2020-01-04 - New Year, Same Grizzly

Mae walks in and she's dressed way down, so someone wasn't out at a party tonight. She shrugs out of her hoodie and sets it down as she takes a seat, crossing her legs as she looks around for a waitress. Unlike some of the people around, she really wants a burger, so she'll be happy with just about anything that she gets tonight. She covers a laugh behind a hand as someone throws his hands in the air, grumpy about his food.

Alison had been taking a moment to nibble on a french fry from a plate belonging to herself (probably?), when Mae's entrance catches her eye. With a grin, she gives the dancer a little wave, then turning her hand into a simple gesture for her to come on up to the bar. There's plenty of stools available. "Heyyyyyyy, Mae. How's it going?"

Someone else at the bar tries flagging the redhead down, and starts complaining about how they ordered a cobb salad. "Listen, I told you when you ordered. It's burger night. Dave ordered too many burgers. I punched in a cobb salad, and it came back as a wedge salad burger. That's as close as you're gonna get, okay?"

"Not bad babe, how are you?" Mae picks up her things moves to the bar and settles in beside Alison. She glances back at the complainer, trying not to grin. "Oh my god, wedge salad burger? That's amazing, that sounds.. " She flutters her eyelashes toward the redhead, folding her hands in front of her, resting them on the bar.

"Happy New Year." She quips with an amusing quirk of her lips. "Bet you're having fun tonight. Probably not gonna be flush with the tips, I'll be tipping you heavily." She remarks with a wink, waving to the man in the kitchen.

Alison grins back at Mae. "Doing alright. How was your Christmas? Survived the snow and everything, I imagine?"

The customary new year's greeting gets the woman the same in turn. "Oh, I have my ways of getting tips. Don't you worry about that." She wiggles her figures in the air, in the same sort of way that one might suggest spooky, mystical powers~

Alison's in her usual outfit, a t-shirt and jeans, for working anyways. Bright red lipstick. She slides a menu over from somewhere down the bar. "The wedge salad burger's not.. on the menu. I think he just took out the middle of half a head of lettuce and shoved a bacon cheeseburger inside?" She looks back over at the man's plate, and gives a little shrug. "Not exactly a salad, but you've got the greens, at least."

"I stayed at home during the snow, mostly. I just moved in to one of the cabins near the forest? They're.. lovely. I haven't really wanted to leave to go anywhere, including work, but I forced myself." Mae gazes at Alison with some mild amusement, leaning close to bump her shoulder against the other woman briefly. "Good, because I know what kind of shit it is to work in a place sometimes, having to rely on tips when people are irritated or assholes, or irritated assholes."

She glances down at the menu and and back at the hamburger before she nods, pushing the menu away. "Well, just tell him to fuck me up in cheeseburger form, and see what he comes up with. I want a surprise, and I hope it's amazing."

Alison nodnods. "Oh, wow, I didn't realize they finally finished those! The, like..?" She makes the same shape as the a-frame cabins, though she doesn't quite seem to know the phrase for it. "Seems like they were building them forever. I wish I could afford a place like that. I need to get the hell out of the trailer park."

The shoulder bump yields a renewed grin and a slight giggle."Yeahhhhh, I imagine. At least you've got a few good guys working as bouncers, though. I tried a place like that once back in Seattle, serving cocktails? No thanks."

The redhead winks at Mae upon her, possibly unwise request? But that's not exactly Alison's style, nor is it the Grizzly's. She spins around, and leans over the passthrough back to the kitchen. "Hey, can you do up a cheeseburger with something special for Mae? Go wild." A pause. "Yeah, I'm still working on it, why?" Another pause. "No, I said Mae. Not me." She spins back around to face Mae, a rolling of her eyes halfwya in progress by the time. "Want a Coke or something?"

"Babe, the rent is pretty reasonable, there are two bedroom cabins. You should get yourself a roomie." She suggests, quirking both brows up as Alison mentions needing to get out of the trailer park. "I lived down the road from there, never had a lot of problems, but yeah.. think about getting a roomie, you'll be able to afford it then."

She nods her agreement, wincing at Alison's words. "It all depends on the place really. Some take better care of their people, some just rake in the money and fuck whatever else is going on. Antonio is a good guy, he keeps us safe."

"Mmmm yes. Go wild!" She calls behind Alison, nodding as she's offered a Coke. "Yeah, I'll take whatever isn't water." She gives the redhead a thumbs up.

