2020-04-12 - Cowboy Up

There is a new face coming out of the bar's staff area. She's very tall, very scowly, and looks like someone just tried to put either a cowboy hat or something gingham upon her person and was made to instantly regret it. Vic is in a white wifebeater under a blue and black flannel shirt, faded jeans, and tac boots. No cowboy regalia is adorning her as she moves behind the bar and begins filling drink orders that consist of mostly beer. If a customer orders something froo froo, they get whiskey. If they want to complain, they can get their shit from Jay.

Jay is behind the bar. He's in a pair of tight wranglers, a dusty red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of cowboy boots and a hat that looks fucking amazing on him. He's your friendly barkeep, here to polish glasses, serve liquor, eye people asking for milk, and ignore any disturbances as long as they don't break nothin'.

Justin's got on a pair of cowboy boots with his jeans and a black button down with a black cowboy hat on his head, though there's no faux moustache to go along with it as he leans up against the bar and orders himself a beer. "I need at least one before I make an attempt at that bull."

Lyric is up on the stage definitely dressed for the occasion and she's got the microphone and her acoustic guitar, just playing and singing. Currently it's: I Love This Bar

"We got winners, we got losers, Chain smokers and boozers.
An' we got yuppies, we got bikers, An' we got , thirsty hitchhikers.
And the girls next door dress up like movie stars. Mhm, I love this bar.
We got cowboys, we got truckers, Broken hearted fools and suckers.
An' we got hustlers, we got fighters, Early birds and all nighters.
And the veterans talk about their battle scars. Mhm, I love this bar.

I love this bar. It's my kind of place.
Just walk in through the front door, puts a big smile on my face.
No cover charge, come as you are. Mhm, I love this bar."

Vic gets Justin a beer and slaps it on a coaster in front of him. There is no cheery smile, no witty banter, and no speech for the customer to get them on that bull. Just stony silence. Why was she hired again? You'd have to ask Easton. He likely won't explain either so, have fun with that. She casts a glance at the 'boss' and looks personally offended at his mutilation of a perfectly good flannel.

Clapping Jay on the shoulder Easton says, in what should be a whisper, but is not "You are fucking God send. Thanks for doing this." He looks over at Vic, wholly unimpressed as she pisses off another regular. He takes a deep breath in and holds it for a minute before shaking his head. He grabs a pint of beer and takes a big gulp before turning to Justin and grinning, "Not gonna lie, I will be real sad if we don't get at least one broken nose from someone on that thing tonight." The surliness of Vic is explained with a tired look and a "Convict release program." by way of explanation.

August arrives with Itzhak, and they are both in cowboy hats. (The conversation went something like, 'We have to wear cowboys hats.' 'What? Why.' 'It's tradition.' 'You made that up.' 'All tradition is made up.') August is in a black stampede hat, a little worn looking; chances are it's borrowed from Cy, whose family has a ranch down in Texas. (It's possible Cy also loaned Itzhak his hat too.) Most of August's regular clothes could double for a cowboy outfit, so he hasn't changed much there: denim jeans, black leather boots, and a red, black, and white flannel over a white Henley. His nails are painted black with gold glitter, though, which is a bit less cowboy and somewhat more yeehaw.

"No problem, pardner," Jay tells Easton with a playful wink. He's been looking forward to dressing up as a cowboy, man! This shit is the bomb. He even has one of those collar thingies whatchamacallits around his neck, he has no idea what it's called. The lady at the store told him but he forgot. Also his belt buckle is like four times the recommended size, so awesome. He winks at Vic. "Ma'am." Hat-tip.

EVERYONE is going to regret this.

Harper owns neither cowboy boots nor a cowboy hat, sadly. She's even repurposed a red plaid flannel shirt to tip her mildly toward western. It helps that its tails are tied high around her midriff, and a pair of old jeans with a belt (buckle not so impressive) rest comfortably at her hips. Her hair is pulled up into two pigtails that swing when she moves. It's as cowboy as the librarian can pull off on short notice. She pushes through the doors and into the transformed bar space and looks around with an intrigued expression, then heads over toward Jay and Easton at the bar. "Beer me."

Itzhak promised Easton he would not be wearing anything country OR western, but in fact, he's wearing a hella authentic-looking cowboy hat, dusty and weathered. He's also wearing a flannel clearly borrowed from August, but is it borrowing if August insisted? And them jeans are tight, baby. Not to be outdone in the nail polish department, he's nail polish twins with August. Black with gold glitter. It all looks awesome, but he's kind of sulking. "I hate you for making me wear this," he's muttering to August as he slinks in with him.

Being called ma'am gets a flash of Vic's eyes and she gives Jay a look that seems to indicate she'd like to shove that hat he tipped right up his ass. He gets a pursing of her lips, but so far, she's behaving. In that she's not throwing him over the bar to beat on him. She's still being a shitty bartender. She slaps a beer on a coaster in front of Harper as well without even glancing at the woman, still giving the death glare to the other tender.

Justin doesn't seem put off or offended at the surly delivery of his beer. The beer got there. The beer is cold. Those are the two criteria required for beer. He lifts it and takes a swallow then grins over at Easton, "Can I not be the one to break my nose? I start filming in a couple of weeks." He leans his elbow on the bar and glances over in Vic's direction, giving a shrug. "She's efficient." That's all he has to say about that.

As the I Love This Bar song fades out, Lyric goes right into the next song, upnodding to Itzhak and August as they make it in. Her voice is suited to this genre somehow and she really looks as if she's having fun, fingers strumming over the strings. You are all forced to listen to country music! It's only fitting! Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off

"She said, I'm goin' out with my girlfriends. Margaritas at the Holiday Inn.
Oh, have mercy my only thought was Tequila makes her clothes fall off.
I told her put an extra layer on I know what happens when she drinks patron.
Her closets missin' half the things she bought. Yea, Tequila makes her clothes fall off.
She'll start by kickin' out of her shoes. Lose an earring in her drink.
Leave her jacket in the bathroom stall, drop a contact down the sink."

"Them pantyhose ain't gonna last too long if the DJ puts Bon Jovi on.
She might come home in a tablecloth. Yea, tequila makes her clothes fall off.
She can handle any Champagne brunch. Bridal shower with Barcadi punch.
Jello shooters full of Smirnoff. But tequila makes her clothes fall off."

Jay flashes Vic a grin and then blows her a kiss at the glare. She's been trying to intimidate him since they met and he's been infuriatingly unflappable. He does a little line-dance in place and then takes an order on his end of the bar, slipping a whiskey out.

"Take off your shirt!" Easton bellows, not as one might expect at his beautiful and oh so patient girlfriend who has been known to disrobe in a bar in the past. No no. This greeting is reserved for one August Roen, who will likely be greeted that way for a long time to come. The matchy-matchy-ness of Itzhak doesn't surprise him, but he grins at the fact that he's pouting about it. As if this were the most ridiculous get up Easton's seen him in. It's not.

He does a little double take when Jay ma'ams Vic complete with scrunched wtf? face. But then he's seen Harper and is trying to carefully watch Vic, because his husbands girlfriend (..yeah) is not the customer to piss off.

Back to Justin, Easton laughs and says, "No, your face is too pretty to bust up. If I'm betting on broken noses.." He indicates with his head the largest nose in the place, on Itzhak. "Just based on surface area." But it's all said with love.

"Just think of how incredibly authentic it'll look when you sing Desperado," August says, sounding way too pleased with himself. For someone who's only been to the Southwest a couple of times he can sure exude the air. He stops shorting of mimicking any horrible accents, though, just meanders over to the bar to order himself a black and tan and Itzhak something to dull the pain of looking fabulously country.

He grins at Easton, dips his head and sweeps off his hat. "Now Marshall, you know for a fact I only take off my shirt to defend my honor, and if there's something to trade for it. I know for a fact you'd toss yours off for asking, so you're going to need to come up with something better than that."

She'd tried to talk herself out of it, but in the end Katherine finds herself at Two If By Sea for yet another event in support of veterans. This time, it's Easton's event. She doesn't play to stay very long, just long enough to make an appearance and drop off a check, because that's what she does. Even with how poorly things have gone, Katherine still donates to help veterans. She steps into the bar just as she hears Easton's loud call and she sighs as she travels through the crowd.

What in god's name has Dante wandered in on? At first, he was excited to see a full parking lot, given he's a social creature. He was a little bit concerned when he heard...twanging. But then there's a lot of plaid and a full-on mechanical bull and a thok of...axe throwing? And here he is, looking utterly, completely out of place in a beautiful navy three piece suit with a slight sheen. He stands in the doorway, one hand in his pocket, expression difficult to read but not exactly happy. He wasn't looking for a classy drink, but he could have done with one that didn't come with a yee-haw.

An imposing figure pushes open the door to the bar, though stops in the doorway to allow his shorter blonde companion entry first in his typically quiet chivalry. Sporting a brown shouldered plaid button-up shirt tucked into some jeans with a 6-inch wide buckle, Leon looks like he was really leaning into the theme for the night. He didn't have true cowboy boots, but the massive Red Wings on his feet would be close enough. And it was almost standard issue for an American military man to have a cowboy hat from his time in the service, whether through cringe-worthy worship of an ideal or just being ironic. Leon had had to finally dig through his boxes to find the black cattleman's hat he was sporting, likely to Maggi's amusement. A look is tossed her way as they first enter, trying to play dumb to the layout so maybe she wouldn't have to know his quiet betrayal from a visit or two to the Twofer.

Maggi has only shown up to the Twofer' once before to celebrate LGBTQIA existence. The only other thing that could have possibly gotten her out here was the promise of Easton in a fake mustache and bad southern accent. Channeling her inner Janis Joplin, the closest thing to western she dares is a fringed black leather jacket and a thrift store inlaid belt. These are to match her black skinny jeans and black tee, which really set off her dark sense of humor. Plus Easton and Bennie had helped significantly in social presence at 'The raising or the Green', so this wasn't the worst place to be...just for the evening. Despite feminist views, she allows Leon to hold the door while biting her lip to stop herself from telling him she was perfectly capable, a comment that would have been ignored anyhow, instead opting for a sarcastic grin at Easton's mustache which one may actually be able to spot from space.

Harper doesn't seem put out by Vic's surly 'tude. She takes her mug o' beer and the coaster and meanders to a spot closer to where the mechanical bull is set up, settling atop a barstool there and people watching. Justin gains her attention first, along with a smilie of recognition tossed his way. On about the room. August and Itzhak are hard to miss and a fascinating pair to watch. Harper follows their progress around the bar with a musing expression. The beer sits on the nearest surface, unsipped. She claps for Lyric's ambiance between songs.

"I've literally been in bluegrass bands and I never wore a fershtunken hat like this." Itzhak is here to bless the proceedings with Jewishness and kvetching. And that nose. Who doesn't like the nose? He hoists a middle-finger New York salute at Easton. Lyric's on stage and Itzhak weaves through the crowd to her, sets about getting out his fiddle. Grumble. POUT. As he's working on it, he glances around the room, spots Harper, and wrinkles his nose at her like she better not dare tease him about this outfit.

Justin flutters his eyelashes at Easton prettily, and then looks over toward Itzhak, shaking his head a little. "Poor guy," he chuckles as the man exclaims about his hat. Noting Harper, he gives her a nod in greeting and a smile with an up-tip of his black cowboy hat. Apparently he's joined the dark side for the evening. His beer is lifted and he takes a swig, glancing over to note Dante in the doorway. "He definitely didn't get the memo," he notes with a chuckle at the look on the man's face.

You think Bennie'd pass up on the chance to wear Daisy Duke's and flannel? Well, this time she does if only in favor of a light blue jumpsuit complete with white fringe that drapes from every hem and both the sleeves. She's gone full on Dolly Parton for the event, even teasing up her hair to proper bouffant heights which will not be tamed by the likes of any cowboy hat this evening. Strolling in from the back hallway, Bennie hoots and hollers to no one in particular. "It's a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I'd be a drag queen." Yes, that's a Dolly-ism.

Manoeuvring her way though the crowd was the easy part. Giving herself the courage to walk up to Easton, that was a whole different story. So she doesn't do that right away. Instead, she goes to the bar to order herself a shot. Tequila. So bad that it's good, hard to swallow but she keeps coming back for more. She blinks and takes the tequila shot before she continues on into the crowd. And the next person Katherine hears and sees nearby, is Bennie. She gives the blonde a smile and greets her. "Hey Bennie!"

Catching Itzhak's eye, Harper smiles a capricious smile at the westerned up New Yorker. She touches her fingertips to her lips and then splays them in an across the bar compliment-tease. Dare her some more. She leans an elbow against the high tabletop she's perched beside and contemplates fiddle production with some interest. Justin's hat-tipped greeting draws a quiet laugh from Harper. She simply shakes her head at the man, marvelling at his transformation. Bennie makes her entrance and Harper wolf-whistles from her perch.

"First, that's because shirts are dumb." Easton easily counters August and then adds, "And second, you, me, ax toss later. Loser goes without for the rest of the night." Again it's not much of an imposition for Easton to go about shirtless, but who doesn't love a good game of chance for charity with a little light nudity thrown in.

"Hey hey! It's my favorite drinking contest people in the right bar this time." Easton calls out to Leon and Maggi before grabbing their orders. "Thanks for making it out. I will swear to Mariah that you were kidnapped and held against your will if it helps."

Hearing Justin's words about Dante, Easton looks up just in time to catch a glimpse of someone but then she's gone and he finds Dante in the crown. "Neighbor!" He calls out loudly and beckons Dante in.

Bennie's entrance however causes Easton to shut up for once and just beam. He watches her make an entrance, missing some comments to him in the meantime. The only thing that makes him blink is when he realizes it's Katherine approaching Bennie, so he wasn't mistaken before. He stares for a minute before shaking his head and calling out "Harper, what are you waiting for? Get on that damn bull and show it who's boss!"

Dante lifts a hand to Easton, but he only concedes by stepping a foot or two in, and out of the doorway so he doesn't block the people who intended to come to the Gray Ole Opry. Congratulations, TiBS, you've made Mister Social uncomfortable in a crowd. He's standing with more straight-backed Britishness than he intended, and he sees to be quickly debating either a lot of alcohol very quickly, or an escape. He's leaning towards the latter by the way his gaze flicks towards the door.

