2019-10-20 - Unexpected Meeting

With the bar just down from where her office is it is close enough that Vivian can walk to the bar, dressed for work or somewhere not Gray Harbor, in a dark grey tweed three-piece suit with a white button up shirt and a red silk tie. With the drizzling rain having started once more she's added a black swing coat to the ensemble, as well as a black fedora instead of bothering with an umbrella.

When she gets to the bar she steps inside, reaching up to remove the hat, a hand passing over her hair before she makes her way towards the bar to slide onto one of the stools, "Whiskey, neat." She requests when the bartender comes over, pulling out a slim wallet to dig out a card, sliding it over so that she can open a tab. It's clearly been one of those days.

The doors to the bar swing open and in walks a rather tall, broad, and dark man, and also a bit wet from rain. His hair is a wild mane of dusky brown that frames his face, a thick well kept beard further adorns his face while light brown eyes move about to take in the establishment as if there for the first time...Because he is!

He's dressed in a pair of dark jeans, black boots, a black leather belt and a black t-shirt that hugs his muscular frame. Colt's eyes finally fall on the blonde as she takes her seat, a curious dark brow quirks as he 'feels' something about her, so what does one do in a situation like that? He stalks toward her with predatory grace, "Make that two, but reach up to that higher shelf and it's on me," he calls out in his oddly rough yet smooth voice.

There is a look over, a quick up-down before Vivian dismisses the man with an off-handed, "I can pay for my own, thank you." It's polite, but clearly the sort of response that has been perfected over years of being hit on in bars. The sort of response that is aimed towards shutting down someone as quickly, but politely, as possible. It's probably also a familiar voice, even if she might not place him, she hasn't changed too much since high school.

The coat she's wearing is undone, and she slides it off, reaching over to the side to give it a careful shake to try and get as much water from it as she can before she folds it and drapes it across her lap, careful to keep the dry inside against her legs.

The look, even the quick up and down draws a wide-eyed expression from the man, "No fucking way..." he blurts out probably louder than he intended to. Instead of taking a seat, he stands there in disbelief staring at her with eyes so heavy she probably feels them. "Viv..." he says much softer, his mind racing to a distant past life which draws a flurry of various emotions swirling to his visage.

"I'm sorry, do I..." Vivian starts, glancing towards him when it becomes clear that he's not going to get the polite rebuff. This time she looks past the beard, the clothes, past all the years it's been and comes to a complete stop. There is a very slow blink, and the expression on her face makes it look like she just got hit between the eyes with a hammer, and there is a whole lot of mental scrambling to try and catch thoughts that scatter a dozen different direction. "Colt?"

He stares down at her, his eyes meeting hers. He gets lost for a moment in the past, in his memory and in what used to be. Then he nods slowly, not offering any words for the moment. A large hand reaches out to draw the stool beside her so that he can lower himself to it. He draws in a deep breath while his eyes move to behind the bar, "I insist its on me." and then a hand is withdrawing his wallet, which flips open to reveal all the normal wallet stuff and a GHPD shield, a flick of his hand later and his own card is slide down on the bar. Then he looks back to her with lips that curve into a smirk, "You're fuckin' gorgeous as ever."

"I can't believe you're here." Vivian's brows furrow a fraction, her eyes catching on that shield in his wallet, then she glances towards the bartender when he slides his card over, "Make it a double, please."

At least she doesn't say she's going to need it, but the implication is blatantly obvious when she requests for it to be a double. Then she turns her eyes back towards him, giving him a look over once more, and this time actually paying attention to what she's seeing. "You've changed." By her tone it's not a bad change, just a surprising one. "What...what are you doing here?" She glances around, then adds just in case it wasn't clear, "I mean Grey Harbor...how long have you been here?"

"I can't believe you're here," Colt replies with a growing grin, he turns his eyes back to the bartender, "Absolutely a double for me too." there is a touch of humor to his voice as he looks back to her. "Not a bad change? What are you trying to say?" One large hand braces against the bar and he pushes himself out a little to look down his own body, "I mean I guess I did gain a little weight since the last time we saw one another...You, you pretty much look the same some kinda magic or some shit." he chuckles as their drinks are delivered.

