2019-12-31 - Before The Ball

He's a regular here, now, no two ways about it. Near his apartment, near his boat....and Joe's sitting at the bar in a long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans, looking sleepily content. He's got another of those hellish bourbon concoctions he drinks when he's really in need of a buzz, and he gazes dreamily out beyond the window.

Must be her night off from the cabaret.

Zoiya Mae walks into TIBS and gives the bartender an upnod as she finds a stool to settle in. "Fishbowl, please." She requests, pulling money from the purse that she sets down next to her. She crosses her legs, pulls out her phone, swiping a thumb across the screen to get a look at her texts. Before too long a big glass is set in front of her, straw inside, with gummy fishes and blue liquor. She doesn't break eye contact with her phone for a moment as she leans in to take a sip from the straw. She tosses the phone in her purse and takes a look around, slurping up her second sip. She eyes the gummy fish with intent, but doesn't scoop any out yet.

One of the places Rick likes to go if he has some time off would be right here, so he's currently stepping inside. He heads over in the direction of the bar a bit slowly, looking around as he offers a nod to those already present as he takes a seat.

The guy already at the bar glances over, lazily, then all but double-takes at the blue drink. "That.....what on earth is in that?" Joe wonders, amused. He's got a lazy southern drawl that doesn't at all in the land of temperate rain forests and gray seas. "Complete with fish, huh?"

Hera has been having one of those times, picking up after students can get a bit dull, and while the house pets are always entertaining, there's a need to see a change of pace. So, here she is, wearing a standard snug fitting black dress and black heels. Her lower legs are exposed to the cold outside until she comes in, but she wears a leather jacket around her shoulders. She doubts she would ever be carded but, her purse is with her in case she is. Then after a bit of a pause, she recognizes Mae and begins to walk over to her. "Hi!" she says addressing her friend, "Good to see you! How was your holiday?"

"It's a fishbowl." Zoiya responds, and that's when a manicured finger curls in for one of the gummy fishes. "After being in alcohol for a little bit, these are the best." That said, she puts the gummy fish in her mouth. She turns when she hears Hera and reaches out to give the woman a hug, squeezing her for a moment. "Hey babe. Holiday was good, worked too much." She pulls the wide neck of her loose sweater up her shoulder, but it promptly slips off again. She pats the stool next to her. "Sit with me and tell me how your holiday was?" She offers to Hera before she leans back to grin over at Joseph. "I dunno what it's made of, I just know that it's fruity, blue and it's the perfect temperature." Rick passes into her line of vision and she gives him a brief salute in greeting.

She has plans for the evening but Stephanie figures, why not start a little early before she heads to the Addington House for the New Year’s Party? She enters, wearing a little red dress and black pumps, covered by a black tweed long coat. In her hand, she had a black clutch, with her phone and wallet. She heads towards the bar and orders one long island iced tea.

Joe laughs a little. "I bet it's good," he says, as he lifts his own glass to Zoiya in salute. Hera gets a grin. "Good to see you again, ma'am. You own the gallery, right?" he asks, as if to confirm. Not dressed to go anywhere in particular, this one. Apparently this suits him just fine, for the end of the year.

Rick pauses as he listens to the others, before he looks to the barkeep to place an order. Another of those not dressed to go anywhere in particular, but then again, he's not much for going somewhere during the holidays. "Looks like everyone is enjoying themselves, right?" he offers after placing his order, nodding to all the arrivals in turn.

Hera purses her lips a moment and takes a seat near Mae. "I'm about to find out." She grins and tries to get the attention of a server. Bold move maybe, but she's never had one before apparently. "Oh, I actually had a good Christmas. Queso didn't break much and Hans was really cuddly. Grace also came over to visit and Devlin brought me some meat. I need to learn how to cook now I suppose. Thankfully Thewlis makes sure my fridge and everything stays working." When Joe mentions gallery she offers a smile and a polite nod, "Yes Sir, sure dio. Have you been by?"