Leon makes his way to the bar after a moment to let Maggi get her bearings and consider her social trajectory, making his way around the stunned and uncomfortable Dante without complaint. Easton's greeting gets an amicable grin, "There's always plenty of asses to hold down stools over there. She won't miss us for one night." His wallet and an envelope is slipped from a chest pocket and a black card produced, one offered across to start a tab, and the other dropped in the ammo box without fanfare. "Bourbon straight and a Lemon Drop," he'd order simply, though he seemed unrushed. His attention is briefly caught by the rodeo spectacle that was Bennie, a short laugh issued, glancing to Maggi, "Shit, there you go, tassle buddy."

Justin chuckles as Bennie comes out hootin' and hollerin' in her best Dolly Parton. "Heya Bennie," he says in greeting, lifting his beer in her direction. Though when Easton calls out for Harper to ride the bull, one brow goes up and he glances over toward the librarian. "You're taking the challenge tonight, huh? Good luck out there!" He gives her a beer salute and then takes another swallow. "Come on, Easton's Neighbor, come join us at the bar," he beckons with a wave.

Easton's booming voice doesn't need much to carry. Harper looks his way. "After you, Marshall," she calls back, lifting her voice a bit to be heard amidst the din of the already busy bar. "And a beer or two," she adds in a regular tone.

Joseph has not bothered to dress for this in the least. White t-shirt, old jeans, work boots. Fifteen years of living in Houston was enough faux-cowboyness for him. The sailor rolls in looking cheerfully windblown and sunburned and relaxed, pausing just inside and aside of the door to survey the crowd, before meandering on over to the bar.

Itzhak mutters musician-talk to Lyric in low rapid murmurs, bending his becowboyhatted head to hers. He straightens up, looking over the room as if to figure out how he's going to work it. Spotting Dante, he calls to him, "Yo, Taylor!". And there's Joe too, who also gets a, "Cavanaugh! I'm gonna sing the songs of your people!"

August surveys Easton, eyes narrowed. "You're on." He points at Easton with his hat so Easton knows he means business. He turns to find his black and tan waiting for him. He's a generous tipper, and since Itzhak is performing, sticks to the bar for now. And hey! Here comes Joe. He pats a spot next to him. "There you are. Sit your butt right here, Cavanaugh. Marshall's going to take off his shirt for us later."

Lyric continues singing the song, the lyrics of it amusing her. Tequila made almost everyone's clothes fall off. As Itzhak finally joins her on stage and prepares the fiddle, there's a beaming smile of approval for him along with a wink. He had next song choice, but she was ready for it, likely going to play guitar while he sings it. Man can he sing! The applause from Harper has her grinning at the librarian and tossing a wink towards her.

"She don't mean nothin' she's just havin' fun.
Tomorrow she'll say, oh, what have I done.
Friends will joke about the stuff she lost!
Yea, tequila makes her clothes fall off,"

The song fades and she nods to Itzhak. He's up!

This may actually make it on to the list of the top ten things Maggi has ever seen if she get's to include Leon's belt buckle. She may in fact be teasingly calling him 'Mayor Dimmsdale', which seems to be lost on him but makes her giggle. Bennie looks amaze-balls, straight up younger wax museum copy. Chinese manufacturing couldn't have done it better. Trying not to fly into a fit of giggles as she watches 'THE MUSTACHE' twitch at Bennie's entrance, she thanks him even if it falls on deaf ears. "Thanks Easton! I wouldn't want her to think we were willing."

This is accompanied by a widening of her sarcastic smile, "Your hottie looks hot!" she states as if pointing out the sky's color was necessary. She is grateful Leon was ordering drinks, it felt less dirty that way.

"Songs of my people?" Joe's tone is lazily amused. "What're those? You gonna sing me some Allman Brothers? Or d'you mean Johnny Cash 'n Dolly Parton? If you're takin' requests, how 'bout you do 'When The Man Comes Aroun'?" Then he's obeying August, settling right by the arborist. "Now you're talkin'. I'm always up for makin' a jarhead strip down," he agrees, as he props an elbow on the bar. "How many drinks you think we gotta get in 'im 'fore we get there?"

"Ah, thanks very much for the hospitality," says Dante to Justin after stepping aside for Leon. "But this isn't really my sort of event. I've happened by on accident." If that wasn't obvious by how utterly out of place he is. Usually he chooses to look out of place - when he's in control of it. But this is a different story. He lifts a hand to Itzhak in greeting. "Hello, hello, good evening." He's eyeing the exit again, but a cluster of people just entered and it will take a moment to clear.

Easton is not one to take a challenge like that sitting down or standing behind the bar. He serves up Leon and Maggi and then apologizes, "If you'll excuse me, I have to go make a point by gripping with my thighs." He slips out from behind the bar and blows a kiss to Bennie before heading for the bull. He mounts Thunder with an uneasy stride, awkward with his prosthetic but makes it through the first round. The second round claims it's first victim in the fake mustache that flies off Easton's face and lands sadly on the mat. But the real pain comes in the third round that sends Easton flying face first into the ground on a particularly nasty buck, landing with a graceless thud. But he's not down for long he gets up raises his hands to any cheers or jawing from the crowd and calls, "Who's next?"

"Oh, he'll strip just for asking, no booze needed," August assures Joe. "But I told him if he wanted me to he had to put it to a question of honor. So we're throwing axes later. Loser has to go shirtless the rest of the night." August shrugs. It's for charity, at least. Also unlike last time he doesn't have to worry about No Shirt No Shoes being a problem.

As Easton's fake mustache and then Easton himself fall victim to the bull, August asides to Joe, "That, on the other hand, I can't do." He looks a little sad about it. "Axe throwing'll have to suffice."

After the harrowing incidents which both he and Lilith were involved in recently, now that they've both made a full recovery, it was time to adjust back into normal civilian life. Having had a busy work day, it was now time to play. And drink. And possibly do something stupid, but knowing Byron that's not the case...

Entering the familiar establishment with Lilith at his side, his arm snaked around her waist, Byron went all out for full cowboy attire, or what his perception of a cowboy is. He's dressed in black with a matching black cowboy hat on his head. Is that a real firearm in his holster? There's a good possibility for that, especially since this is Gray Harbor.

There's a lot of familiar faces for him to greet and he weaves his way through the crowd, taking notice that many an eye were on... "Looks like we came in at just the right time." He comments with a wide grin over at Lilith as they observe Easton on the mechanical bull. If he looks at the bull with some wariness, it's only because he's had to fight against robotic monstrosities in the past. "Let's go say hello, before we grab something to drink." Leading the way, he lifts his chin before tipping his hat at the crowd, "Not bad, Marshall, not bad." That's when he spies a few others, "Roen, Rosencrantz."

Bennie gives some hugs and cheek kisses as she weave through the crowd, complete with exaggerated, "Howdy y'all!" Her thousand watt smile grows at the blown kiss from Easton, returning it in kind with a wink of her ridiculously big fake lashes that when she bats her eyes could start a tsunami. She turns almost right into Katherine. "Oh. Hi." She just sort of blinks like a deer in the headlights before she remembers herself, and leans forward to try to give Katherine's cheek an air kiss. "Thanks for coming out!"

Harper hoots and hollers in response to each of Easton's three rounds. When he ends up heels over head, she calls, "Walk it off, Marshall." Harper finally takes a drink of her beer after toasting the man with a heft of her mug.

Katherine immediately welcomes the air kiss, almost instinctively. She was dressed in a pair of skinny dark blue jeans and a white blouse. "Hi, I'm clearly not dressed for the occasion, but I wasn't about to stay long. Uh, I just wanted to drop off a check. Should I leave it with you?" She pulls the envelope out with a generous check to show Bennie.

Vic gives Leon half his order times two. Apparently she doesn’t make Lemon Drops. She just sets two bourbons in front of him and leaves it at that. Surely Jay will fix it. She wipes her hands on a bar towel to watch Easton take on the mechanical bull with a flat expression. “Right,” She states to no one. “My shift is over.” She’s been there like twenty minutes. Regardless the Amazonian woman tosses the towel in a bin and heads into the back.

Itzhak turns his head to better zero in on what Joe's saying, across a very noisy bar. Then he says to Lyric, "Okay, change of plans," and spends a moment with her, digging out his phone, pulling up something, showing it to her. He sets his fiddle down, grabs the mic. "A'ight," he says into it, voice coming over the speakers, "ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, trouble and makers, we got both kinds a music for you tonight. Country AND Western. This one's for Joe Cavanaugh, and if he buys me enough drinks I might not tell everyone his embarrassing secret." Itzhak is the first to tell anyone he's a terrible front man.

Speaking alone, without accompaniment, voice rough and rich and 'talking on key', he tells the room, "And I heard," which comes out as hoid in that accent of his, "as it were, the noise a thunder. One of the four beasts saying: Come and see. And I saw, and behold, a white horse." And with that he cues Lyric and they swing into 'The Man Comes Around.'

Naturally, Lilith is right against Byron on entry into the devised country chaos of the bar tonight, wearing a grin that only grows the more she takes in the scene they're strolling into. She's dressed for the occasion, of course, because the woman loves playing dressup for flair, but instead of anything denim and shit-kicker style to match the gingham table cloths (or any attempt at bull riding), her outfit is stylishly devised to suit the side of her cowboy dressed in black alongside. Wearing a short black leather skirt with a tucked in white 'western' blouse that probably cost more than it should, she's kind of oozing sex and money Dallas instead of good bar-style country. Her leggy strides are carried by patent black pattern leather cowboy boots with silver accents to match her belt, and naturally, she has a black cowboy hat placed atop curled hair that falls around her made up face.

They get there just in time for her to put two fingers in her mouth for a whistle at Easton's bull-riding prowess before it's over and done with. Then she flips attention to more familiar faces in the crowd, flashing lopsided smile of familiarity for August especially, and she looks worlds better than he walked into her looking the other day. Suddenly, she asides to Byron.

"... Please tell me you're going to get drunk enough to ride that bull, babe. Please. Please. Please."

Leon offers a cheery and raucous whistle after Easton's provocative exit, lifting his glass in salute to the soldier heading into battle and handing Maggi's glass off to her, noting as he does it was the wrong drink. There's a raised eyebrow and some sort of silent judgmental thought traded with his other half. Turning back to the spectacle, he shouts encouragement, but it's a wince and a recoiling that watches the man come flying off the attraction, yelling 'Hooah!' and taking a quick sip of his drink in celebration of his bravery and defeat. "You should take a turn." he mutters sideways to his blonde companion.

Geoff finally manages to show up, fresh off work though he's come prepared with a pair of cowboy boots, jeans, a black tee and a straw cowboy hat

"Alright," Justin says, finishing the rest of his beer and heading toward the bull. "Guess it's my turn." He pulls himself up onto the bull and it starts off slow, and he seems to wobble a bit, trying to find the right way to shift his center of gravity along with the movement of the bull. His hat doesn't make it through the first round, but he manages to stay on. In the second round, as the bull's movements grow faster and a bit more erratic, he seems to hit his stride, hanging on as it jerks and spins. But in the third round, a particularly hard buck has him wrenching forward and sure enough crack right in the nose. "Ow, FUCK," he coughs but manages to hold on all the way to the end. Though his hand does cover his nose as he slips off and a few drops of blood hit the mats before he makes it off, reaching for a napkin that someone hands him, holding it over his face.

Lyric knows all sorts of music! This one too. An old foster parent had played a lot of Cash and Hank in the garage while he'd taught her to work on cars. The tune is picked easily and she strums her fingers over the strings not bothering with a pick. She doesn't join in the singing, but she seems to be enjoying herself just being surrounded by and creating music.

August doffs his hat for Lilith, which makes it easier to see that he has a few injuries still healing up; notably, there's a constellation of white in his hair, starred along the right side. It's covered by his hat a second later. "Hey you two. How're you feeling."

He grins at the idea of Byron up on the bull, even more so at Itzhak's introduction to the next song. "What're you having, Cavanaugh, I'll get you started."

At first Bennie's eyes go wide at the mention of a check, not sure how to interpret that. Is this a business thing? Does she owe Easton money? "Oh! For the charity. Yes, of course. Totally fine." Man she's slow on the uptake today, good thing Dolly is a bit of a ditz too, right? She takes the envelope and slaps it against her hand awkwardly for a moment, "You know I'm just going to...put this in the...office." Exit Bennie, stage left.

That would be Harper, slipping off her stool to take a napkin or three over to Justin. "Fortunes of war," she tells him. "But that was a darn good ride." She tips her head and chestnut pigtails whip to the side.

It's all fun and games until the star of the evening 'The Mustache' is severed in it's prime, cut down too soon. Then Easton is thrown about and Maggi decides this evening will be entertaining to the snark in her regardless of facial injustice. She let's out a few cheers and raises a surprised eyebrow at the bourbon she is handed, looking purely conspiratorial. She takes a few sips and does her best not to spit it out at Leon's remark. "I trip on air," she manages. "How many drinks do you think you can have before you couldn't stay on it Mayor Dimmsdale?" She giggles. Spotting Harper she gives a friendly wave to the librarian, whom she had actually never run in to outside of the library. Mostly Maggi just assumed she lived there.

"Sounds good to me," Joe says, grinning. Apparently he'll be having Jack and Coke - a night of social drinking, rather than charging ahead with a Four Horsemen. "Lookin' forward to it, either way." He watches the mechanical bull for a moment, all cheerful attention, and then nods. "Yeah. That's a hard pass. Had my chimes rung enough times just through work."

Then Itz is humoring him, and he laughs, delighted - already turning that betraying shade of pink, as if in pre-emptive mortification. He asides to August, "That's just about my favorite Johnny Cash song."

And then, she's all alone, and trying to figure out if she should make a run for it or stick around. But Katherine knows that the longer she sticks arounds, the more she runs the risk of bumping into Easton. But, they're okay now, right? At least they should be. She's still unsure about his reaction to her returning the ring, almost afraid. But looking around at the people in the bar and he seems to be having a good time. She's not entirely sure if going up to him to say hello is a good idea, so she heads back to the bar and lingers for a moment, just to watch him.