"I'm a cop now, specifically a narcotics detective...After the issues with dad, I kinda decided I had to do something some fuckers had to pay." his tone is darker here, "I just transferred up here because uhhh," he squints down at the bar and waits a beat, "Did you feel that thing? When I came over here, or maybe its different for you." his lips purse, "I had no fucking clue that you were...Yeah this isn't awkward at all." One hand lifts to rub his face, "I just got here yesterday haven't even found a place to stay yet, been crashing in a hotel."

"I came..." Vivian starts, then stops to reach for her glass, lifting a hand up to beg for a minute at that, then she downs a good half her glass in one swallow with the very faintest of grimaces. Then she places the glass down on the counter, "The man I was dating, he's from here. I thought it'd be good to come surprise him, move here..." She twists around on her stool to face him better, a hand sliding into the pocket of her coat to pull her wallet back out, then she slides a card out, holding it out towards him, "I opened a practice here, just finished my residency before moving."

It's probably no shock she went into medicine. It was probably that, or law, considering her parents. "I hope you're not staying at the Sea View, they evidently had a couple of murders recently. Which is why I'm not staying there while I look for a place to move to...and furniture to buy."

He listens intently, his eyes watching her every move, drinking her up while sailing in a sea of memories. "Was dating? Was that the Bret guy? Brian...Byson...Whatever the fuck. What'd he do to piss you off?" he says with a large shrug while reaching out to pick up his glass which is immediately drawn to his lips and nearly drained completely. His eyes then shift out and around them, taking note of who could be paying attention and who isn't.

He twists in his chair to match her own swivel, now facing her fully. "Doctor Glass, I dig it," he muses, eyes flickering to the card, its subtle really what happens next. He lifts his glass back to his lips with one hand, while the other is laid on his knee, palm facing up. The card, he takes it, but without taking it, it seems to leap from her hand to his traversing the distance between them with a swiftness that then finds the card sitting in his hand. "So where are we looking to move to?" he grins while his eyes drift to the card in his hand that is now casually lifted up to his view. "I like the design." he comments idly while placing a now empty glass back on the bar, "Lemme get another one of those, it's gonna be a long ride in that rain."

"Byron Thorne." Vivian answers with a curious look for him, "How'd you even hear about him? You were long gone by the time I met him." Which, suspicious minds, she just stares at him for a moment before a thought occurs to her, "You kept in contact with my parents, didn't you?" Not that she has proof this is what happened, but it's the only way that she can think of that he might have heard about it. The thought is enough that she's almost distracted enough to miss what he does with the card, but she doesn't and it causes a tension to settle across her shoulders, "I see."

That makes so very much sense, it seems. "What question do you want answered first? What Byron did to piss me off, where I'm looking to move, or what my opinions of town are. Because if it's the first and last, we might wish to just buy the bottle."

"I still go home once and a while, I talk to all kinds of people. I just keep it on the down-low," Colt admits with a wink, "Too dangerous for my family and the people I care about." His eyes settle on her as if he were saying something without saying it. He catches her look and realizes something is just a touch off, "You alright?" he asks with a slightly worried look, "Didn't freak you out did I? I mean, we're more alike than I realized...But that," he says while stuffing the card into his wallet and patting where he put it, "That was another reason I...I had to go, I had to figure shit out on a whole new level." A chuckle, "Answer whatever you wanna answer and if we need to a bottle and, or a seedy motel room I'm game."

"My office is just around the corner." Evidently a seedy motel room is off the menu, judging by her nose wrinkle. Then she reaches for her glass to pick it up, finishing off the remainder of the contents before she sets it down, pushing it towards the bartender before she points down at it in silent request. "First, Byron and I have been dating off and on since freshman year." Which, really is a long time to date someone off and on. "I moved here in the hopes of settling down, starting a practice.." Etc. It's clear there is more there, but she leaves it unsaid. "But evidently he decided that he was going to cheat on me."

Which is probably not an accurate retelling of things. But then again, she's an injured party, so she's probably not being very generous about things.