"Oh it's good all right." Zoiya murmurs, leaning in to sip from her straw again. She watches Hera get served up a fishbowl and cracks a grin. "Babe, one way or another we're walking out of this bar. If we've got to lean on each other to accomplish it? Full speed ahead." She winks at Hera and nods happily toward Rick. "Got gummy fishes, and too much to drink. Fun is on the menu tonight." She shifts her eyes toward Hera and chortles quietly. "I'm taking cooking lessons, it's going not so great. I haven't managed to set the new cabin on fire... yet." She nods a greeting toward Stephanie, her clear straw turning blue again as she slurps up more of her drink.

“I wouldn’t say I’m enjoying myself just yet, it’s a bit too early in my evening to tell, but that is the eventual end goal, I would say, to enjoy myself.” Stephanie begins to drink, her tone casual and friendly in response to Rick. She acknowledges everyone who greets her.

"Can't say as I have, yet," Joe admits, easily. "Been meanin' to." The second fishbowl makes him grin again. Those drinks are ridiculous, and he may have to get one, once he's done with Ye Olde Bucket of Bourbon. Still propped up lazily, content as a cat in a sunbeam.

Hera pauses as he notices Joe's tattoos but, she doesn't stare too long. Staring would be rude after all. It's not a rude glance though, in her mind art is art even though she doesn't appear to have much inkwork herself. She reaches into her purse and pulls out a small card for him. Joe can see the information "Vivid Dreams--Where Your Imagination Takes Shape." A cute little phrase along with the location and contact information. "Come by anytime, I love meeting new people. I assume you like art Sir?" She keeps her tone formal until she grins at Mae, "Aint that the truth. Though, I don't have your skills so I don't know if I can walk out on my heels if I finish this. I guess I can find out though. My cousin IS a paramedic."

Zoiya leans in, chin making brief contact with Hera's shoulder as she's turned to address Joe. "You really should go see the gallery, it's amazing. I'm going to take classes there, so I can play with the clay." She flashes a wide grin and then gets out of Hera's personal space, stirring her drink with her straw. She tries to take a sip but get stymied by a gummy fish getting stuck in the bottom of her straw. It's only a problem for a moment, she pulls the straw free from the drink and catches the fish with her teeth. "What are you drinking?" She asks Joe, because tit for tat. She lets her gaze shift and linger on Stephanie and Rick for a moment, but pulls herself back to the conversation at hand. She quirks a brow at Hera and laughs loudly, rolling her eyes. "I'll keep you on your feet. Girl scouts honor."

Rick's order seems to be some kind of vodka-based drink tonight. "Gallery, what kind of a gallery?" he asks, after a few moments of pause, before he nods a bit at Stephanie's words. "Good to hear that is the goal," he offers, a bit lightly.

“If anything happens to you, you’ve got a paramedic right here,” Stephanie offers, making swift work of her Long Island iced tea before ordering another, overhearing Hera’s comment about her cousin being a paramedic.

She gives Rick a friendly smile. “What about you? What’s your end goal for the evening?”

Hera giggles a little as she sips at the drink. Then another sip. Well, if she had confidence issues she doesn't have them now. "This IS good." She says and hearing Rick mention the gallery, she offers him a card as well and, look, here's someone else. Stephanie gets a card with information about her place too. What a night for marketing! Then she does look a little relieved that there's medical staff close. "You need to meet my cousin then, you might already know him. He studies too hard, needs to cut loose." Of course Devlin is NOT around to defend himself. 😉

The ink is still vivid, despite the weathering on his arms. So are the scars, for that matter. Joe accepts the card with both hands, an odd, formal gesture. Looks at it, turns it over, and then tucks it away in a little wallet. "I do," he says. "I wouldn't consider myself well-versed, just high school and college with a science focus, but....I do." He gives Hera a little smile, before turning to Zoiya. "I sure will. That sounds like fun. You know, I haven't touched clay since high school. Took a ceramics class to fill a requirement." Then he flicks at look at his drink. "'s called a Four Horsemen. Threequarter ounce each of Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker, Jim Beam, and Jameson's."

Speaking of ink, Zoiya is covered in it, not that one can tell with the long sleeves of her sweater and her boot cut jeans. She watches Hera hand out cards while sipping from her drink. "Why those are my favorite boys. I'll have to try that sometime." She offers Joe a bright smile, and then turns to smirk toward Hera. "Why didn't you bring Devlin with you then?" She teases a little quieter before she plucks her vibrating phone from her purse. She swipes her thumb, eyes the text message and then tosses the phone back in her purse. "You're gonna be overrun with people wanting to make bowls, sculptures and vases, girl." She predicts, eyeing her drink with a frown. "This thing is a beast."