Ruiz's only real concession to hoe-ing down tonight appears to be a hat. A stetson, to be precise. It's an improvement, at least, over his usual ballcap. He's also attired in a crisp black button-down shirt tucked into dark, faded jeans, and boots that are most definitely not cowboy boots. He shoulders his way in, takes a gander at the crowd, and starts hunting for familiar faces as he bellies up to the bar. Tequila? "Tequila."

Eventually, the space around the door clears out, and Dante beats a hasty retreat, sliding between tassles and cowboy hats. "Americans," he murmurs quietly to himself with a hint of amusement, as he straightens his suit and disappears into the night.

Justin chuckles and thanks Harper as she brings over a few napkins for him to hold in front of his face. He tips his head back and holds them in place as he leans up against the bar once more, standing out of the way for the next contestant to hop up and make an attempt at Thunder Down Under. "I appreciate it," he says to Harper. "That last buck was a doozy. Shit, this is going to bruise.. but I'm pretty sure it's not broken."

Having recovered from his own fall in time to watch Justin take one in the nose Easton grimaces at how prescient his comments about a nose were. "I said you were too damn pretty J! That should have been Rosencratz's nose!" He is glad to see that Harper is taking care of him though so he can continue to snark at him instead. He makes his way back behind the bar and greets all comments on his performance with invitations to try it out. He sees Katherine sidle up to the bar and he gives her a polite nod, but doesn't approach. He finishes off his first beer before pouring himself another and leaning out to check out the ax throwing outside and the crowds out by the firepits.

The tequila is slid down to Ruiz before the bartender in front of him even has a chance to register what was said. Easton saw him coming obviously.

"Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers - One hundred million angels singin' - Multitudes are marchin' to the big, kettle, drum..." Itzhak, as always, gets a little lost in the music, striving to match Cash's vocal subtlety and skill. It...sounds a little funny with that blatantly New York Yiddish accent, but man, he works it. "And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree - Marshall don't you gimme no lip," that's not in the song!

"Looks like a great crowd. Like always." Byron comments as his dark eyes sweep over the room. It was quite the transformation, though that's mostly in part to the atmosphere and many a good townsfolk dressed up for a hoe down. Or cattle wrangling. Take your pick. Grinning over at August, while he, himself, felt his own damage was no big deal, he can't help but look over at Lilith to answer that question.

It's at this point that Lilith mentions something about being drunk and something about that mechanical bull, Byron's not sure or he tries to pretend to not hear he at first. In fact, he's looking over at the bar now, visibly contemplating on what he wants to drink. Eventually, he will respond to a, "That depends on the reward." Returning back to August, looking the botanist over, he decides to ask, "How about you? How are you doing? Nothing gone haywire at the farm?"

"Well I reckon," Leon begins, putting on the most ridiculous western/country/southern accent he can muster, "I ain't a man silly enough to answer that question, lil' lady." He coughs and laughs after, covering his mouth with the back of his glass-holding hand, unable to bite back the short laugh of ridiculousness. Justin gets his own round of cheer and whistle from the locksmith, calling jokingly, "Someone call a medic! Man down!"

Harper offers Justin her beer as if that would make the bloody nose better. "Have a drink, Justin." Then she lightly taps at the back of his head. "Don't tip your head back. That'll lead to all sorts of problems. Let me get your hat for you." She either releases her beer mug into Justin's hand, or sets it down before retrieving the black hat he lost on his ride. Maggi's across-the-room wave earns a little wiggle of fingers in return along with a pleasant smile, then she dons the man's hat and returns to where he is standing near her bar stool. Byron and Lilith's arrival tips a warm smile from Harper, but she doesn't cross the bar to accost them.

Easton's nod is returned by Katherine but she eventually decides to venture outside and make her departure, though her curiosity about the axe throwing competition has her making a bit of a detour before heading out, walking towards the residential areas.

Justin accepts the beer from Harper and the offer to go get his hat with a chuckle, "Yes mom." He tips his head back forward as directed, though and experimentally removes the napkins. It's not too bad. It'll bruise, but it's not broken so it won't be too terrible for too long. He places the napkins back in place and leans against the bar, grinning a little at Leon and nodding to him. "Think I'll live." Then he smirks at Easton and says "You jinxed me. It's all your fault." It's not. And he's not serious.

"And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts. And I looked, and behold a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was death, and Hell followed with him." Itzhak growls the last words into the mic. Ruiz comes in, and he looks right at him, and the eyebrows go up. Oh, damn. That Stetson! But Itzhak can't catcall him at the moment, so he just winks at him under the brim of his own cowboy hat. Then he says into the mic, "Someone bring the musicians a drink! I am way not drunk enough to be wearing this hat."

Lucas sidles on in, wearing his normal outfit; jeans, suspenders, and a GHFD tee, but he has on cowboy boots and a cowboy hat perched on his head, for the festivities tonight. He is not alone with a lovely young lady on his arm and smiles widely, looking around and seeing how busy the place is getting, "Looks like a good turnout" he says in Katy's direction.

Even Lyric was enjoying watching Itzhak get into the music. While she plays, she background harmonizes, as much as you can to a Johnny Cash song. It would soon be open mic though and she glances around the bar trying to guess who else would get up and sing. Her eyes land on Ruiz and she grins, the Tequila song she'd just sang running through her mind again, but her attention there is brief. Her own cowboy hat is tilted back, she's all cowgirl'd up. (Desc set)

Lilith takes a moment to really look at August a bit closely after he doffs the hat, but her grin stays in signature lopsided slant before she clicks her tongue at him once in that silent kind of way that commiserates about bullshit in GH and beyond. "I feel wonderful. It's tops, thank you very much."

And she may be throwing her 'please' in multiple down a hole when it comes to getting Byron drunk and wild, but she might be able to swing a convincing barter to get him riding good and sober. Also she noticed that Geoff and Harper came in together and she flashes the woman a smile from afar, asking SO out of the loop, "Are they a thing? How long have they been a... mm, I'm about to go ambush, but c'mere..."

Apparently, her bartering isn't for public consumption. As she rises on her toes and lets Byron order the drinks once he's decided, she murmurs once, then murmurs again before dropping back down from near press at his ear. She doesn't look back up at him, but she's looking damn satisfied with herself before she swipes up her arriving drink to play with the straw and drink.

"Marshall," greets the stetson-wearing Mexican otherwise known as de la Vega, reaching around to clap his friend across the shoulder amiably. "How the fuck are you managing?" All this chaos is sort of implied with a flick of his eyes across the place.. which happen to snag on Itzhak over there, singing. Which distracts him heavily for a good long while, inked fingers resting absently atop his glass as he listens to the ending strain of some Johnny Cash. The wink garners a flickered grin, crow's feet sketched in deep grooves under the shadow of that hat of his.

Harper climbs back onto her stool beside where Justin's standing. The 'mom' comment doesn't seem to bother her. She regards his nose when he pulls the napkins away. "Oh yeah. You're totally fine." She then nods sagely. "It's always Easton's fault. That's totally a thing." Itzhak's Cash tips Harper's attention toward the microphone and the pair behind it. Her pigtails look ridiculous under Justin's black cowboy hat.

"Javier," Joe says, shoulder-checking him amiably, as he picks his way through the crowd to bring Itz at least one of those drinks. Apparently he doesn't want to have his embarrassing secret blared to the assembled crowd. Still in the space cowboy closet, as far as most of the townsfolk are concerned.

Katy, on impulse decided that she'd accompany Lucas on a night out, a completely platonic friend date at a bar that may or may not involve her picking up a new vice. "Yeah this place is insanely packed." She pauses and adds, "You know that I never used to drink, but I was thinking of picking up a new vice. What do you think I should have?"

"I started drinking at noon." Easton grins in answer to Ruiz's rightful concern that this is going to be a bit much for him. But he sticks to that 'joke' and doesn't seem inclined to talk more about it. He pushes back from the bar and calls, "Roen, are we doing this or what? The fact that we're both still wearing shirts is getting more depressing by the minute!" So the real answer probably lies somewhere in what he said and the fact that he's keeping himself very busy being very loud.

Lucas smiles toward the Addington on his arm, "It's cowboy night, be corageous, and get in the spirit of things, or a Roy Rogers" His eyes gleam with mischief, "ohh they have a mechanical bull, and Axes, so many things to choose from."

Justin doesn't seem to mind that his hat has been absconded with. He taps the top of it lightly where it sits o top of Harper's head and drinks her beer. The napkins are folded away and stuffed in his pocket, his nose looking like it's going to bruise impressively, but the bleeding seems to have ebbed for the time being. "Definitely a thing," he agrees with her.

August winces at Byron, waggles a hand. "A group of us got dragged Over in the Safeway." He taps that spot on his head. "I got nailed pretty badly. Ellie and Erin patched me up, though. Word to the wise--don't fuck around with charcoal. And if you see fruit? Kill it, don't give it a chance to sell you some pack of lies."

But Lilith telling him that she's feeling wonderful helps August a fair amount, and he smiles at her. "Good. Glad to hear it." It makes the whole debacle in the Safeway worth it, ultimately. He gives Lucas an up-nod when he sees him, moves over to Ruiz. "So. Is that a borrowed hat?" He's teasing; 'like mine' is implied by his tone.

He eyes Easton, eyes his only partially-finished beer. "Well, since I'm not so drunk as to be throwing-impaired, let's get on with it."

In a denim dress, Katy doesn't appear to look too festive, but she's willing to encourage Lucas along, or egg him along, depending on how you look at it. "You order me a drink when you get one and I'll drink with you. Who can you have your first drink with if not the best friend you used to date?" she quips playfully.

Maggi knocks back the rest of her bourbon, snickering at Leon's enjoyment of the activities. It always feels weird to be in an environment where you feel like you should be working...and not...work. She was doing her best to enjoy herself, but like...what should she be doing with her hands? Oh God, she had become one of those people obsessed with her job hadn't she. She orders another bourbon, because that's what she got last time any way. Being the weirdo that she is, she checks to see if the mustache is still abandoned on the mat.

Ruiz can sense the disturbance in the force that is Cavanaugh roughly as easily as he spots Itzhak's blinding light from a mile out. So when the taller blond tries to shoulder past him, he reaches out to catch his arm, and draw him in close for a few moments. Something's pitched right up against his ear, though the details of his little indiscretion are handily obscured by the stetson on his head. Conveniently. Then he's released, and Itzhak's shot a smile as he turns to fetch his drink.

The arrival of Lucas is noticed alongside... what would seem like the wrong Addington? Leon squints at this. Even if his last run-in with the pair had ended rather hurriedly, he had at least noticed there was a certain order to the coupling of folk at the Firehouse, and this addition was not adding up. Either way, he downs the rest of his bourbon and gets someone to top him up on his tab, and maybe order Maggi the actual drink she wanted (seriously, the service here...). But she beat him to it. Not like he was complaining. She was slowly converting. Internally, there was a mad scientist cackle of victory.

Lucas smiles and leads Katy toward the bar making thier way through the crowd he holds up 2 fingers, "Two Roy Rogers please" he seems to be hiding some dark secret in his eyes, and whatever it is really amuses him, "So are you going to Throw Axes with me Kit-Kat?

Harper grins at Justin as he plays along, beer-for-hat, at least for the moment. "I know, right?" Easton's fault. She scans the space only to see August and Easton with axes. "Because nothing's going to go wrong with that," she comments mildly. This is when Joseph moves into her field of vision. Harper considers the man with a secret with some interest, her attention flickering to Itzhak and back to Joseph. "Have you met Joe or Rosencrantz?" she asks Justin, her attention sliding back to the man without a hat (on his head).

By now, Byron shouldn't be surprised by anyone's response to questions regarding how they are, what they've been up to. At least, those in the know. This is why Byron just nods slowly at everything August fills him in on. "Safeway. Second time somethings occurred there." Another nod follows that one, "Right... kill any fruit that I see. Got it. I'll assume that this is all tied to whatever's making the plants go haywire?"

Byron also seems satisfied by Lilith's response on the question of her well-being. From what he could tell, she was perfectly fine, despite whatever other concerns the botanist may have felt earlier. So with that, he does offer a, "Thanks again for your help." to August.

Having noticed Harper at the bar, when his attention was turned that way, and then watching as Geoff goes to join her, he has to blink at Lilith's question. "You didn't know? I mean, I don't know how /I/ know, but it was some time after Erin." His voice quiets, speaking in a more conversational tone despite all the noise around them. He even lifts his chin up, all a grin, as he flashes them a smile. Looks like Lilith's trying to drag him off though, so for now, he turns to look over at August with a nod, before being led off.

Somewhere during all of this, Lilith whispers into his ear. The first thing surprises him, making him arch a brow. "When did you have the time to do that? And an even better question, why?" His gaze drifts over to Easton, just before the second whisper comes in. Here, he has to shake his head, a touch of a smirk forming on his lips. "You know I shouldn't be doing that." He takes his job seriously! Most of the time. Now that he's at the bar, however, he considers what to drink. "Hey, Harper. How's it going?"

Itzhak takes the drink with a quick, brilliant flash of a smile for Joe. And then he just downs it, tossing his head back, Adam's apple working. When he comes up for air he's flushed, and whoops--thankfully not into the microphone. Easton might not be the only one who needs liquor to handle a crowd like this. Covering the mic with one hand, he talks to Lyric again, grinning at her. For this one, he picks his fiddle up, sets it against his chest instead of under his chin, old-fashioned-shitkicker style, so he can sing at the same time. He counts Lyric off by tapping his boot, one, two, one two three--"Doin' hard time just got a little hotter - Way up on a cell block listen to her holler! - Lookie here honey, if ya don't keep quiet - We're bound to start another Brushy Mountain prison riot, come onnnn, we're unshackled tooo-niiiight..." (https://youtu.be/pK5d-hJKMUI)

"Oh god, I would be so terrible!" Katy responds to Lucas as she follows him to the bar, completely unaware of what Lucas is up to. As they wait for their drinks, Katy smiles at Lucas and his cutesy nickname for her. "All right, I'll give it a shot but I swear, I'm going to be super lame at it, so don't laugh at me."

Easton finds a place to set his beer down and pick up one of the axes by the targets. He adds, "I promise I have not been cheating and practicing with these..." He picks up the first ax and adds, "Unlike the bull which I needed to make sure wasn't going to break my fuckin' good leg on first buck." He laughs and chucks his first ax that bounces off. The second hits but outside the target and finally the third is right on target at least in the outer ring. He is unbuttoning the top button shaking his head while he watches August finish up his round, but it's not looking good for him.

