contently. "Any leads on who your biological family is?" Esme asked curiously. "It's a small town, you know? Gets its roots in ya, like those country songs sing about." Even Esme, rather ignorant of and oblivious to the true weirdness of Gray Harbor, seemed to agree that there was something about the town. "

"Well, my family's all here.. my siblings, my parents, all the pets. I don't know where I'd go if I were going to move somewhere," Daisy muses. "I'd have to have some really good reason to want to move away." She reaches out and nabs another couple of cheese fries, sure to get some bacon and green onion and sour cream on them as well. Fully loaded fries of goodness. "Country road, take me home, to the place where I was born.." Daisy sings, and she has a pretty good voice, busting out a little John Denver.

Malachi nods and smiles, "A lot of reasons to return." Taking a cheese stick for himself. "No leads. Too busy with paperwork." He admits with a chuckle. Taking some fries with all extra bits on as well. Grinning as Daisy sings. "Well, I guess John Denver got the right idea." He offers with amusement.

"Nice set of pipes." Esme smiled. "And yeah, he did." She finished off her Corona. And, her phone went off. Of course. Work call. Of course. She made that 'one second' motion and answered the phone. "Detective Wilkinson. Mmhm. Mmmhm. Right. No, I-Are you." Esme groans. "Fine. I'm coming back. Only to show you that I DID do it right." She hangs up and looks to the other two. "Paperwork is right. Too much paperwork.They don't warn you enough about how much there is at the academy" She sighed and then flashed another smile. "I have to run, but it was good meeting you both. And hey, Mal - if you want any help with the legwork on tracking them down. I'm happy to lend a hand if I can." Then she's putting a few bills down to pay for her drink and the fries - leaving the fries for the pair to finish before heading out.

Daisy grins a little at both of them and says, "Thanks! I like to sing, though mostly I just sing to my plants." She then quiets so that Esme can take her call without interruption, blatantly and unashamedly listening in with a kind of idle interest. Though when Esme has to leave she looks a little disappointed. "Aw, sorry to hear that. Have a good night, Detective!" She gives the woman a little wave and then looks back to Malachi. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to help me eat all this food so it doesn't go to waste." Is she serious? She doesn't look like she could consume an entire plate of cheese fries and a half an order of mozzarella sticks, but she sure seems game to try.

Malachi nods agreeingly about Daisy's pipes. Looking to Esme with a raised brow. "Take care. And yeah, I might come find you about it." He says and nods, mouthing a 'thanks' as well. Turning to Daisy once Esme leaves. "I am sure your plants enjoy it." He says and grins. A bit of a chuckle at the mission, Bowing his head, "Mission accepted." He offers. Able to finish it or not, they can try.

Daisy offers Malachi a thumbs-up when he agrees to the terms of the challenge before them. She grabs some more fries and eats them, then says, "Well, they do grow pretty well, so at least I don't make them wilt!" She then pauses in her swaying on the stool, no longer twisting back and forth and asks him, "So, what kind of a cop are you? She's obviously a detective. Are you a detective, too?"

Malachi chuckles and eat more fries. "Good to know that you don't randomly kill stuff. Would be a pain." He offers teasingly. Gaze shifting to where she stop swaying, raising brow at that but then there is a question, "Oh, no. Just a traffic cop, right now. Need the experience. But going for CSI." He explains. "How about you? What do you do?" Most likely missed it if she offered it to Esme before.

She smiles a little bit at the teasing and says, "Kind of like that comic book character, Wither. He'd wither anything that he touched, which really sucked, since that meant even the food he'd put in his mouth to eat, so everything tasted like ash and rot." She wrinkles her nose, definitely not a fan of that idea. "That's cool. I like CSI," she offers. "Most of them." When he asks what she does, she says, "I work over at the skate shop and dispensary." Though work is kind of a dubious term. But she's there. And in the shop. And she might actually work the register if Greg's not paying attention, so it could be called working.

Malachi does seem a bit curious as she goes into comic books, nodding agreeingly. "Exactly. Ibteresting charactee, but unfortunate powers." Nodding about what she does, "Neat perhaps I'll drop by sometime." Another cheese stick then, but dipped in the sour cream and bacon bits. "So, you like comics or was that just an odd fact that you learned?"

Daisy smiles a little curiously at him when he says he'll drop by and says, "To the skate shop, I'm assuming. Wouldn't figure the cops would want you hanging around a pot shop, unless it was to check up on us delinquents." Her smile is bright, though. "Yep, I like comics. I mean, I don't read a lot of them, but I like the superhero movies, and I know some of the characters. I like the X-Men. I wanted to be Rogue when I was younger, because I saw the movie, and for a while I went around wearing long gloves refusing to touch anyone."

"Yeah, skate shop. Though now I feel like tge pot shop have shady stuff so should go there." Clearly offered in jest though. Grinning about her history with comics, and being Rogue. "Sounds like an amusing time. Anyone ever tried being Gambit to your Rogue? You know, loveable scoundrel that always stick around despite the fact, no touchie."

"Hey, we're legit and everything. The only shady thing we got are sunglasses," Daisy says with a grin, clearly not taking him too seriously, either. She offers a little shake of her head though and reaches out to grab another fry, dipping it in the sour cream before eating it. "Nah, no Gambit. Not sure I could have maintained the whole no touchie thing if I had a hot scoundrel with that new orleans drawl hanging around."