“I’ve probably seen him around, I haven’t gotten out much for a couple of months but I’m trying to catch up with the rest of the town again. You could say that us first responders tend to be a little too serious for our own good sometimes.” She eyes Hera’s card with mild interest. “I’ll check this out soon.”

Her eyes had a flash of recognition at the name Devlin but she said nothing.

Taking the offered card and looking at it, Rick smiles momentarily. "I'll make sure to visit at some point," he offers, before he shrugs a bit at Stephanie's words. "My end goal for the evening? I'm not sure yet. Surviving is a good start, and then I'll take it from there, I think." A brief pause as he nods to the others, "I'm Rick Carlson."

Hera pouts as Mae asks, "Because he is out studyinggggggggg." she lets the g slur for a while, as she's being a bit playful with her words. But at the notion of more and more people coming by, her eyes brighten up, with or without alcohol, that idea thrills her. "I really like helping people create things, and there's so much joy in pottery, there's so much power in shaping things with your hands. She looks over at Joe's tats again, then Mae's, "You two really make that ink look good, really. If this keeps up I'll be tempted to get a mark or something and, dang. That would be quite the apocalypse. Four J's, now that's not a joker that's for sure." But, at the idea of first responders being serious she shrugs, "Well, you have to be. People's lives are in your hands, that's...serious stuff."

"IT's kind of addictive," Joe acknowledges. "YOu start with one, next think you know, you've got half a dozen." How many does he have? Only two show, with the t-shirt - the Russian word and the anchor, the latter done in that classic sailor style. A look to Zoiya, curious, but he doesn't pry. If it isn't visible as things stand, asking for a display could be read all wrong.

Mae eyes Hera for a few beats and then she laughs softly. "I can tell tonight is going to be an adventure." She glances down at her arms and rolls up her sleeves slightly, holding her arms out in front of her. "We should get you a tattoo, Hera. Something simple, elegant that really shows you off." She chuckles softly and sips at her drink before she adds. "A lot." She might have interpreted Joe's look wrong, but she's taking a chance at the response.

Stephanie offers her hand to Rick for a handshake. “Stephanie Tremblay. It’s nice to meet you.” The alcohol making her friendlier, she adds, “Not interested in the big New Year’s Party? I don’t blame ya. Only going because I was looking to blow off some steam.”

She gives Hera a glance as the other woman’s response to her previous comment about first responders. “It really is. And we see some pretty horrific things sometimes. You really have to have a passion and drive to want to submit yourself willingly to a life like that.”

The tattoo talk gives her something to think about but she says nothing on the subject.

"I haven't been much for parties these last four years or so, I'm afraid," Rick replies, before he offers a shrug. As he hears the talk about the tattoos, he looks between the others, gaze going to that Russian word tatto on Joseph's arm, studying briefly. "Any particular significance?" he asks, sounding a little curious.

Hera takes a long sip of her drink again and tries not to giggle at the notion of getting a new tattoo. "You're going to have to hold my hand, seriously." But, she's going to be hold right now, yes? "Ah yeah the New Years party I was thinking about going but, didn't have a date. Didn't think they would let me bring Hans either, he normally is my date." Then another sip and she says, "Damn, this is good, it's really good stuff." At the mention of significance she looks over, curious about Joe's marks.

There's a surprisingly puckish gleam in Joe's eyes at that question. Like the tattoo is a punchline to a joke. "Well," he explains, drawl lazier than ever, "I lost a bet and kept my word. Never argue with a Russian about the proper term for space traveller is all I'm sayin'." Then he's admiring Mae's work with a thoughtful eye.

Mae glances down at her hand and then over to Hera. "As long as you don't break my hand, I can be there for you. After the first fifteen minutes though, you kind of settle into the pain. It's light enough to ping at your consciousness, but not enough to make you wince and cringe." She tilts her head, sipping from her drink. "I wasn't going to any party tonight, I should be at the club making money, but I decided to give it a pass this year. Someone always tries to kiss me at midnight and you want to kick them in the balls for being presumptuous." She catches Joe looking her way and she wiggles inked fingers at him. "Good on you for keeping your word when you lost a bet, you wouldn't believe how many people back out of it, especially if something permanent is on the line."