But then there's another one needed, "Oh damn this is getting good Roen." He picks up an ax and considers cheating for just a moment before deciding he'd rather lose honestly than win cheating. He hucks it dead center though and it stays stuck in there, so much so that he has trouble pulling it out later.

"Striiiip!" he calls out merrily.

Maggi was eyeing the liberated 'stache in a coveting fashion. It was after all the true star of the evening, left to have it's light dimmed by the bull's shadow. Maggi waits until Thunder is vacated and then snatches the invaluable prize, pressing the sticky side to her face. Sweet victory was hers! Rising from her knees on the mat she walks with an air of superiority back to the bar to face Leon, sipping her bourbon with pinky out.

"I think I've seen both in passing but I don't think we've really met," Justin says to Harper, of Itzhak and Joseph. Then he watches as Easton and August go about their Axe throwing. He shakes his head and says, "I'm not going to try that one. I already busted my nose. I can't lob anything off, and my luck is not good at this rate." He grins good-naturedly despite the pain in his face, and then regrets it a bit, wincing. "Ow."

Leon takes one long, measuring look at Maggi with the fake mustache attached above her lip and utters simply. "I'm not kissing that." Apparently no one had taken Itzhak seriously, so Leon, being the sort of man he was, orders two Whiskey Sours for the musicians. On brand for keeping western and cowboy, but not too harsh, as he didn't know their drinking habits. He lets the bartender deliver it along with some waters at their leisure.

"Mmhm." Lilith says to Byron after a little shrug at his first question, that 'explain later' kind of gesture about it. His second bit also has her wholly unconvinced, because she's all about the realm of workarounds and results. Besides, 'shouldn't' doesn't mean he won't! But she doesn't go to plea or barter anymore for now, she just lets him get his drink in hand and sips from her own, quite decisive about vodka, seltzer, and lime.

For a moment, she follows August with her eyes, considering what he's just said, then grins a little as she realizes he's going axe throwing with Easton, "I may not be dressed to bullride, but I'm entirely going to throw some axes." Of course she wants to throw destruction weapons, of course she does. But apparently, she's focusing on Harper now, sliding with a few side steps to bump against the woman companionably, "Hey girlie. Geoff, huh? Or..." She squints between the woman and Justin then.

Byron's voice resolves from across the room for Harper who turns from Justin to climb up a rung on her stool to peer through the crowd to where Byron and Lilith are to grin at the man. "Byron," she calls out. "Looking good. Or maybe that's just Lilith. You're at least not bleeding." Yep. Harper hollers that across the busy bar. She plucks the black hat off her head and doffs it two the couple before placing it back atop Justin's head where it belongs. The sound of axes thudding drags Harper's attention back toward the two men competing for shirt-wearing privilegs.

Having delivered the drink, and ordered another for Itz, Joe's returned to settle at the bar by Ruiz. "I'm not from Texas, I ain't no cowboy, and I'm not wearin' no cowboy hat," he says, lazily. "Don't own one, matter of fact. Only hat I got to wear this time of year is a ballcap." Then he flicks at the brim of Ruiz's with a fingertip. "Where'd you get yours, vaquero?"

As he heads over to throw axes with Easton, August says, "You're welcome," to Byron, and sets his beer aside next to Easton's. He doesn't actually expect to win, so he's mostly just happy he doesn't miss all of them.

"Well at least this bar's not cold," he says, and takes off his hat long enough to yank his Henley off, they puts it back in place. He ties the flannel and the Henley around his waist and takes up his beer. "For charity!" he announces, and drinks a good half of it in one go.

Lucas shakes his head in Leon's direction as he passes by, over hearing just enough of the conversation to add a snide remark, "Why not...I think it makes her look hot" He nods in Maggi's diretion. He then collects thier drinks from the bar and guides Katy toward the Axe throwing waiting for his future brother in law to finish up.

This song is raunchy. A. F. Itzhak sings it with all the dirty insinuation at his command, rocking back and forth while he saws at his fiddle.

"*All shacked up and incarcerated
Locked down lovers just getting reacquainted
Flies on the window, listen to em rattle
Tin can jumping like a rodeo saddle

Come on, we're unshackled tonight
I got a little time off for good behavior
So let's kick it in the brushy mountain conjugal trailer!*"

The drinks keep coming, and Itzhak demonstrates his true bluegrass fiddler skill by grabbing them with his bow hand (the bow swinging from his last fingers) and knocking 'em back when he should be breathing. When he wraps it up, he laughs into the microphone, "That's what we got! This is Lyric, and I'm Itzhak. I gotta go throw some fuckin' axes!" Then he's swanning offstage a lot looser and happier than he came into the bar.

August's question is answered once Ruiz has downed a good third of his tequila, right as the other man is moving away to square off with Easton. "Of course it is. You think I own anything resembling traje de vaquero?" He trails his gaze after the pair a moment, gets distracted once again by Itzhak and his singing. Then his attention's dragged back as Joe settles in beside him. Another sip of his drink, a flick of dark eyes up and down the blond. "Close enough." As in, Georgia's close enough to Texas. Far as he's concerned, anyway.

The question actually gives him pause for a long moment, and he sucks his upper lip between his teeth thoughtfully before answering quietly, "Mi padre."

"You've got to meet them both," Harper says to Justin. "If they ever have a moment, I'll introduce you. They're each fantastically unique. But together? They're a crazy potion. That or I was drunk. I'm really not sure." Harper climbs down off the barstool with a conspiratorial smile for Justin is interrupted with a nudging Lilith. "Lily!" Harper greets the woman with a quick, presumptive hug, before stepping back to look her over. "Aside from the usual hotness, you look healthy, too. This pleases me to no end." Geoff? Harper's smile turns noticably starry. "So very Geoff." Or Justin? Harper flickers a look from Lilith to Justin and starts laughing. "Justin and I are torture dungeon buddies. Justin, have you met Lilith? Lily, this is Justin." Harper looks between the two with a sway of her long pigtails.

Maggi's response is to stroke the mustache and nod knowingly at another person Leon knew? She was bad at names, but great with accessories. Why oh why could she not just grow a majestic Gandalf like beard? "Well, I am not taking it off ever...so this is life now." She sips her drink looking brooding and attempts to curl the mustaches ends. If this was a forever bond she needed 'stache wax. "Want to throw hazardous objects while consuming adult beverages?"

This one Lyric doesn't really know so well, but she sits back to the side and watches Itzhak sing and play, tapping her booted foot along with the music. It was a good song, as far as she could tell, and she enjoyed all music. The words amusing her. Then it's over and she places her guitar aside in a case and safe place before stepping off the bar to go get her own drink at the bar, leaning a hip against it while she waits for her turn to order. Turning a little, she eyes the bull and anyone on it currently.

Katy smiles at Lucas as she is handed a drink to try. "This is nice, it tastes a lot like coke, really sweet. I expected to taste something...not so sweet," she comments with a shrug, watching the axe throwing. "What's in this drink, Luke?"

"Don't encourage her." Leon retorts to Lucas, keeping his eyes on the tiny blonde for the remark, then glancing and giving the firefighter a joking grin after. He finishes another bourbon and sets the glass on the bar to be refilled, crossing his arms as he waits and taking stock of Maggi, "Yes, I do. But let me make you a deal..." he lifts a hand to tip the hat back from his brow, looking down at her, "I will ride the bull if you put that back where you found it... at the end of the night." It was bargaining, a compromise, something strong relationships were based on.

What's good drink to have on the wild frontier? Bourbon of course. Or that's what Byron orders from the bar. Pulling out his wallet, he half-turns to observe just what the heck is going on over yonder with the axes, right before slipping a few bills onto the counter for the bartender. "Now I wouldn't put any bets down on that one." He said of the competition. "A marine versus a lumberjack."

Back to Harper, he gives her this serious look. "When was the last time that you saw me covered in blo-- Oh right." A recent Dream they shared together. "Anyway! He recognizes Justin, because rich people know each other and have all the same friends in L.A. In fact, he remember meeting the guy, maybe, at Addington House. He gives him a nod in greeting anyway.

August returns to the bar, now shirtless, with most of his black and tan gone. He shrugs at Ruiz, says, "Look for all I know half of this town is closet urban cowboys." He leans there, waiting for Itzhak to arrive so he can pat him on the chest. "See? I knew you'd love this hat."

"Pour me!" Easton's voice echoes out across the crowded bar. How did he even get up on stage? When did this song start? The opening line starting right alongside the music is jarring and purposefully sounds like 'Poor me'. It's only the next line that clarifies, "Pour me another drink. 'Cause I don't want to feel a thing, no more, hell naw. I just want to sip it 'till the pain wears off. Pour me, Pour me another round. Line 'em up and known 'em down. Two more, let's go 'cause I ain't ever hurt like this before." And ugh, the mullet is back, put to good use though if you've ever seen the video for this. (https://youtu.be/FjBp30kjzTc). And despite the fact that he technically won the bet, his shirt is strangely absent. Well, not that strange, it's Easton and he's clearly on his way to hammered.

"Don't wanna think about her, wear a ring without her
Don't wanna hit the karaoke bar, can't sing without her
So make them drinks strong 'Cause, brother, she's gone
And if I'm ever gonna move on

I'ma need some whiskey glasses
'Cause I don't wanna see the truth
She's probably making out on the couch right now with someone new
Yeah, I'ma need some whiskey glasses
If I'm gonna make it through
If I'ma be single I'ma need a double shot of that heartbreak proof
And see the world through whiskey glasses"

Justin's hat is placed back on his head by Harper and he tips it up to her with a grin. He does not, however, give her beer back, but instead orders a pair of beers for each of them. His free one for riding the bull, and one to replace hers that he'd consumed. He chuckles at her description of the two men and says, "I see. Well, definitely sounds like an experience." Then Lilith is approaching and he shakes his head whens he looks at him, but Harper is quick to clarify and he says, "Once, at the Christmas Ball, I believe." He gives a nod to Byron as well, recognizing him from both Gray Harbor and LA. They've met, over and over again, in the way that people who run in the same circles but never actually get to sit down and talk personally do.

"Mos' of the Texans I know'd take offense at bein' reckoned anythin' like a redneck from Georgia," Joe says, amused. "What's that line in 'American Sniper' - Texans gen'rally ride horses, rednecks ride their cousins?" Then he's beckoning Itz over with a languid wave of a long hand. "Hey, sugar," he says, "Thanks for humorin' me," And he's handing off another drink without hesitation - anticipating the fiddler's thirst. A glance back at Ruiz, something softer in his gaze. "Your daddy's, huh?" he says, more gently.

Lucas chuckles in Katy's direction, as it seems the axe throwing is currently open now he steps up, "It's like a Rum and Coke, but in place of the Rum they add Grenadine" He nods in the direction of the Axes for Katy to grab some and then lines up to throw his three.

"We're getting divorced." Is the stoic answer the majestically mustached persona says, it had a will of it's own now, nothing to be done. She finishes her own second drink, her eyes a stormy blue. She would never let another person come between them...but this was more than a person...the 'stache of ad. Maggi grabs his hand and drags him to the danger zone, picking up a metal object and doing her best not to just drop it.

"Since he's going to be my brother-in-law I feel he's restored my honor," August says, watching Lucas throw axes with limitless approval.

Itzhak bounds over to the bar, thwaps Byron on the back. "THORNE! How the hell are ya!" Then he's winding an arm around Lilith's shoulders in a half-hug, dips in to smooch her cheek. "You look fuckin' fantastic, Lilka." The hat gets bumped as he does that and he grabs at it to prevent it from tumbling away. Joe gets another brilliant smile as he hands over the drink. Itzy is well on his way to smashed and clearly in 'hotshot fiddler life-of-the-party' mode. He shoulders up next to Ruiz, overwarm and a little damp and smelling like whiskey sours. "Boys. Roen, ya showoff."

Katy watches as Lucas completely destroys at axe tossing. He's pretty fit to begin with so it doesn't surprise her, but it still manages to impress her. But when she ends up tossing her axes in turn, she's not quite as impressive. She does hit one target, but the other two barely miss. OK so it's not terrible, but it's not great either. She glances at Lucas with a smile. "You never seem to stop impressing me."

"It's been two months, you can't threaten to divorce me every week. Especially over adhesive hair."Leon chuckles a bit at the joke. He picks up their drinks in one hand, his other captured, and <s>is dragged</s> follows her over to the axe throwing pit. He tugs a bit at her hand to pull her up short and let Katy and Lucas take their turns, pulling her back to him and wrapping an arm around her waist, passing her what was meant to be her glass. "Wait your turn, Magpie." It wouldn't be long apparently, and he looks frankly impressed at Lucas's prowess, a rowdy whistle given to the display, and a whoop given to Katy's success, overshadowed or not.

August looks indignant. He's working on a lager. "Show off, I'm the one who lost." He glances down at himself, gives Itzhak a look. "This is hardly showing off with the likes of Lucas here."

Chortling into his drink at the quote from Joe, de la Vega downs another healthy slug of tequila before draping his arm across the bar behind him again. The nearly-empty glass dangles from his hand, inked forefinger tapping a rhythm against it in time with the music. "Wouldn't surprise me," he murmurs to August as the man reappears next to him, and then there's a twinge of a smile when Cavanaugh speaks again. "Mm," is neither hither nor thither, but it is a little bit melancholy. Even as Itzhak saunters on over, being his usual charismatic party crawler self. If he does manage to catch Byron's eye, he'll tip his hat to the younger man, and Lilith too, before going to clasp the fiddler's shoulder and give him a mostly hetero shove of greeting.

Harper slow nods at Byron. Yes, he remembers. It was just the other day. Insomnia and claws. Her smile warms inevitably and she elbows Justin. "These two are the unofficial king and queen of the Harbor. Veritable royalty. And they don't even let it go to their heads. It's really quite endearing." After brushing a kiss to Lilith's ear, Harper lowers her voice and shares a grin with Justin. "Or I may be full of the shit of bulls. I don't have to be at all correct when not in my native habitat." The replacement beer Justin ordered her arrives and Harper catches it up for a good few swallows, licking the suds off her lips. "What's new, Lily? Tell me something good." Tell her that you like it.