"I'm looking for a place on Bayside, with a view of the ocean...big, sprawling mansion." Might as well flash her money and get revenge by living well, right? Either way as soon as her drink is refilled she lifts it up to down the contents once more. Then she starts to her feet, draping her coat across her arm, setting the glass down, "Bring two more." She requests, then tilts her head towards a table, "We can go over the rest somewhere a little more quiet."

Colt laughs at the nose wrinkle, "Good to know how close your office is." Then he is moving to his feet too, leaning his elbows down on the bar for a moment, "Listen let me just get that bottle from you," His eyes meet with the bartenders while his hand idly flips his wallet back open. See, Colt isn't a bad guy, but he isn't really a 'good' guy either, the big things? The important things? Yeah, he's on the right side of those, other things? Not so much.

The bartender hands over the bottle, probably a bit reluctantly. In a fluid motion his wallet is slid back into his back pocket, his glass lifted in one hand, the bottle in the other. "Sounds like you got at least part of what you wanted, I guess that is better than a lot of people," he confesses, though an apologetic look is shot toward her, "You want me to break his knees? I mean, fuck, I just abandoned you without warning...I would have never cheated on you." he confesses, though there is probably more there that he would say if pressed. Regardless, he follows her toward a more private table. "Big sprawling mansion sounds fun. I've debated just buying a really nice hammock and stringing it up somewhere by the ocean, has to have a cup holder."

"It's quiet, locks, and doesn't have a roach problem. Or a murder problem, so far."

Either way she's collecting her things while he deals with getting the bottle, and if she has any opinions on his abuse of power she doesn't say anything about it. Instead there is a faint shrug as she turns to head towards the table, "I got something, that is certain." She agrees, draping her coat over the back of the booth before she slides into it, her hat dropped on top before she crosses her legs, hands folding in her lap, "No, you just left. My track record is proving to be poor."

But there are far more important things, and now that they are at the table she gives him a look that is serious, "So when I arrived I was rather...abruptly made aware that things here are not normal. It began with a trip to a museum where there was dancing corpses, and then a city made from eyes and mouths. Different incidences, mind." She pauses, waiting to see if he's going to question her sanity in all this.

"Murder problems can be a real buzz kill," He admits while still carefully watching her every move, trying to read her as closely as he can. "Yeah, you do...It isn't exactly like mine either, I can feel that." he says with furrowing brows while sliding into a seat across from her. He sprawls out, an arm draping over the back of the chair, leaning back as much as he can. The bottle is placed down in the middle of the table free to be poured by whomever. He lifts his own glass and sips while she talks, not seeming at all freaked out about anything she says. "I know a bit about some of /our/ shit and the things that want us to not live," a longer sip, "But it sounds like to me you were looking into the other world...I don't really have better words to describe it, I can go there..." he trails off, circling back around to an earlier comment. "I left to keep you safe and for its worth, I'm sorry." Now back on topic! "You feel the energy here right? Like this place isn't like anywhere else I've been even NOLA...And there is a lot of fuckin' strange shit there, including some others like us."

"I don't have words to describe half the insane things I've dealt with here. First among this being those experiences, then other things." Vivian reaches for the bottle to refill her glass, taking a careful sip from it, at least slowing down at this point, then she sets it down again, leaning forward to rest her forearms on the table, "There are those around here that are much more well versed in things than I am. I'm sure that you'll meet them eventually." She curls her fingers around her glass, her attention focusing on his face, studying him with a very faint frown, "To keep me safe? Clearly that has worked out well...I recently got over being sick with this terrible flu that now I'm hearing might have come from the other side, plus having some sort of ...possession I guess, that made me want to kill people."