Alison says, "There's this new dude there and he keeps yelling some gibberish at me? I looked it up and I'm not sure but.. I think he's calling me the devil? Probably the hair. It's always the fucking hair with weirdos." She shakes her head a bit, sending her temporary ponytail shaking back and forth behind her. "Huh, really? Maybe I'll check it out. Might not be able to swing a roomie, though, sometimes I, uh, make a lot of noise at night." She covers her mouth as she gives a little forced cough, a grin slightly visible on either side of her hand.

Alison strolls down the bar to the soda fountain, pulling a tall glass of Coke over some ice, before adding a couple pumps of cherry flavor, and throwing a maraschino cherry with the stem intact on top to float in the ice, then toting it back over to put it in front of Mae. "Cameron never mentioned any problems at the Cabaret, anyways. Haven't seen her in ages though." She shrugs. "So Mee's party was kind of a thing, huh? Too bad you had to take off early.""

"Seriously? You're nice. How could they think that you're the devil?" Mae glances in the direction Alison looked and cracks up laughing. "That's pretty hilarious, honestly. but it could be worse. Maybe." She leans her elbows against the bar and listens quietly, her eyebrows rising as Alison speaks. "Oh uh.. just get a roomie who has the same hobbies at night, you know? You'll be fine."

She giggles a bit at that and watches the soda get built, the cherry making her bounce in her seat with joy. "Oh that is lovely. Lovely." She picks up the cup and sips from the straw, nodding at Alison. "We rarely have any problems and everyone has been in and out, taking time off with the holiday going on, you know?" She sips again, sets down the glass and smirks. "I was sad I missed a lot of it, what went on after I left? She's such a cutie."

Alison gives another shrug! "Hell if I know. Natural redheads make some people freak out. Haven't seen that in a while though, I don't think he speaks English? It's pretty much all he would say to me, though. Perkele, perkele, perkele!"

She smirks at the suggestion specific to finding a roomie with similar predilections. "I mean, yeah, but going down that route tends to lead to sharing a bedroom." A pause. "Which works, as long as they chip in for the rent as well. I heard there's some new apartment building that just opened up, might take a look at that too."

"Yeah, I can imagine between the holidays and the snow things were a little wonky." As to the party, though. "Well, it involved a crowded hot tub and a lot more liquor." The grin on the girl's face gets a little wider, her pale cheeks blushing behind her freckles. "Lyric didn't mention it either, huh?"

"So your dude is Finnish? Have you ever read the Scandinavia and the World comic? The Finnish guy is very grumpy and he says that shit all the time. Perkele!" Mae giggles at that and leans an elbow against the bar, playing with her straw in her drink. "I mean, you put out an ad with some thinly veiled references, you might find someone who is into that kind of thing." She winks at Alison and nods about the mention of the apartments.

"I don't really talk to Lyric very much at work. Did things get kinky or something? I haven't seen Tyrone around lately." Mae leans in, takes a sip from her glass, and then she makes a face. It looks like a happy face. "We need more parties, honestly. I think things get heavy around the holidays, and I can't blame people being kinda down."

"Scandin--" She trips on the word briefly, before getting it right. "Scandinavia and the World? No, don't think so. Finnish might make sense.. he kinda sounds a bit like the Swedish Chef."

"Eh, Tinder, dating sites, shit like that's never really been my kinda thing, you know? Too easy to get the wrong kind of attention. I mostly prefer to just.. let life take me wherever it goes, meet people, maybe things happen? I'm not exactly gonna ask strangers if they wanna move in, though. I'm too damn short to defend myself if something comes up."

A ding from the kitchen's passthrough, and Alison turns, and grabs the burger. "Oh man, nice work. We should have burger nights more often. Thanks!" The redhead turns back towards Mae, and slides the plate in front of her. It's a bit of a monstrosity. There's a lightly toasted cheddar cheese bun, a fried egg, some pickles, barbecue sauce, more cheese, bacon, and a few veggies underneath a pretty decently sized beef patty. There's also a few different sides on the plate - regular french fries, curly fries, onion rings, deep fried zucchini sticks. Only a few of each, though, more like a small platter of options for sides.

"..you could say that, I guess? Don't know about Tyrone, don't really know him much, but he was there." Alison looks from side to side, then leans close to Mae, whispering right in her ear. It takes a good moment or so. There are some particularly lurid details, some of which makes Alison blush once more as she tells the little tale. Afterwards, she leans back with a grin on her face, then returns to speaking at a normal volume. "I mean, it was a bit wild, even for me, but it was definitely a thing that happened."