"Right, the Christmas event. And possibly the Addington House thing with the dancing corpses in the ballroom." Byron murmurs over to Justin. He also knows that Justin shares a few mutual friends with him. One being Byron's missing ex. That smile goes back to Harper, looking somewhat amused. "That's the first I'm hearing of it."

Itzhak's surprise attack nearly makes Byron spill his drink, feeling the hard thwap behind him. If only that THORNE! came out before the whack, he could've used it as a warning. But instead, it only mildly startles him to hear it yelled in his ear! "Rosencrantz!" He calls out in return, grinning over at the other cowboy. "After being pulled into three... actually four Dreams in a row? Let's hope that tonight goes smoothly. So far, so good." Byron's been so busy as of late with business and Veil crap that he recalls needing to speak to Itzhak about something or other. "Right, I should pencil you into my calendar, actually. Had a few things to ask you about. Just never had the time."

Lucas launches one axe deep into the targe, square and center, the second apparently is just a little off, it doesnt hit the target and instead strikes his first axe, metal on metal bouncing off and landing on the ground, his third is a little more measured, digging into the target a blades length from the first, he watches Katy's throws and cheers, "That was awesome!, you did great!" He offers the blonde a high five, before stepping aside to let Leon and Maggi a chance.

Lilith cracks a bit of an adoring smile at Byron's choice of drink and looks at her own like she's jealous, now, because that one matches her outfit! Tipping her head to Justin with familiarity from meeting at events prior, she works on finishing her first drink, then downright bubbles with a laugh from the throat with mild surprise at Harper's complimentary crowning claim, "I don't know about all that. But mm, he'd look good in a crown, wouldn't he? Cowboy hat is close enough."

She tips her own hat at rogue angle downward with a lingering grin for the other woman's companionable affection, then points at Ruiz, speaking loud enough to be heard with forewarning, "Here in a minute, I'm going to embarrass the Captain out on the dance floor. And then you're going to ride the bull, aren't you? Aren't you?" Harper starts getting lean nudges while Byron is off mingling across the way.

"Royalty," Justin says when Harper so announces Byron and Lilith to be unofficial king and queen of Grey Harbor. Wouldn't the Addingtons love that? "Your Highnesses," he says and lofts his newly acquired beer in their direction. His bull-riding bruised nose is already beginning to blossom with a bit of a bruise that's going to look like he got into a bar brawl by tomorrow. Though his expression sobers a little bit at the mention of the dancing corpses, "Yes, there, too." He chuckles at Lilith's comments and looks Byron over for a moment, "I'm fairly certain he'd look good in just about anything." His attention then returns to Lilith, "As would you, Highness." He chuckles, and takes another swig from his beer.

Katy pouts after finishing her non-alcoholic drink. "I think I did well enough at axe tossing that I should get rewarded," she says playfully, "So how about we get a couple of drinks with a little more bite?" Strangely enough, there's a level of comfort between the two of them that might seem a little too friendly for best friends, but it's like picking up where they left off, finally.

Easton's voice, it should be said, is not particularly great, but he's at least smart enough to hold the microphone far away considering how loud he is without it. It's also a good song choice in that the 'range' required is minimal. But he's having a grand ol' time up there. He gets to the second chorus and produces a glass of whiskey from seemingly nowhere like a drunk magician, takes a sip and sets that down on a stool nearby. He gives a soft laugh and explains, "Thankfully been a long time since I had this on repeat..." looking around for Bennie but not seeing her, he makes a concerned face for a moment but then charges on.

And then in what obviously has been planned, Easton gets a little help from some of the bar staff who chant with him through the:
"Line 'em up. Line 'em up. Line 'em up. Line 'em up.
Knock 'em back. Knock 'em back. Knock 'em back. Knock 'em back.
Fill 'em up. Fill 'em up. Fill 'em up. Fill 'em up.
'Cause if she ain't ever coming back
Line 'em up. Line 'em up. Line 'em up. Line 'em up.
Knock 'em back. Knock 'em back. Knock 'em back. Knock 'em back.
Fill 'em up. Fill 'em up. Fill 'em up. Fill 'em up.
'Cause if she ain't ever coming back"

The performance comes to an end and Easton makes his way behind the bar again ditching the mullet to once again don his cowboy hat.

He walked the streets of Veracruz, once, wondering if he'd see a face that resembled that one. Like luck might favor him so far. Now Joe gives Ruiz a long, thoughtful look, before turning that blue stare back to Itzhak. Not a chatterbox himself, tonight. But then, he's only got the one Jack and Coke, and that he's nursing deliberately. Making an effort to keep it merely social drinking, and not rush into real drunkenness.

"ROY-al-ty, Lord it looked good on me! Buried in silk in the royal boudoir - or going nuclear free--" Itzhak immediately starts singing again, on a magical attention-deficit carpet ride provided by Harper calling Thorne and Lilith royalty. He gets drunk and this is what happens. If there's anything thoughtful or melancholy going down over here, he hasn't noticed. He cuts himself off, though, when Thorne says he needs to talk to him. "Sure thing, pal," he says, effusive, like yeah of course the insanely rich gantzeh makher Byron Thorne needs to talk to Itzhak Rosencrantz, mechanic. Why wouldn't he! "Hang on, I gotta throw some axes. That's the whole reason I'm here." He shoves back against Ruiz and peels away.

Making sure the range was clear before retrieving the last set of tossed axes, Leon hands off three to Maggi before posting up on the throwing line. It looks pretty comfortable in his hand, and he holds it out straight to the target before reaching back and letting fly, the first one landing solidly, though not as accurate as he'd like. A look is tossed over his shoulder as he overhears snippets of conversations from the wandering Lucas and Katy. He keeps his mind to itself, but there was something about that interaction that was odd to him. Wasn't that Addington engaged? His second throw goes wide and he clicks through his teeth. He doesn't aim for the third, he just hucks it, scoring a perfect center-of-mass on the last throw, looking at least a little less dissapointed with himself, he side eyes Maggi and lifts his drink to his lip.

"Once I was the King of Spain," Justin sings in answer to Itzhak, "Now I eat humble pie." He lifts his beer to the man in greeting and says "Good luck with the axe throwing!" as he heads off again.

"That's because you don't spend nearly enough time in the library, Byron," Harper replies in a haughty I-told-you-so tone of voice that is utterly undone by the warmth of her smile. Itzhak's Byron-attack earns him a delighted smile from Harper. To Lilith, agreement, "He'd be hot in a crown, but it'd be crazy superfluous." She looks from Justin to Lilith, and then to Byron. Harper follows Lilith's finger to Ruiz, an intrigued look lighting her brown eyes. "What kind of captain? Another sailor?" She looks to Lilith, "You're going to dance with him? I pity the poor man." She's nudged. "I am? Well... maybe. If Geoff gets his ass here, I'll ride." For the amusement of others, and the injury to her own person. But first, more beer. Harper sets down her mug after its halfway empty (or full). "I think I'm going to risk the legions of adoring fans and tell Rosencrantz what I think of him in full western regalia." Harper punches Justin lightly in the bicep before slipping through the crowd in an attempt to head toward wherever the hell Itzhak currently is located.

Geoff strides in with a cocky gait, the man clad in a pair of cowboy boots, jeans, a black tee and straw cowboy hat, to complete the ensemble he even has a fairly large belt buckle emblazoned with a fairly large black rooster. Striding up to the bar he leans against it and flashes the bartender a grin, "Mind getting me jack, neat? Thanks."

Ruiz's eyebrows inch up under his stetson when Lilith looks at him, and then starts pointing and saying things like embarrass and dance floor. Apparently unperturbed, he continues sipping his drink, perhaps figuring she's bluffing. She is bluffing, right? Then his empty glass is nudged away with a slither against the counter, and he raps on it lightly to gain the 'tender's attention. A hitch of his chin to indicate his friends nearby, and that he's buying them a round. With the exception of Itzhak, of course, who's abandoning them to go throw axes. "Un centavo por tus pensamientos," he murmurs to Joe, once he's released Rosencrantz with a stray touch of fingertips to his shoulder.

Lucas nods "As you wish m'lady" He tips his cowboy hat and heads back to the bar, "Two Bourbon and Sevens please" He turns as he waits for the drink to watch Leon and his Snidly Whiplah-esque opponent compete. "So are you riding the bull tonight Kit-Kat?"

Maggi tosses the first of of the axes attempting not to flinch. She believed in the power of Rootin' Tootin' Easton's mustache who proved to be a benevolent god, it hits the thing! Leon getting a perfect throw was unsurprising though still impressive. Maggi attempts a golf clap and promptly drops the other two axes on the floor, narrowly avoiding her toes. Blue eyes go wide in panic. Then she begins to cackle with relief. "I did it, and dropping counts as two more throws. I have succeeded in not injuring myself or others. VICTORY!"

Lyric has a drink in her hand as Itzhak mentions going off towards the axe throwing. Following him over, she finishes her drink and drops the glass/cup whatever on the nearest table. "Doesn't look too hard." It looks hard. "Want to make a bet or anything? I'm down. Name the stakes." So she's been drinking. Sue her.

"Wow, you are really setting me for public humiliation, aren't you?" Katy asks Lucas, the playful tone of voice still present as Lucas orders the drinks and then subsequently asks her if she's going to ride the bull. "I love you, Lukey, but not that much!" she adds with a smirk.

Easton is behind the bar and looking pretty drunk by this point in the night. He catches sight of Geoff though and calls out "Turner!" loudly, which at this point surprises no one on staff at least. He somewhere managed to find a tee-shirt to put back on, because after all he didn't lose the bet. He leans across the bar to inform Geoff, "You need to meet people. And possibly carry my drunk ass home. I lost Dollie -er Bennie."

Itzhak considers Lyric, lead guitarist and sort of technically his boss, with a glint of trouble in his eyes. He jerks a thumb at Easton, who's bare chested and showing off those legendary abs. "Wanna bet ya shirt?"

Joe's brought out of his own bit of reverie by that touch, offering the cop that lazy little smile. "Hell, they ain't worth even that much," he says. "I'd have to give you change, and they don't make half-cents no more. Wonderin' if my own father ever owned a cowboy hat. Don't imagine that he ever did."

Leon sighs, tossing a pleading look at Itzhak and Lyric for some sort of moral support, then bringing a hand to his forehead, tipping his hat up and rubbing. He splays an arm and yields the range to the next two throwers, reaching to take Maggi's hand and pull her out of the way to him with a chuckle. "You impress me every day, darlin'." he remarks in his best country drawl. The bet he overhears gets a grin, though, his eyes trailing over Maggi, "Shit, I shoulda thought of a bet like that."

All that Byron can do to these little jabs at being called royalty etc is laugh and shake his head. It's sort of funny, but even he knows none of it is true. Though, he does partially own that casino, so maybe some of it is true. Don't let it get to his head, alright? However, Lilith mentions the mechanical bull again as Byron dabs a bit and the minor spill of bourbon onto the counter. That's not what interests him, however, and here his attention is drawn to de la Vega in the distance, his brow quirking curiously. "Sure. Have fun. The night's still young." And he was only on his first drink.

To Itzhak, he pulls out his phone to check his calendar and discuss dates and times, stating, "Heard you might know a thing or two about, I don't know. A rebellion. Someone wanting freedom. Anyway, I'll talk to you about it later."

Harper swings around Lilith and Byron to where Ruiz is sitting and frowns at the 'captain'. Wasn't Itzhak just here? She offers her hand. "Howdy," because there's a theme tonight. "I'm Harper. What'd you do with Rosencrantz?" Because the fabulous man being somewhere else throwing axes was clearly Ruiz's doing.

Justin waves to Harper as she heads off. And finds himself a stool to settle onto to nurse his second beer and perhaps to wrap some ice in a napkin and hold it against his nose. It doesn't seem to have dampened his mood any, at least, to have taken a bull to the face.

Her shirt? "Yeahh." Lyric doesn't back down from the challenge and she takes a look around at the others baring their own chests. With a wicked smile to Leon and then Maggi, she grins. "It's not too late to bet too." Then she's eyeing Itzak, something she'd done since she met the man forever ago. "Better than buying you another lap dance." A brow waggle and she nods towards the axe. "Gentlemen first."

Geoff squints at Easton "Wait how did you lose Bennie? I only left you to your own devices for like...A few days." witih a slow shake of his head he tells Easton "I'm going to need a whole bottle of Jack." with a shake of his head he slips away to go find Harper, strolling on up to her and wrapping an arm about her midfrift, "Hey babe." a polite nod offered to Ruiz before he leans in to steal a daring kiss from the librarian

Itzhak whaps Leon on the very large shoulder, grinning at him. To Lyric, he says, amused as heck, "Okay, you're on. First three wins." He plucks up an axe, weighs it a moment in his hand--then whips it at the target. THUNK. Bull's-frikkin'-eye.

Lucas smiles, "Maybe with a few more drinks in you, youll change your mind. Do you want me to show you how easy it is?"

The dry laugh the southern accent gets wiggles her mustache playfully. "You ride the bull and loose the accent and I will sever ties with my new best friend." Actually recognizing Lyric a moment later she waves. "Oh hey! Good Luck!" Reluctantly, she peels the hair from her face, leaving a red mark on her upper lip. Maggi stands on her tip toes and kisses Leon's cheek. "If we head home, I won't make you do anything for me to loose a shirt." It is said as a whisper and she winks at him, lip still red with the painful loss of 'stache.

"Were you close with him?" The question's asked without an accompanying glance Joe's way, Ruiz instead focused on trying to keep track of the comings and goings nearby. Anyone trying to get too close, or making any sudden movements, or clearly carrying a weapon is scrutinized by the paranoid ex-Marine.

And so is Harper, when she pivots suddenly and shoves a hand at him. There's a flick of his eyes to examine it, and then the woman herself, before he tips his stetson and reaches out to clasp it. His is warm, callused, the grip firm but not overcompensating. "Hola," is his initial, cautious greeting. And then, "I think he's off comparing dicks with someone, over there." He means axe throwing.

Okay wait. Lilith just figured out August isn't wearing a shirt (neither was Easton, but no one's surprised there). The Captain might be safe. Harper goes to try and find Itzhak while he's off for some axe action and... the brunette woman kind of squints when she sees the abundance of tattoos on the 'lumberjack' (ok botanist) who is hardly the type to be shirtless at the bar on a regular day. After breathing out a little 'uh huh' noise to herself, she takes a drink and then reaches to put her glass down on the bar, commenting aside to Byron, "That's something over there, isn't it? I'd ask if you're going shirtless too, because you're pretty like that, but..."