Colt nods slowly, his glass drained before he moves to refill it. "Yeah, I met a few people who taught me what I know...Again, not a lot, but more than some." he adds with a shrug, "A few of them I suspect are in the department with me...Spidey sense went all tingly walking around in there." he confesses before shifting his body and moving forward to match her position on the table, leaning his large frame toward her. His eyes drop to the table and another large breath is drawn in just to be exhaled in a sigh. "Yeah well, I didn't want the gangbangers killing you, or worse...And when I started dealing with these powers I thought I was a freak, I got scared and I didn't want to risk you or my family." there is a pain in his voice, even if its lessened by the alcohol in his veins. "I didn't know about you then, or...I don't have words. But, I am sorry and now that I'm here I'm going to make a point to keep an eye out for you. You were the only light for me in a dark, dark time." His eyes cut up to her, "And I owe you far more for that than you realize." another sigh, this one shorter. "I'm hard to kill so if you ever need to try and kill someone again, feel free." he winks.

"I didn't know about me then. ...I barely know about me now." Vivian points out with a shake of her head, fingertip tapping against her glass, "I'm still trying to figure it out." She takes another sip from the glass, then frowns at him. There looks like she might say something in response to the gangbangers comment, but she quickly closes her mouth on that instead, and just stares down into her glass for a moment. After a moment she gives him a look of amused disbelief, "Only light in the dark? Really, Colt..." She shakes her head, knocking back the rest of her drink before she shakes her head, "Hopefully that won't be an issue ever again...I'm hoping the problem was taken care of. But I don't really know."

Colt lifts his glass at her first comments, "Join the club!" he says knocking back the rest of his freshly poured glass before pouring another, though smaller drink. "Pretty fucking much, I mean hell...You were there for me after dad was murdered... When it was literally me carrying the weight of my family as a fucking teenager." he shakes his head and moves away to assume his lounging position once more. "My fucking teenage hormones and angst? Yeah, pretty dark place. But I knew I had you to look forward to especially when we'd sneak away and go to the beach." both eyebrows lift, "Guess it didn't seem like that big of a deal from your point of view but it was to me, hell...You were one of maybe three people I let close-ish." He drains the rest of that glass and places it on the table while fidgeting to fish a cellphone out of his pocket, "So can I have your number...Again?" he smirks, "Who knows when I might need some mental help with as fucked up as I am."

"That was then, though, Colt. Having been and currently are, are two different things. I can't imagine that you've still needed that kind of ...light since then." Vivian at least has the good graces to not point out that he left, thus clearly didn't need her any more. But it's just barely choked back as she takes another sip, a hand reaching down to unbutton the jacket, to lean back, looking more relaxed for a moment. "I'd always have been there for you, but..." She shakes her head, folding her hands together to rest on her stomach, "It hurt, when you left. I honestly thought I'd done something wrong, and it took me a while to realize that I didn't."

There is a shake of her head before she lets her attention shift away from him, watching the room for a moment before glancing back at the question of getting her number, then she rattles off the number easily.

"We all need light Viv, its a dark world and the other one is darker it seems," Colt says idly fiddling with his phone, though not looking at it. "We need different things at different points in our life, I don't know that I would have been able to become what I am if you weren't there. I probably would have ended up a statistic for some suicide hotline ad." another sigh and a hand lifts to brush across his forehead. A look of hurt grows in his eyes as she trails off, "But I left...I fucked up one of the best things that I had going for me." he chuckles then, "But, what I have learned about life is we all fuck up and it makes us and sometimes it breaks us...But there is always a lesson." shaking his head he continues, "I'm sorry I hurt you I never wanted to hurt you, but I also didn't know how to say goodbye...I was in love with you and that scared me too." his voice held a softness that it otherwise lacked during the rest of their conversation, "I never really said that then, probably shouldn't have said it now...But fuck it, why not?" a beat, "Listen if you get in trouble, call me." he says as he punches in her number and shoots over a text, "I've had some experience with trouble...The normal kind, and the other kind." he adds for good measure.

Colt's phone starts buzzing loudly and his eyes trail to it once more. "Mother fucker...Right now?" a huff, "Fuck..." The rough detective stands from his seat with a swift grace that most people wouldn't assume he had. "Duty calls, can I see you later?"

There is a faint widening of her eyes when he goes and confesses that, but she doesn't say anything about it. In fact, anything that might have been said seems to be held back for now when his phone starts to buzz, a hand reaching for her coat and hat, "Of course. Just text me." She offers, starting to slowly ease herself towards her feet, "I should be heading off as well."