"You should check it out, it's old, but it's pretty hilarious." Mae remarks, and then she winces at the mention of Tinder. "Nope, never tried it, I get enough weirdos at the club. I don't want to sign up for a site where people get to match me or something, sounds weird." She tilts her head and narrows her eyes. "You mean, you're not good at self defense? I mean, I can teach you a few moves if you want."

She glances toward the kitchen window, watching as she grabs a burger. She claps her hands and gazes down at the creation, beaming at the burger laid before her. She picks it up and takes a bite, chewing slowly before she gives Alison a single thumbs up. "This is amazing, tell him thanks? Can I tip him too?" She takes another bite and stops trying to speak for the moment.

When Tyrone comes up she shrugs a shoulder. "First time I met him, to be honest." She blinks a few times staring across at Alison with her mouth slightly open.

Alison looks up at the ceiling for a moment, making a little mental note. "I'll take a look later! Thanks." The line about self defense makes her shrug once more, then pulls back the sleeve of her t-shirt to show her complete lack of a bicep. "Not much to fight back with. I mean, I know the basics well enough - go for the eyes, go for the groin. Played soccer in high school, so I think I've got a decent kick if I need to." She turns sideways, lines up a bit, and does the same sort of kick that one might apply to a soccer ball when trying to score a goal, her sneakered foot landing back down on the floor in a stomp.

The redhead grins at the positive reception of the burger, then turns back towards the passthrough. "Mae says thanks! No, //Mae/." And then back again. "Sure, if you want! They get cut in to the pool too, but Gina pays us decently enough, so don't feel like you have to."

Mae's agape expression just makes Alison grin a little wider. And blush a little more. "What? You've never had something like that happen in a hot tub full of people and booze?"

"Well I mean, it involves going to the gym, getting fit... maybe take up pole dancing?" Mae grins and nods at Alison's ability to kick, which looks like she could tag someone in the jewels if she tried for it. "Well if you ever just want company in the gym, let me know. I go two or three times a week, have to keep up with it to do my job." She takes a bite of her burger again and lets out a soft moan. "So good." She murmurs before she sets it down.

"I don't feel like I have to, but you know, in our line of work tips are important in my opinion. So it makes sense to spread the love when I've got the opportunity." She shrugs a shoulder and takes another sip. "Girl, I could probably tell you stories that would curl your hair some more, but usually I don't do that sort of thing in a hot tub, for some reason the few lessons I got on germs.. they multiply in the damp and the heat, seems like a recipe for disaster, or.. relaxation. Either or."

The redhead groans, as if she's not the only person to suggest that recently. "I've been getting dragged out for runs, but that takes away from valuable pizza eating time. I really don't like exercise, and.. well, don't you need curves to pole dance, anyways? I'm not exactly stacked like sooooomeone." A waggle of her brows and a mischievous grin. The moan makes her laugh. A soft laugh, though, matching her usual soft voice.

"Fair enough! Not gonna say no to a decent tip, anyways." Hints of enticing stories make her eyebrows waggle once more. "Stories are fun. I get what you mean about the water, and like.. things kinda dry out quick down there. Depends a lot on what you're doing, I guess. It was very spur of the moment. Fun though."

Alison reaches back behind her to grab her own burger that she'd been working on, setting it down on the counter, then taking a bite. "Seems like the cherry coke's doing it for you? Sometimes I like an orange coke, but it's not for everyone.

"You do not need curves to pole dance. You don't need curves to strip. You need confidence. Fuck me, Alison, you're a beautiful woman. What the fuck are you talking about.. You need curves." Mae sets down her burger, shaking her head back and forth. Then the burger snags her attention again and she takes another bite. "Christ that's good. Listen..." She sets down her burger and gestures to the redhead. "Just like I told Cameron, if you can make one person in an audience, or a gym, or even in your head think that they wanna fuck you. You've done it. You've got confidence. You just have to keep having it."

She leans back and shrugs, grinning. "I'm glad Park had fun. I haven't seen her at work though, it's been hectic. I need to track her down and get the rest of the scoop."

"I like cherry and I love orange, I just love flavor. Regular coke is okay, but I love a coke with a hint of something in it. It's magical." Mae leans in to sip at her drink, her eyes drifting closed. "I was so hungry when I got here."