Malachi grins and let out a 'mhmm' as if not trusting her, but soon after chuckling. "Well, I could drop by there as well, just to check it out." As she says, it is legit. Why would other cops have an issue? Though as for Gambit, he laughs, "Fair point. It is quite nice sounding." He offers and grins. "I do think that is the point though, Gambit does make it hard for Rogue to behave." He suggests. Eating more fries. "And also, good to know." He teases about no Gambit for her.

Daisy sticks her tongue out at him when he makes that sound as though he doesn't trust her. Very mature. She grins afterward, though, and takes another mozzarella stick, this time breaking it in half with her fingers before eating one end. "You should come see my greenhouse, instead. It's more interesting than the pot shop, anyway." She pokes at the icecubes in her glass with her straw idly and then glances over at him sidelong, a little smile playing at her lips. "And do you like it when Rogue is tempted to misbehave?" she asks, teasingly in return. "Who would you be? If you could be someone from comics.. and why?" She points a fry at him as she asks the question, as though punctuating it.

Malachi laughs softly as she sticks out her tongue. "Right." He offers and smiles. As for the offer to see her greenhouse, he nods agreeingly. "If you offer, then sure. Happy to go there." He replies. Drinking some and grinning at her question. "I suppose it's a possibility. Though as a cop, I shouldn't though, right?" He asks and chuckles. "I suppose I'd be Taskmaster, or Daredevil. The former, because learning skills fast is neat. But perceiving things in such a way that doesn't necessarily focus on your eyes. It's interesting. He also have a nice code of conduct, and I suppose his style is fitting with a cop, for when it is just a bit too hard." Shrugging a bit. "Though scoundrels are fun as well." Winking at her.

Daisy rests her elbow on the bar and rests her chin in her hand, studying him and chewing a bit on the end of her straw as he answers. "Oh, I don't know, even cops can misbehave, just not misdemeanor. As long as you're not breaking the law, I think you're safe, officer." She then nods when he offers up who he might want to be, "Daredevil, definitely." Her lips tic a little bit upward and she says, "I think you have aspirations of being a little bit of a scoundrel." She lifts a fry and wiggles it in his direction, "Don't worry, I won't tell."

Another chuckle at her words. "Ah, fair enough. So as long as I don't go full Punisher, I'm fine?" He suggests. Smiling and nodding about Daredevil. "Thank you for the compliment, since I know your stance on scoundrels. Also, if not for Rogue, I'd almost take you for a more catwoman, Elektra, type." He says and smirks. "And thank you for not telling anyone. Can't have them knowing my secret identity."

"Going full Punisher would probably be a bad idea given your profession, but if you do ever decide to quit the force and go vigilante, that's always a possibility," Daisy says as she reaches for another fry. Between the two of them, they are actually making pretty good progress on devouring the cheese fries. "I don't know, I don't think I'd be a very good Catwoman, and I'm not really fond of Elektra. I didn't really like her in the show." She fiddles a little bit with her straw then and says, "Wouldn't do at all. But you always need someone that you can tell your secrets to so that they won't eat you alive."

Malachi nods some again, "If I was better with a gun, perhaps. Think it's why I am more for CSI. Guess I'd be more like the Flash, if I had that speed." Shrugging. Nodding a bit more about her, and what she isn't. "Fair. But Rogue fits you." He assures her. Nodding about having someone to share secrets with, which makes him nod slowly. A bit more serious but then back to smiling brightly. Eating more. Getting slower though. "Damn, this is quite filling." He offers and nudges her. "Only a little more." Studying her some. He would probably have noted her dominant hand by now, if she is favoring any sides when leaning on her arms and so on. "So, what would it take to spend more time with Rogue?" He asks playfully.

"I could see you as Flash," Daisy says as she considers him thoughtfully. "How good are you at running?" She seems satisfied when he agrees that Rogue suits her, and continues to make her way through the fries. She must be hollow inside, because she eats like she will never be full. She does note that slightly serious expression on his face for a moment and she studies him a little more closely. Though, when she is nudged, she smiles easily and says, "Okay, I suppose I can let you off the hook." She appears to be right handed, from what he can observe. "Tell me you don't have any plans for the rest of the evening," she says in return.

Malachi nods slowly. "I am a decent runner." He assures her. Drinking some more and continues to eat a bit. Full or not, it is tasty. "Nope, I don't have any plans. You?"

Daisy finally calls it quits on the food and sits back on her stool. She fishes out her wallet so that she can set some cash down for the bill when it comes as well as a tip for the bartender. Once that is taken care of, she looks over at him and smiles, "Conveniently, no. So, I guess you get to spend more time with Rogue after all."

Malachi will chip in on paying as well. "Well, lucky me." Leaning towards her some. "So, singing with plants, and wearing long gloves and skating. Interesting." He says as he studies her face before leaning back and smiles brightly. "Stay here, or got any fun suggestions? Karaoke?" Half joking.

Daisy considers for a moment or two and then slides off of her stool and begins to walk toward the door, "I think we're going to get out of here for now." She waits at the door to see if he is coming with her. "No karaoke tonight, but that could be a distinct possibility for later." She then slips out the door and into the chilly October air beyond.

Malachi does study her some as she slides off and start to walk along. Soon rising to follow her. "Well then, lead the way." He offers to her. A smile on his lips. Not seeming to mind not knowing. There is something fun in learning new things after all.