Lilith makes an 'mm' of sheer attraction while the man has his phone out, looking Byron over from head to toe in his black cowboy garb while he makes exchange. Yep, the Captain might be safe-safe, she looks apt to drag the man into a bathroom hallway, shameless about her eyes for a tick or three. Then she wonders, "Cut in and save the poor man in five? Need to ask him something."

Yep, he's not safe, nevermind. When Lilith has her hands free and she's rubbed at the lower part of her date's back, she's pointing at Ruiz again, then pointing at the floor while strolling out there, expecting him to comply. She even drops the Miami Spanglish on him to let him know what's what, "Bailar, el Capitan. Or perhaps you prefer en fuego?"

She's probably not going to catch him on fire for staying on his ass, but who knows.

Lyric stays out of the way and watches Itzhak weigh the axe then throw it, hitting it right in the center. Her eyes widen, "You make it look so easy!" Then she's got to try and pull the thing out of the target and she struggles with it before getting it loose. Exhaling, she blows her hair out of her face then totes the thing back before adjusting her cowboy hat, tilting it further back. "Okay, just uh.. stand back, cause I've never done this before!" Thenthwak! Beginners luck! Lyric hits her target and grins at Itzhak. "I really want to see you shirtless." Truth!

"Let's raise the stakes, shall we?" Katy offers Lucas, "Whoever stays on the longest gets to ask the other one to either answer one question truthfully or do one thing without question."

Once Lyric had thrown it, she grins at Maggi, "Thanks!" she adds, hitching a thumb towards it. "You are good luck."

"To a point," Joe allows, quietly. "He's still alive and well. We've just.....had our disputes." No few of which centered around the man next to him. "I mean, I still talk to folks back home an' all." Then there's Harper, and he grins at her, offering a little salute, fingertips to temples. No comment on where Itz has gone.

Lucas nods and smiles, "Agreed....who ever stays on the bull the longest, but word of warning....i have a lot of laundry that needs doing."

"What? No! I didn't lose her- lose her. I just lost her." Easton 'clarifies.' He frowns, "I mean tonight. She was talking to Katherine and now she's gone.." It's not quite an accusation? But it kind of is. But then Geoff is wandering over to find Harper and Easton can't see where Itzhak went off to either (since he's off throwing axes outside).

Seeing Maggi and Leon coming back in though Easton head tilts at the mustache before declaring, "I think you wear it better. And it's oddly fuckin' hot." He looks at Leon and asks, "That's weird right?" Before answering his own question, "Yea, it's weird."

"Don't ask me, the first time I ever chopped wood in my life is when Roen showed me how!" Itzhak's equally surprised at his own success. Well, the man glimmers like a lighthouse, he probably shouldn't be so shocked. His next axe goes slicing through the air with a low, menacing vwoooo and THUD. Another bull's eye. He actually blushes, suddenly not so sure about actually winning.

Leon returns the smile to Itzhak, commenting to Lyric as he spots the other man's first throw. "I'm starting to think better of it. We've got plenty of shirtless men in here already." he offers a friendly wink, then looks to Maggi. Welp, she'd already taken the stache off, and it was a generous counter offer. He finishes his bourbon and crosses his arms, peering down at her, then peering at Easton, "Why does everyone keep encouraging her?" His eyes are slowly tracked over to the bull, "You have yourself a deal... I think." He moves to the bar for one last fill of his bourbon, giving the Firefighter and his date plenty of time to go first.

"All right then, let's do it!" Katy exclaims playfully before she heads towards the bull to wait for her turn, drink in one hand while the other is pulling Lucas along.

Harper half-turns away from Ruiz as hands slide around her body. Either she doesn't mind random strangers putting their hands on her bare skin, or she somehow knew who moved up behind her before he said anything. She twists, giving up on Ruiz as Lilith crooks her metaphorical finger his direction. "There you are," she accuses up at Geoff. "Easton is going to make me ride that mechanical thing. I don't think it's at all a good id--" Geoff kisses her thoroughly enough to cut short the rest of what she was going to say. "Howdy, par-dner..." She drawls slowly after he pulls back. Whole bar of people? Maybe. "You joining in the anti-shirt movement?" Easton's voice filters through Harper's consciousness and she turns an uptipped-brow look at the bar owner. "You lost her? That's not the right answer at all."

Better late than never. The door pushes open and Isabella steps inside, dressed in her Western-best...or what she could wear to fit the theme anyway; dark, fitted jeans, cowboy boots, a hat and a flannel shirt tied high around her torso to expose her midriff. She pushes the hat closer to the back of her head, before green-and-gold eyes tick over familiar faces. There's a lot, but then again, Gray Harbor is a small town.

Her smile broadens into a brilliant slash when she sees the mechanical bull, though.

But first thing's first; she maneuvers towards the counter for a drink. "Hey, E, who's winning?" she wonders, squinting at those who are tossing the axe.

Lucas actualy looks a little shocked that Katy is actually willing to ride the bull, "You sure you haven't had too much to drink Kit-Kat?" He knows good and well she is still on her first one, "You want to go first, or you want to watch me first?"

"Chopping wood and throwing axes aren't the same thing, or I wouldn't be standing here like this," August shouts to Itzhak. And laughs, when he keeps doing well, because maybe Itzhak hadn't expected to have to actually demand Lyric remove her shirt as the loser. He clicks in a 'careful what you wish for' sort of gesture and sips from his beer. He catches Lilith eyeing him, gives her an amused little half-bow of 'enjoying the show'. But then she's attempting to cajole Ruiz out onto the dance floor, and he waits to see how that turns out.

Ruiz has just been handed a fresh drink when he spies Lilith gesturing at him. And then the dancefloor. Pushy little so-and-so, isn't she. He takes his time sipping his drink, dark eyes meeting blue just long enough to make it clear that he's seen her little summons, and is taking his sweet ass time responding to it, thank you very much. To Joe, "That's usually how it is, with fathers and sons." He starts to say more, but seems to lose the words. Or the words lose him. He works his jaw once, tosses back the remainder of his drink in one go.

"Excuse me," seems intended either for Harper, or Joe, or both, as he finally pushes off the bar and prowls off for the brunette patiently awaiting him. One Mexican in ass-hugging jeans and a stetson, coming right up. "Winslow," he greets her with a dimpled smile. "A qué le debo el placer?"

Eventually, Justin finishes off his second beer, and then he's moving toward the door, grinning a little bit as he continues to take in the action for a few more moments near the door, and then he slips out, heading back to his car.

Byron looks damn good in this cowboy get-up among the shirtless men as he enjoys his bourbon at the bar. Still curious about what this business Lilith has with Ruiz is all about, he trails after her with his eyes, watching her make her way through the crowd. Downing the remainder of his drink, he sets the empty glass down, reaching for another stash of bills to leave as a tip. It's at this moment that Geoff returns, giving Turner a proper tip of his hat in greeting as he tall frame leans against the bar.

"Katherine was here?" Byron then asks, looking beyond Geoff to Easton now. With his wallet still in hand, he scribbles something out. Most likely a sizeable donation for charity.

Easton holds a finger up at Harper, swaying ever so slightly. "I didn't lose her..again." He shakes his head and says, "Bennie's just .. somewhere?" He looks around as if by some magic she'll appear but doesn't. He is thankfully distracted by Isabella's entrance though and he greats her with a big ol' drunken hug. At least he has a shirt back on (for now). He points at August and says, "I beat Roen at axs, and won his shirt." Kind of. August still has them, they are just tired around his waist leaving his torso bare (or bear).

"Uh yes. Briefly." Easton answers Byron before glancing around realizing that she must have left at some point but he's not sure when.

August arches an eyebrow at Itzhak at a decidedly judgmental angle of 'young man just what the hell are you up to'.

Maggi blows a kiss in Lyric's direction at her kind words, tempted to give her a little luck. She did not want half the bar whipping their heads around though, so she decides against it with a "You've got this!" wandering back towards the bar with Leon, she hears Easton. Immediately she cackles and slaps it back on crookedly.

"Nope not weird, justice." She waggles her eyebrows in a truly ridiculous fashion. "What's weird is that you are still wearing a shirt, my watch says it's past time for that." This is stated as she looks down at an empty wrist. "Drink please! I apparently have to wait to watch Leon ride the bull shirtless also." Should he object she responds "It was in the fine print, you should really read that."

"Jesus, Itzhak! I kind of like my shirt." Lyric tells him. Hearing Leon, she laughs, "Never enough shirtless men anywhere." Gawking a little at the perfect throw from Itzhak a little more before she gets the axe and aims.. and it hits the bulls eye. With eyes wide, she knows she didn't throw that good and huffs at Itzhak. "I think I should be offended." But those words are murmured quietly for him.

Geoff grins down at Haprer "Howdy there lil' lady, ain't you looking hotter then a flat iron in the midday sun." he has to pause after that to keep a straight face, "Depends, who all is taking their shirts off? If I like the crowd I might, but then again I might also need the right music." keeping that arm wrapped about Harper's waist he looks back to Easton "Man you have to keep track of her and you should know better then to let the streams cross.

It's apparently time enough for Joe to go peel off and have a smoke. Not Marlboros, for once. In a spirit of contrariness, perhaps, it's not even his usual Luckies. No, it's a box of Sobranies, black and gold and ridiculously posh, that he pulls out of his pocket, as he saunters for the deck.

Itzhak glances totally guiltily over at August, then he's telling Lyric with a haughty sniff, "I don't know what you're talking about. Great throw." When he throws his third axe, he misses entirely and the axe buries itself in the target's support. He makes a dramatic show out of throwing his arms up and acting like he's mad that he missed.

Lilith loves to dance, she's good at it, but admittedly, country western is not her thing. But all the same, after adjusting her hat and meeting the Captain out on the floor, she makes up for what she doesn't know with enthusiasm and practically launches into two step with sweep of setup, one hand at a shoulder, the other at his hand, "I just wanted to make everyone stare at a Mexican in a cowboy hat doing a hoe-down."

Deadpan lie. Maybe. She seems to have an actual question, though, because she wonders more seriously once they're in full swing, "If you're looking for a present for someone, I didn't want to ruin it by asking at the bar. What'd you need me to help you find?" The country music riots over their conversation.

Katy hands her half finished drink to Lucas and says, "Let me just get it over with." She jumps onto the mechanical bull filled with alcohol induced confidence. When it finally gets going, she's rocked just a little bit, but manages to hang on until she's finally bucked off the mechanical bull, landing on her butt. She's grateful she's worn leggings with dress, otherwise it would have been mildly awkward. She then returns to Lucas and says, "Your turn."

August sighs, shakes his head and has a drink of his beer. "Looks like someone realized asking a woman to take her shirt off in mixed company was maybe not a bright idea."

Harper settles back against Geoff, but not without the low thrum of laughter that follows his colorful reply. "That hot, hmm?" Geoff says it depends who is taking their shirts off? "Easton," calls the librarian. "Take off your shirt." She nods slowly in agreement with Geoff's articulation of how Easton ought to keep tabs on the spectacular Miss Bennie Parton.

The way Leon's head snaps back and forth, you'd wonder if the man had whiplash. First something had just happened outside, then the 'stache was back on, getting a disapproving look, then another glance to the door to the axe range, then he realizes Maggi had somehow talked him into riding the bull shirtless. "Oh friggin' lord." he holds his bourbon glass out to Easton, "Better make this shit a double." He turns his look on Maggi again, "Was there some fine print in the prenup I should be looking for as well?"

Jay is still behind the bar in his flannel, and cowboy hat and boots, and that weird collar-necktie thing that he still doesn't know the name for. At the moment there is a lull at his end of the bar and he yawns, pocketing his phone after checking the time.

Lyric knows. She knows! But she wins. She gets to see him with his shirt off, for all the good it'll do her. "Good, now we ride bulls." She only half-assed throws the axe this time, assuming he'll help her land it. It doesn't bullseye, but she ends up winning, somehow. "You get to ride the bull shirtless. I'll pay the cost for you to ride it."

There's a pop of bubblegum as Astrid steps back out from the backroom, finishing up her break. She's in cheap cowboy boots, a short denim skirt and some country band's t-shirt -- it is probably a band she doesn't even listen to, but scored from a thrift store because most bars like their western nights. She pops in beside Jay, giving her bubblegum another pop before she tugs out her order pad. Jay yawns, and she barely stifles her own, yawning through the syllables, "Don't do that!"

Itzhak blushes fiercely, but laughs. "Yeah yeah. Aight, you win." He sets to unbuttoning the flannel in front of God and everyone. An awful lot of ink and Lichtenberg scarring comes into view, along with abs that, while not on Easton's level, ain't half bad. Oh, and his blush crawls down his neck and chest and nearly to his navel. He ties the flannel around his waist once he's got it off. "Bull riding, ya say? That I know I'm good at."

It should have been the music.

The unusual music coming from the bar nearest his own business to have clued him in. Maybe he's a little distracted, but upon opening up the door, the doorway is filled with the dark, inauspicious shape of one of the many Gary Harbor resident bad boys.

Ducking under the doorjamb, Everett takes a few steps inside before he's hit with the surroundings. The decorations, the music. The riding bull. The cowboy hats. A stray y'all, a flirtatious partner, a chorus of yeehaws. His stride continues, subtle forty-five degree turns with each step. Before the door has a chance to close, the Gorilla ducks back under the doorway, to leave the way he came.

Literally that's all it takes. Harper tells him to take off his shirt and the tee-shirt comes right back off again. Yes, he's that guy anyway but especially when he's drunk. He takes the glass from Leon, and now shirtless says, "Shirts just get in the way anyway of proper bull riding.." No, it's not true but it sounds almost plausible? He makes his way back behind the bar and squats down to fiddle with the sound system after making Leon his drink. He stands back up and says, "Itz, you got your wish. My bar's full of shirtless dudes and this is about to happen.."

And that is when the opening strains of Ginuwine's Pony start up. This is all Geoff's fault as they have apparently decided via text that the talk of saddle's and ponies qualifies it as at least ten percent country.