Alison shrugs again. "Confidence's easy enough for me around dudes, which is mostly the clientele there, but I can turn into a gibbering idiot around women sometimes. I did sign up for that pole dancing course, I think you were going to run it? I got a text saying that it'd been postponed though." The latter line makes her laugh once more. "Not hard to do, with most men. And usually in both heads, you know?"

"Mee's always a bit of a wildcard. I guess if all else fails you guys can just plug in someone's phone or something for music, though. But yeah, it, uh, was definitely a thing that happened."

"I tried to get Gina to get one of those Coke machines with the screen with all the fruit flavors, you know? But they told her that they only sell those to chains or something. Having a good supply of flavor syrup works almost as well, though." Ali leans back against the rear counter against the wall, pulling her hairtie out, sending her ponytail loose upon her shoulders. "Were you at work or something, or just didn't get around to eating?"

"Sexed based confidence." Mae looks intrigued, she finishes off her burger in another two bites and then wipes her fingers on a napkin. "Yeah, I'm hoping to do it next week at some point. First the snow, then the holidays. It was a mess." She pushes her fingers through her hair and chuckles softly. "Men..men.. are too much, honestly. I enjoy them, at the same time I'd like to shove the lot into a canyon."

"She's always a sweet wildcard, which is worse, honestly. You get to the point where you're not sure if she's trolling you, or if she really means what she says." She turns to rifle through her purse, looking for her wallet. "If you guys had the syrup fountain things it would be fun for a little bit, but then you'd have every tom, dick and harry in here trying to make the weirdest coke ever." She wrinkles her nose and shakes her head, looking back up at Alison. "I was at home, and I'm learning how to cook, but I'm not great at it, so .. I figured I'd come get something edible."

"Cool. I'll keep my eye out for it, then." And then onto men. "Yeahhhh. I wish they would stop being so fucking attractive though. It's annoying. I went through some shit with this asshole and have been mostly into ladies since, but sometimes you see the right dude on the street and.." She snaps her finger, signifying.. something or other.

"Yeah. I like her, but I feel like I have to stay on my toes. One minute she'll be acting sweet and naive, and then the next minute.. not so much." Alison reaches into her pocket, and provides a bill that she'd printed off at some point. It's scant, with only a charge for a plain hamburger. The redhead winks at the dancer as she hands it over. "The machines, yeah, I guess so. I've heard that they don't taste good after a while when you get people trying to make ginger drinks and all that kinda stuff. I guess the nozzle gets dirty or something? The syrup bottles are easy enough."

"Ooooh, that's no fun. Ugh, there's nothing in the world worse than trying to cook for yourself, and it gets screwed up, so then you've gotta make another thing or pay for another meal anyways? I hope you had a decent Christmas dinner or whatever, though. Glad to get to hang out with you for a bit instead though!"

"I basically made chili for dinner on Christmas. Figured even I couldn't screw that up." Mae leans forward, gazing down at the bill briefly. "Well, I hope you find the right lady or gent, because everyone deserves to be happy. Especially nice people like you." She pulls out two twenties and a five. "You two split that up and thanks for the company. I was gonna wake Dyls up and make him cook me something, but he gets really annoyed when I wake him up in the middle of the night. My stomach has needs though, you know?"

She shrugs back into her hoodie, zipping it up. "If you want to hang out though, see the cabins from the inside, hit me up. You have my number right?" She quirks a brow, giving Alison a look. "We can hang out, watch Thor or something, eat popcorn. I haven't sat down and had girl time.. sober.. in a while."

"Chili works, if it was tasty!" She shrugs at the next statement. "Oh, finding.. the right people isn't hard, finding someone as a roomie that I can actually tolerate living with is a whooole different story." The redhead grins widely at the tip. "Oh, that's so generous! Are you sure that's not too much?"

"I'd love to hang out sometime. The cabins look super cozy. I, uh, don't think I have your number?" She grabs a napkin, writes her number down, and hands it over. "Shoot me a text, if you don't mind. My battery's dead. Movie time sounds fun though!"

"It's not too much, it's the new year, if you start out prosperous, you'll end the year the same way." Mae pulls her phone out from her phone and swipes her thumb across the screen, tapping something into the phone. "Give me a buzz back once you juice it. We'll get together sometime soon, yeah?"

She picks up her purse, slings it over her shoulder and blows Alison a kiss. "You be well, babe. Don't be a stranger."

Alison smiles and blows one back to Mae as she heads out. "Have a good night, you."