“Oh that’s a shame, a pretty face like yours shouldn’t be alone on New Year’s,” Stephanie says after leaning in closer to Rick before going back to being at arm’s length, sitting at her stool at the bar.

In response to the comment about a lack of a date, Stephanie explains, “I’m going with my best friend Beth. We’re just going to hang. Nothing says a date is required.”

Hera takes another long sip and then coughs a little. It's not a serious cough but maybe it's best for her to slow down? Or not. She doesn't inhale the fishbowl though, because, she's not a fish. "I think I like roses and." she grins, "To me, this place is Utopia, that's my pet name for this little town. So, in the center can be a rose and around it could be Utopia, Hans, Queso, three loves of my life." she shakes her head and then says, "Nah....I don't know." But hearing that 'a date isn't needed' she brightens up a bit, "So, single people aren't going to be ousted? I mean, you never know. Some of those parties but, speaking of which Mae." she taps her heels and says, "Anyone gets too mean with you, I have a shoe and I know how to use it! I won't let anyone hurt you." Somehow, she appears to be one that likely wouldn't last long in a fight though.

Rick grins as he hears Joe's words, nodding a bit. "Like mother would have said, don't argue with a Russian, in general. I admit I was a bit curious about why it was that particular word, after all." He takes a sip from his drink, stopping mid-sip as he hears Stephanie's words. "Ah... thank you, I think..." he offers, taking a few more moments to take another sip from his drink.

The door to If Two By Sea swings open to admit Beth. She heads towards the bar, pulls out a stool, and takes off her heavy winter coat to drape it over the back. She is wearing a pair of jeans, a red t-shirt left over from Christmas that has a picture of milk and cookies on it that says 'I put out for Santa', a knee lenth knit duster over the t-shirt in a bland oatmeal color perfect for throwing over anything, and suede knee high boots. Her wing game is fierce today. She waves to Stephanie, but doesn't jump up to go to her just yet. Instead she leans over the bar to order a rum and diet coke.

"I was stupid, but I do try to keep my word when I give it. I was dumb enough to bet I could drink him under the table - he wasn't even that big a guy. But I lost the bet....and the forfeit was me getting that word as a tattoo, somewhere visible. Hell, if I'd won, there'd be a Russian walking around with 'Astronaut' tattooed on him somewhere." He gives Rick an amused look. "We were arguing it because he had been one. A cosmonaut, I mean. It's been well worth it, though. Got me a lot of drinks bought for me in bars, 'cause of it."

Mae laughs softly and pats Hera on the shoulder. "Thank you sweetheart. The bouncers do a pretty good job too." She murmurs, giving her friend a brief side hug. She sips at her fishbowl and leans back, running a hand down over her torso. "Swear, I need a brief break or I'm gonna burst. Too much drink for one sitting without moving around a bit." She shifts her eyes around the place, looking for music, but she comes up empty. She gets up and walks over to the windows instead, leaning in to gaze outside for a moment before she heads back to the bar. She snorts as she listens to Joseph, settling back onto her stool, legs crossing once again.

The lastest person to enter made Stephanie relieved she hadn’t entered just a few minutes earlier.

“Hey, Beth,” Stephanie calls out casually, her attention taken away from Rick for the moment as she approaches her best friend. “I hope you’re not planning on going to a Great Gatsby themed party dressed like that.”

Sip sip and another sip then she actually pauses from drinking for a moment. Then, probably out of curiousity, she offers a wave to the woman who just enters. Then her eyes fall on her shirt as she reads it. Looking away she says, "Damn" hopefully not talking about the woman's shirt and, she then confirms it, "I just got a funny image of some dimwit having a tat on his ass and sitting down and shooting straight up to the moon. Tats on the ass, that would be painful." Liquid courage, inspiring strange conversational topics, why not?

Rick grins again. "Russians are good at drinking. I think, at times that applies to part-Russians as well." Taking another sip from his drink, he grins momentarily as he looks over at the newest arrival, offering her a nod as well. "Greetings," he offers, before he shrugs, "Sounds like an interesting thing to wear to such a theme party, though. Interesting, not quite the right thing, but still."