Jay glances over at Astrid and then grins when she chastises him. He shimmies closer, until their hips are touching, and then leans his head over, opens his lips, and yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawns right next to her ear. It's so fucking contagious they should call the god damned CDC, swear to Buddha.

"Maybe she's with Bennie." Byron says regarding Katherine, his brows lifted as he looks out to Easton. That could either mean disaster or something beautiful, he's not even sure, but it sounds intriguing either way. Still leaning against the bar, he quietly observes Lilith and Ruiz in the distance just as Isabella makes her entrance. "Izzy, you came just in time--" He starts, but right at that moment his phone buzzes in his pocket. Fishing for it, he looks down at the caller. "I might have to take this. Be right back." He's already paid for the drinks and the bar was no place for business conversation, so on his way outside where it's much quieter, he tries to catch Lilith's attention, before exiting.

Lucas smiles at Katy, having tossed a tenor to the bull operator for the two of them. He takes her drink, watches her ride, not bad, not bad at all. That doesnt look too hard. He gives Katy both drinks when it is his turn and also puts his hat on her head before mounting up on the bull.

It starts off easy, nice and slow, the Fireman seems to have the knack of it right off, and then the bull starts bucking, hard. The man is whipped around his head actualy slamming into the "skull" of the creature. He just tightens his legs and holds on as it continues. The bull bucks more and Lucas is swung left and right like a rag doll, taking another hard strike to the noggin he almost seems to have passed out, but grabs on to the horns with both hands with a white knuckled grip even those his eyes are unfocused. As the ride slowly to a stop the firefighter is still on the bull somehow, if woozy.

"'Full of shirtless dudes'," August scoffs, "Marshall, there's three of us. You get," he waves a hand at Thorne's retreating form, "Thorn and a couple of others to toss off s shirt we can call it full."

"Hey, Ronnie," Isabella tells him with a smile once she obtains her drink, settling near him. "What am I just in time for? Anyway, I'm glad I caught you, there's-- " And there's a pause when he watches him look at his phone, exhaling a breath. "Sometimes business doesn't sleep," she tells him with a faint grin. "I'll be here." She waves a hand towards him, and takes a quiet sip of her scotch, eyes flitting around the room and towards familiar faces. Her normally keen stare, however, is far away, immersed in some degree of preoccupation. She looks halfway worried, but over what isn't easily discerned.

The odd couple finally out of the way, Leon locks his eyes to Maggi as he begins to unbutton his shirt, one by one. It was slow, and getting a shirt off those beefy shoulders was sometimes a chore, but finally he strips to the waist. Besides the boney medical drawing on his arm people often saw when he was in short sleeves, more ink can now be seen. Covering most of his shoulderblades, with a wing around one shoulder is an artfully depicted bearded vulture. Perched atop a skull on his left pectoral is a black vulture, and just above his belt on his lower right abs is a griffon vulture. Tossing his shirt at Maggi, downing his bourbon and slapping a fiver on the bar, he stalks toward the bull.

Jay's advance goes unnoticed because Astrid is too busy looking across the bar in perplexed wonder; herbrow arches as she blows and pops another bubble, particularly when Pony starts up. Then Jay yawns, and she turns to smack him in the shoulder with a scowl. "Jay!" She'd probably smack him again, but some guy is waving his pint glass at her. She casts a glare at Jay. "I'm going to fucking eat you." Which has been a new Astrid thing-- threatening to eat people. Something, something Generation Z.

Geoff sends off a fex texts while he's talking to Harper. With Easton's shirt coming off at Harper's behest he laughs and says "Well it seems like I'll be in good company." He begins to take off his hat...And then /it/ begins, and a mischievous twinkle takes his eye. Rather then pulling off his shirt immediately, he begins to move with the beat of the music, with perhaps more suggestive rocks of his hips then is strictly necessary. That hat coming up and off to cover his crotch as he pulls the shirt up and off with the other hand, revealing his tattooed and scarred torso.

"Mmhm," Lyric grins and heads back inside with him, but not until she'd ogled his chest. Thoroughly. An appreciative look give his way because she knew hot when she saw it. "Bull riding. Let's go see how good you are." There's no touching him physically, no crossing any lines, but her gaze lingers on him until they get to the bull and she pays for the both of them. The one currently on it gets her attention, paying attention to how they stay on. "This one looks harder than the axes. I guess it's the same as rodeo sex. Wait till you are riding your partner then call them by someone elses name and see how long you can hold on."

Hey, they're only six years apart! Okay, fine, Jay is definitely a Millennial within the U.S. definitions of generations. WHATEVER. He takes the smack, deserved or OTHERWISE, and then winks at her. "I'll enjoy it." Wait, what?

August angles closer to Isabella, giving her an apologetic look for his currently shirtless-in-person state, and a tip of his pretty-obviously-on-loan black felt stampede hat. "Hey. Come out here to watch Easton make us all take our shirts off?" There's no actual levity in his voice; he's clearly clocked to her distant look. "Or is something else up."

Easton removes his shirt and then puts on that song. Harper steps away from Geoff to turn and lean back into the bar with her elbows, arching a brow as he slides into the dance with Easton. She reaches out one hand for Geoff's newly-removed shirt. "Who needs Las Vegas?" she murmurs mildly.

Katy rushes over to Lucas when it's her turn to hold the drinks, concern all over her features. "Hey..." she says, looking to her best friend, "That looked rough, you okay bud?"

Easton points to Leon and says, "See? Roen? See?" before taking another look himself and commenting loudly aside to Maggi, "Nicely fuckin' done." And then Geoff is starting up his dance and Easton points again for August's benefit, "I think you need to recount." He slips out past the bar because he's not going to let Geoff srip dance alone to Pony, that just wouldn't be right. There might even be an ill advised knee slide. He's real drunk y'all.

Astrid squints. "I'm only maintaining eye contact with you right now because Easton has his shirt off, and as long as I don't look, I'm not obligated to send a snap to Ash." She doesn't even pause. "He just did a knee slide, didn't he?" She does all of this while looking at Jay. Then, casually, she shrugs. "Alright, but I'm not a licker. That's Ash. I'm a biter." Wait, what.

She actually hears August first before Isabella sees him, so when she turns around to look at him, a ready smile on her features, she is not prepared for the Combat Botanist shirtless. Caught mid-swallow of her scotch, she actually chokes on it with wide eyes, coughing until she's flushed on the cheeks, eyes watering and feeling her sinuses burn. "August! This place take the shirt from your back already?" she says in an attempt to recover. "Do I need to go shirtless? Is this the dress code now?" She sets aside her tumbler for now. "I'm just here to celebrate the inaugural rides of the Thunder from Down Under. I asked for the mechanical bull, it'd be poor form if I didn't show up when E finally got it." She winks at August there, before her expression sobers. "Though I suppose a few shots of scotch might help me from worrying too much." She rubs the bridge of her nose. "Something something difficult men, as you were so kind to advise me before."

Itzhak blushes hotter as Lyric takes her time ogling him. It's not obvious at first glance, or maybe even second glance, but his nipples are taped, the tape matching his skin. He clears his throat, heads back to the party. "Okay, where's this bull I gotta ride." He gets in just in time to see Leon conquer Thunder Down Under, and that gets a hell of a whoop out of him! Combined with Easton and Geoff getting nasty to 'Pony', this is absolutely the kind of party he hates being dragged to but winds up having a great and drunken time at.

Jay just lifts his phone and takes a picture of Easton without even looking. "I'll send it to her. Also, biting is fine. Licking, too, if you guys are like, a twin set or something." Don't play flirt chicken with Jay, guys, the guy steals cars and then drives them at the patrol cars.

Geoff joins Easton in that ill advised knee slide, he has his back and is isn't about toe let him go in for it alone, after all Harper is taking care of his shirt so he's free of all worries. That hand gripping the hat he'd undulated against brings it back up to plant it on his head. Of course he aims a wink at Harper, an unspoken promise going along with it.

De la Vega's not half bad himself at dancing; what he lacks in skill and training, he makes up for in raw command over his body, and a remarkable ability to clear a path in front of him as he moves. Nobody really wants to be bulldozed by the stern-looking cop. "I keep meaning to ask Marshall what the fuck a hoe down is," he muses, scooping the younger woman into the crook of his arm, then tipping a brow at her question. "You know, I've fucking clear forgotten. Though I was going ask how the melon popping went?"

Climbing up onto the bull and getting into position, Leon tosses one last look in Maggi's direction before tapping the top of his head to secure the hat snugly. It takes a minute getting used to the bucking motion as it starts to turn. Leon concentrates, looks a little unsteady, but in fantastically showy fashion, his one hand comes free and he grabs his hat off his head, waving it around and whooping as the mechanized contraption tries its absolute best to unseat him. He remains unmoved until it slowly rotates to a stop. He hops down into the padding and tosses his hat into the air, catching it waving at the hooting, before setting it back on his head. Tucking his thumb into his belt, he saunters back up to Maggi, a hand held out to her in a clear, 'Come on.', jerking his head to the door.

He meant to take her up on the rest of the offer.

August waves a hand dismissively at Easton. "Doesn't count until Thorne's shirtless," he says over his shoulder. Though getting Isabella to choke on her drink draws a smile out of him. "I lost a bet. Then Itzhak did. But Geoff and Easton are just tossing off their clothes because that's how they are." He watches Leon ride, adds, "Him too, probably."

He leans against the bar, tilts his head. "Is this 'dad' type difficult men, or 'Alexander' type difficult men, or other difficult men? Because," he holds a hand to his chest, "I've been with more than enough men to be able to assure you, we're all trash."

Lucas smiles as he is helped off the bull and looks a little out of it, not quite focusing on Katy's face, "That Aussie Bulls got a kick...but hey...I got a free drink!"

Maggi is distracted as she watches Leon walk away from her, Damn. His shirt falls to the floor and she scrambles to pick it up before watching him ride the bull. Crooked mustache tilts further in amusement as she sips her drink. She nods in agreement to Easton sliding a cash donation envelope over from the inside of her jacket. Only $100, but hey, student debt. "Better than the Cabaret." She says lifting the drink again. She closes out their tab writing in a tip as he mounts the bull, saluting Easton.

Then she gets to watch him ride it. "Holy Fuck" is all that passes her lips. Maggi is genuinely impressed to a point it may have mentally slipped to Leon across the room. The mustache falls from her stunned face. She Bites the inside of her lip eyeing Leon, following him out without an argument, because how do you argue with someone being that smooth?

Astrid just barely breaks her focus on Jay as he snaps a picture. "Me too!" For recipients of said photograph, of course. Then she presses her lips together in an obvious musing, head half-tilted and the high ponytail that would not be suitable for a cowboy hat sashaying to one side. "We're like one of those Target deals... sure, you can have just one of us, but a lot more bang for your buck if you get two." Then she's dancing off a few steps to get a drink for the guy at the end of the bar, leaning in dramatically with a bright smile that illuminates her whole face, leaving Jay to reload.

Harper tosses Geoff's discarded shirt against her shoulder so she can resume her full-body lean against the bar, her amused, brown-eyed gaze sparkling with mischief as she watches the two men. "Because that's how they are," she echoes August quietly. "Two kindred spirits. Getting raunchy to bad strip music." Not that Harper is complaining.

Looking more than a little concerned, Katy leads Lucas away and takes the glasses to the bar to have a surface to put them on, before she checks him out. "Oh man, it looks like you're going to be hurting for a while, babe." The word slips, a bit of a force of habit, but it's just a thing between them, she calls him babe, he gives her cute pet names, and they tell each other 'I love you', despite knowing truth of where both of their hearts were. It's almost couple like to those who wouldn't necessarily know him. "All right cowboy, I guess this means we're not going to be drinking much more."

"It'll be a cold day in hell before anyone tears Byron Thorne away from his Burberry cufflinks," Isabella declares with both confidence and certainty of a woman who spent most of her childhood with the man in question. There's a glance towards Leon conquering Thunder as if it posed no challenge at all, grinning faintly, before another laugh spills from her at the Combat Botanist's statement about men and garbage. "I don't know," she replies, grin unwavering. "Some of you aren't so bad. But yeah, the Alexander type. It's not anything he's done just yet. It's..." She falls quiet, glancing down at her tumbler. "...the two of us went snooping around today and we ran into Alice."

After a breath, she scrubs her face with a hand and swallows her tumbler. "Not really the place to go into detail, though," she tells him ruefully. "Certainly not the occasion to vent out any worried frustrations. We'll talk about it later?"

"Good. Except the part where the forest got mad. But we just ran, it was fine. Entirely worth it." Lilith tells Ruiz with a satisfied grin at the inquiry, clearly killing fruit with guns (and bombs, shhh) was worth it. While they're talking and dancing, though, the woman catches sight of Byron hailing her with his eyes to get her attention and holding his phone on the way out of the door, and uh. Then she realizes what the hell Geoff and Easton have turned on mid-dance with the damned police captain.

It fucks her dance all up because this kind of music DOES NOT call for a good swing around and two step, it's got shirts ripping off at the bar and knee slides and Magic Mike stylings and she just kind of stops, awkwards briefly (a rare Lilith moment), then turns to stare at the bar.

"... oh good sweet hell. I don't know if that makes me laugh or cry a little inside, I grew up next door to Geoff, now I'm looking at him stripping. Tell you what... gun range soon? You remember the thing and we'll sync up."

Then she's going for the door after Byron with a flash of a smile and departure for the time being. You'd think they're latched at the hip.

No no, it's okay, Astrid. You can walk away after literally saying the phrase "more bang for your buck" to Jay regarding you and your bestie. Jay just sends her and Ash the picture with a shake of his head and watches her go sling her drinks, preparing a few, knowing that in a few seconds, something is gonna click in her head. Just watch: 3, 2, 1...

Finishing up his bumping and grinding Easton slaps Geoff on the shoulder and says, "I need you to meet someone." He looks around and manages to flag down Itzhak, "Goeff, this is Itzhak. Itz, this is my hubbie." He grins like an idiot for a second before he looks around again and says, "Alright, I officially need to find Bennie. Wish me luck y'all." He wanders off, shirtless but cowboy hat still on, headed for the office to see if he can find his erstwhile Dollie.

Geoff laughs easily once the song is done, and with Easton introducing him around he offers his hand out to Itzhak "A pleasure to meet you." He seems to be quick comfortable there without his shirt, at least now that it's off and all that jazz.