"Every one I've ever met has been," Joe agrees., lazily. He's not hurrying through that drink. Disposed to linger in the warmth, grateful for it. "Yeah, but people do get 'em," he says to Hera. "I don't have any there, though. I don't want one I can't see easily when I want to, so all mine are just arms and upper body. Beth's shirt makes him grin.

As Beth makes her way in, Mae gazes at her for a few beats, trying to put together where she saw her before. It doesn't click automatically so all that is accomplished is some staring whilst slurping her blue drink out of a straw. She turns to Hera, and makes a brave attempt not to giggle or grin when she says, "Actually the ass is one of the spots that hurt the least, in my own opinion." She lets her lashes kiss her cheeks for a moment while she sucks down more of the blue liquid, then she snares another gummy fish to eat. "From what I recall, the neck was the worst for me."

Beth waves back at Hera before she calls out, "Hera, right? I think we met briefly before." She turns back to the bar to collect her beer and takes a sip before she sits down on the stool. Stephanie's approach earns a small shrug of her shoulder, "I'm sure I have some cocktail dress that can work for the twenties in a pinch." Still there is some evasive quality to her response before she puts her discomfort to words. "I don't know if I want to go. I'm not exactly feeling it." When Rick greets her with 'Greetings' she gives him a slight raise of her brow. "Um fair met fellow traveler?" There is a friendliness to her smile that takes out the sting of her tease, "And this?" She looks down at her own t-shirt. "If flappers had novelty t-shirts they'd wear the shit out of them. Flappers were counter-culture." She punctuates this with another pull from her beer. "What about the Russians now?" She looks between Rick, Stephanie, and Joseph. A nod is given to Mae.

Hera suddenly shifts her head to try to look at her backside for a bit. Not being an owl, she can't completely rotate her head to really get the right look. "Is that where I should put my new tattoo? On my ass?" she laughs, hopefully her laughter not being THAT obnoxious, "Take a dip in the fishbowl!" she tells Beth, "After that, you can do anything! No paramedics needed!"

Stephanie looks a little disappointed at Beth’s response at first before she plasters on a fake smile. “I guess I’ll just have fly solo tonight.” She glances over her shoulder at Rick, with a friendly smile on her face trying to mentally calculate the odds she could convince the sttranger to join her. She turned back to Beth and said, “Is everything okay?”

"I mean, nobody will see it unless you want them to." Mae says to Hera, trying very hard not to burst into obnoxious laughter. She has mostly finished her drink, and now every so often pokes at the glass with her straw. She snags a fish and pops it in her mouth. "So are you going to that party tonight, Hera?" She asks, swinging her crossed legs back and forth idly. She watches the trio close by chat among themselves before she raises a finger to get the barkeeps attention. "I'll try a Four Horseman, please." She gestures at Joe who is still nursing his drink. More money gets pulled from her purse, slapped on the bar with verve. "Thanks man, keep the change."

Rick raises a glass in greeting to Beth. "Was even more of a traveler before, though," he replies, rather lightly, before he offers a smile in return to Stephanie, briefly. The conversation about tattoos isn't one he'll take much part in for now.

"HE was askin' about my tattoo," Joe explains, turning his arm so Beth can see the Cyrillic letters in bold scarlet and black. "I got it 'cause I lost a bet with a former cosmonaut." He gives Zoiya a thumbs up for her choice. "You won't regret it. Well, not now, you won't. That stuff's practically rocket fuel, you drink it fast."

Beth sees that disappointment on Stephanie's face and she caves pretty immediately. "You know I think I'll go. We can get a whole group. It'll be fun." Yeah. Real fun. She takes out her phone to start assembling this 'group'. She laughs a little at Hera's suggestion before she says, "I'm too old for that much sugar in my drinks. I'll be all dehydrated and shit." She has another sip of her beer. She looks over at Joseph's arm when he presents it. "What does it mean?"

Mae picks up her newly delivered drink and takes a healthy swallow of it, managing to keep it down. She sets down the glass and exhales slowly, pushing the larger glass away. "Shit." She mutters under her breath. "You weren't kidding about the rocket fuel." She asides to Joseph, taking a moment to attempt to get her breath back.

Stephanie looks mildly concerned about the fact that Beth did not want to go in the first place but she nods, her excitement about the party talking over. “That’ll be fun. I really need to get myself back in the swing of things. Who were you thinking of asking to join us?”

Rick finishes off his drink just as his phone starts to ring. Checking it for a few moments, he frowns. "Need to answer this one," he offers, as he gets to his feet, moving to step outside for a bit.

"Cosmonaut," he says, simply. Still with that gleam of amusement in his face, like it's a joke no one else here gets. Then there's a chuckle for Mae's reaction. "Right?" he says. "There's a reason I'm about one a night at most, 'less I wanna be smackin' my head into doors and fallin' off the boat."

Beth smiles a little when her phone chirps before she answers Stephanie, "Ciprian is in. Still waiting on Quyen." She sighs a touch before she looks down at her wardrobe. Her wallet is taken from her pants pocket and she puts down enough to cover her unfinished drink and tip. "I'll run home and get changed. I'm sure I can find something in my wardrobe. We meeting there or riding together? Cause I plan on Ubering so I can drink." A glance is given to Joseph when he says what his tattoo says, and she lets out a snort of amusement.

"Or falling overboard?" Mae shakes her head slowly and takes another swallow, shuddering gently as the alcohol hits her. "Christ, that's loaded." She sets the drink down, and puts a hand on her collarbone as she attempts to get her breath back. She curls her fingers around the glass, downs the last of it and sets the empty glass down ever so gently. "I think that's more than enough for the night." She murmurs, pulling out a few more bills for a tip. She sets them on the counter, picks up her purse, and slides off her stool. "Nice to meet you folks." She says, nodding to each of them as she pulls her phone out to summon an Uber. "Have fun at your party tonight!" She says to the ladies as she makes her way to the door.

Hera has either seriously zoned out on her drink or maybe something on her smartphone zoned her out. Whatever it was, she snaps bak to reality now. "Oh well, I didn't think about it. Are you going to go?" Too little, too late but she waves at her friend, "Try to be safe!" she then turns back to the crowd and asks, "Just /how/ lethal are these horsemen, seriously? Or have I had enough?"

Joe explains, after a sip from his drink. "Four Horsemen. Three total ounces of four different kinds of bourbon, blended. It'll mess you up, if you're not careful. 's what I'm drinkin', but you'll note I'm takin' my tiiiiiiiiime," He draws the last syllable out like taffy. He lifts it to Zoiya in farewell. "You have a good evenin'." Beth just gets a grin.

“I ubered to get here, so I’ll come with and help you get ready.” Stephanie pays for her drinks and says, “Ready when you are, babe.”

She says in response to Zoiya, “Thanks, you too!”

“Come with us Hera!” She offers.

Beth stands up from the bar to get ready to depart. Mae gets another nod as she leaves. Joseph gets a wry smile and a, "See you later, space ranger." She starts towards the door, anticipating that Stephanie will follow, but her offer to Hera stops her in her tracks. She waits for the other woman to accept to decline the invitation. Her phone is pulled out and she shoots off a text.

Hera hasn't gone THAT far overboard on drinks and looking back over at Beth, she asks again, just to be sure. "So, there is room for one more, right? I just don't want to go by myself but, that theme, yeah totally really cool. A time when so much was so unique. I'm not a historian but, I'd rather not celebrate New Years alone."

Joseph apparently intends to ring in the New Year with Jack and Johnny and pals. Or else out at sea on that boat of his, though surely drunk sailing is no wiser than drunk driving.... Another wave and he says, with a grin, "To infinity and beyond."

“Yes, we mean you, Hera, come on! It’s going to be a group thing. None of us want to be alone.” Stephanie says with a bright smile. “We just gotta get Cinderella into a nice dress and then, we’re off. You can hang with us.”

"Yeah. Of course." Beth says with a small nod of her head along with what Stephanie says. She doesn't exactly seem enthusiastic about the entire endeavor. "Well, let's go put on lipstick on the inside of our lips and find our long strings of pearls." She starts towards the door then.

Hera leaves a large tip on the bar and with a huge smile she immediately goes to her feet. "Oh I'd love to!! I really would!" she says, "I just didn't want to go by myself and Hans well, I can't take the dog everywhere you know! Yes, let's get Cinderella into a dress, seriously. What should I wear?" And, off she goes.