It just amuses Lyric to see Itzhak's reaction to her blatant checking him out. There's no intentions behind it, but she is sure having fun embarrassing him! For now, she watches the rider of the bull and can't help but admire Leon's absolute skill at it. "Oh wow.. he's so good at it!" The song choice has her looking towards the bar and catching Geoff's dancing. Her former neighbor. There's a lopsided smile worn, "The party has started."

Lucas lets Katy sit him down and mother him some "but free won a just drink" He sighs, and points to her, "you drinky free won"

All pretenses of amusement fade from August when Isabella says that name. He studies her a second, and studies her, but of course she's fine. Well, except for some lingering injuries that...ugh. They remind him of those fucking gnomes. But otherwise nothing seems newly or egrigiously amiss, so he calms down and has some of his beer.

"Well," he says, "I'm damned glad he took you with him." Because if there's one thing he's tired of it's Alexander running off solo. "And I'm glad you're okay." He nods in agreement; this is no place for shop talk. Or at least not that kind of shop. "Happy to discuss it if you want. And we should think about what we'd like to map out Over There next. Ellie and I'll be down in Oregon for a few days here but once we're back we can dig into some things."

Now it's Itzhak's turn on the bull, and August has to admit to being impressed. If it weren't for how falling off could easily maim him he'd be tempted. He'll live vicariously through his friend, just like everyone sans tattoos can look on his and do the same. Everyone wins.

Itzhak is extremely shirtless and wearing a borrowed cowboy hat when he meets the fabled Geoff. "How's by ya!" he says to him, red in the face, and also red all the way down. He shakes his hand nevertheless. "Nice to finally meet ya. 'Scuse me, I gotta date with a bull." And he gets on that bull and he rides the living beJesus out of it. Whoa! Who knew a New Yorker had such mad country skillz? Thunder Down Under stands no chance between Itzhak's long legs (clad in very tight jeans).

Harper watches Easton summarily introduce Geoff to Itzhak. In one easy gesture he does what Harper has been trying to do for half the evening. She laughs to herself, remaining at the bar and turning to ask whoever is serving for some whisky.

Did Javier just get ditched on the dancefloor by Lilith Winslow? He opens his mouth to tell her something, right as the shirts start flying off and the both of them simultaneously realise how very fucking awkward this is. "..yeah," is about the most he can muster. Yeah, sure, the thing, and, "Gun range. Soon." He watches her depart, palms the top of his hat as a girl swoops by and tries to snitch it, and dodges around a pair dirty dancing for God and everyone to see, as he winds his way back to the bar. Liquor is clearly his best, and only option here now. Because he's sure as fuck not taking his shirt off (again). Once he's got a drink in hand (beer this time), he ambles on over to see how Itzhak's doing with the mechanical bull. "Not bad," he murmurs, "but I've seen better."

"Oh hi Geoff." Lyric greets him since he was standing right there. "Hope you're doin' good." Though Itzhak is riding so she gives up the conversation in favor of watching her bandmate riding. When he successfully does it, she whistles and cheers for him. Nope, she's not gonna do it, but she's happy for him!

When she manages to get Lucas to sit down, Katy smiles. "Don't worry about that. I'll collect my prize later. Right now, we need to...we need to get you home. Or you can crash at our place. I'm sure Jon won't mind."

"I think he's slowly coming around to not going off on his own, though he'll still constantly worry - I think he's accepted the fact that it's always going to happen anyway, and vice-versa, so no sense doing this on our lonesome. Here's hoping anyway." Isabella swallows the rest of her drink and watches the wake of Byron and now Lilith as they head out of the bar together. "I have some catching up to do everywhere, it's just been difficult considering my recovery." Thankfully, as August has observed, she seems to be well on the mend. "Now that I'm crawling myself back into action, we should talk about that, yeah - I have something to tell you on that end, too. And Anne." Her apprehension intensifies there. "Something happened and she doesn't want to step foot through the Doorways ever again, I've yet to talk to her, but not exactly something I could do while in the hospital."

There's a smile though, however faint. "I'll always bounce back, I know I don't look like much, but I'm pretty hard to kill." There's a hint of (perhaps overinflated) pride there, reaching out to clap August's bare shoulder. "But I should swallow more of this, and then head home and steel myself when Alexander turns that dark-eyed kicked-puppy face at me when I rant about a few things. Take care, August. Say hi and bye to the guys for me?"

She'll linger for a bit after that, but soon, she's out the door.

Suddenly, Astrid is back at Jay's side like she hadn't just walked off all high and mighty. "That is, I didn't mean to suggest that, like... Ash and I are, like, you know." You do know, don't you, Jay? She interrupts this flow of conversation to nod over to the guy at the bar. "He wants a Salty Dog." But then she's picking it all back up again. "Look, you just need to shut up." No, Jay hasn't said anything yet.

Itzhak doesn't even wait for the bull to slow down to dismount once he's made his eight. He just slides off it like he does this every damn day, grinning fit to split as his bootheels hit the mat. The look he gives Ruiz as he saunters over oughta be illegal. "Damn right you seen better," he tells him in a low, wicked tone.

Geoff dips his head to Lyric "I'm doing pretty damn good actually." Then he turns to the bar to get the whiskey he ordered forever ago, dancing is thirsty work after all. Bumping his shoulder up against Harper's he asks with a knowing grin "Come here often?"

August sighs at the news about Anne, ducks his head. "I'm glad she's...back." 'Okay' doesn't work. 'Alive' seems kind of harsh. But, well, this is Gray Harbor. "And if that's what she wants, I've got no judgment for it, and I won't try to talk her out of it. I've been through just about some of the worst I think they could come up with for me, and anyone else dealing with that who decides it's done? I understand completely. It's a decision I respect." He smiles, wry. "Like you, I'm just hard to kill, and an obstinate bastard."

He has a drink of his beer, pats her hand with his. "Will do. Let me know when you want to convene. I'll be there, new tattoo and car and all." He glances aside, back to her. "I think I know a couple people we could maybe ask if they want to join us on these kinds of...outings." He bobs his eyebrows, then raises his hand in a farewell. "Take care. Tell Alexander I said hey, stop running off on your own like a jerk and listen to your girl."

Park has always been one for parties...especially dress-up ones! She slips through the door, excited, smiling, and wide-eyed at all the outfits. Her own - a pair of light-up horns and a bovine onesie complete with udders over her stomach. Yes, she has dressed as a cowgirl. Bouncing for the bar, she starts to get the feeling that she may have misunderstood something. "Hey!" she grins to the barkeep. "Can I get a typical western drink, please. Like a sarsaparilla, straight up. Thanks!"

Harper downs her drink just as Geoff is returning to her, the burn causing her to cough. Lightweight. "Come with me, Turner. You're not gonna believe what --" The two exit the bar.

Jay doesn't say anything while Astrid goes on her little TIRADE: PART DEUX, and when she asks him for a Salty Dog, he makes it quietly, pouring the ingredients with expert aplomb. He slides it right over to the customer and then edges over to Astrid just a little bit so he can nudge her with his shoulder, opening his mouth and going, "Cuz I mean if you were--" And then he lifts his hands, taking cover with a grin.

Ruiz still looks a little out of sorts, and like he's in dire need of the beer he's got clutched in one hand, to put himself to rights again. Occasionally a glance toward the deck, but Itzhak's voice draws him back, and the tall musician's approach is taken in with a glimmer of a smile at the corners of his mouth. "Had no idea this was your jam," he tells him, taking a lean against the counter and hitching his chin like it's obvious what he's referring to. This. "You about ready to get out of here?"

Geoff follows off after Harper, a broad grin on his features as he offers a wave to the familiar faces he knows. Humming to himself he passes right back through those doors he entered none too long ago.

"Ah-t!" Astrid holds up her finger at him. Then she taps her fingers idly on the bar, squinting at Jay suspiciously. She's thoughtful for several long moments, both hands now resting on the bar to support her casual lean. Then, with a casual toss of her head, she intones, "I'm going to fucking eat you." Just in case we've forgotten what started this whole thing.

Lucas shakes his head to try to clear it, then realizes thats a mistake and holds his head with both hands, "I just need some water and maybe to lie down..."

"Okay, bud, but you can't lie down just yet, I haven't had too much to drink and I can take you to the apartment, I know Jon won't mind, come on, let's go." And Katy settles whatever tab would need to be settled before ushering Lucas along to the car.

"Eh, you party with enough bluegrass guys, you get the hang of it," Itzhak says with an utterly guileless expression that fools nobody. "Yeah, let's get outta here, I need a smoke so bad it's killing me." It's late enough he can sling a bare arm around Ruiz, right? Right!

Lyric goes from watching the bull to collecting her guitar, then thinks better of it and as the couples start pairing off again and heading out, she takes a seat on the stool and holds the guitar to sing her final song of the night.

"Well, I walk into the room passing out hundred dollar bills. And it kills, and it thrills, like the horns on my silverado grill. And I buy the bar double round the crown. And everybody's getting down. An' this town, ain't never gonna be the same!"

"Cause I saddle up my horse and I ride into the city. I make a lot of noise, Cause the girls they are so pretty. Riding up and down Broadway On my old stud Leroy, and the girls say, Save a horse, ride a cowboy. Everybody says Save a horse, ride a cowboy!"

Jay just smiles at Astrid and then tips his head a little bit, blowing her a kiss. "Go on, git. I can clean up and take the rest of the orders. Go home before you say something else you gotta justify." He snickers a little, turning to watch Lyric sing with a grin.

It looks like Park arrived just in time to watch everyone leave, happily waving to anyone and everyone who may look her way. "Itzy-bitsy!" she calls out and he gets an extra enthusiastic wave.

Park eyes off the sarsaparilla when it arrives. Sniffing it, peering at the color, before daring a sip. Grimace follows. She pushes the glass back towards the barkeep. "Can I get ice?"

She knows that voice. "Lyric!!" Park rushes for the stage.

Astrid beams at Jay when he promises to look after everything so she can get home. "Okay, I take it all back. You're a saint." She doesn't have to arch up very high to kiss his cheek, but she makes a good show of it. "Stay outta trouble, Jay." Then she is heading back to the back of the room so she can grab her stuff and head home.

Jay just kind of watches Astrid go with an expression that looks like '... why?' on his face, but then Park is leaping towards Lyric and he chortles.

Lyric finishes the song and when she would have packed her guitar away she's approached by Park and she grins, reaching out to hug her other bandmate and fellow DJ. "You look too cute. You're a cow." Pointing that out as if Park didn't exactly know.

Lucas rises and nods, "Yeah home...good idea your place or yours?" He says and turns, seeing Park, he waves with an off kilter smile and unfocused eyes and lets out a long low "MOooooooo" Before letting Katy lead him away.

"I'm a cowgirl" Park corrects Lyric before doing a little spin. "Isn't it udderly adorable. See what I did there?" A quick glance around. "No one else dressed like a cow though. You look awesome though! You would definitely have men hanging off your legs looking like that. They're called 'chaps' in the Wild West, right? Totally have chaps after you. Hey, do you mind if I borrow your guitar? I am inspired to sing 'Cows with Guns'." A giggle and a wave for Lucas. "And 'Moooo' right back, pardner." Back to Lyric. "Didn't anyone dress in paper as a rustler?"

When Park says Lyric could have men hanging off her leg, Jay demurely raises a hand, maybe volunteering, maybe just admitting, from the bar, leaning on his elbow, his phone in his other hand.

Lyric outright laughs at the terribly hilarious pun. Parks interpretation of chaps is also amusing and with an indulgent look she shakes her head which skews her hat. "Do you like what my shirt says?" Standing, she straightens it so it can be read. Eyes widen at the question of her guitar but she nods hesitantly. "Yeahh just be careful with it. It's my favorite thing ever." She leaves it there and goes over to the bar so Park can sing her song. Getting to the bar, she grins at the bartender. "Isn't she funny?" Jerking a thumb towards Park.

"Sure seems that way," Jay tells Lyric with a smile when she hops up on a stool. He looks back over his shoulder and then smiles at the singer. "So, what'll it be, gorgeous. On me, for the show."

Park reads the t-shirt and lets out a loud laugh. "Oh my gosh, yes, I love it." Her eyes go wide once more. "Are there horses here?" A quick look around would suggest not, though she points at Jay. "See, he would love to be your chap."

"As if I would ever hurt your guitar" Park pouts at her fellow band member. She knows how important such things are. Taking it, carefully, she gets on the stool and starts to play. It's a long song.

Fat and docile, big and dumb
They look so stupid, they aren't much fun
Cows aren't fun

They eat to grow, grow to die
Die to be et at the hamburger fry
Cows well done

Nobody thunk it, nobody knew
No one imagined the great cow guru
Cows are one

He hid in the forest, read books with great zeal
He loved Che Guevera, a revolutionary veal
Cow Tse Tongue

He spoke about justice, but nobody stirred
He felt like an outcast, alone in the herd
Cow doldrums

He mooed we must fight, escape or we'll die
Cows gathered around, cause the steaks were so high
Bad cow pun

But then he was captured, stuffed into a crate
Loaded onto a truck, where he rode to his fate
Cows are bummed

He was a scrawny calf, who looked rather woozy
No one suspected he was packing an Uzi
Cows with guns

They came with a needle to stick in his thigh
He kicked for the groin, he pissed in their eye
Cow well hung

Knocked over a tractor and ran for the door
Six gallons of gas flowed out on the floor
Run cows run!

He picked up a bullhorn and jumped up on the hay
We are free roving bovines, we run free today
We will fight for bovine freedom
And hold our large heads high
We will run free with the Buffalo, or die
Cows with guns

They crashed the gate in a great stampede
Tipped over a milk truck, torched all the feed
Cows have fun

Sixty police cars were piled in a heap
Covered in cow pies, covered up deep
Much cow dung

Black smoke rising, darkening the day
Twelve burning McDonalds, have it your way
We will fight for bovine freedom
And hold our large heads high
We will run free with the Buffalo, or die
Cows with guns

The President said "enough is enough
These uppity cattle, its time to get tough"
Cow dung flung

The newspapers gloated, folks sighed with relief
Tomorrow at noon, they would all be ground beef
Cows on buns

The cows were surrounded, they waited and prayed
They mooed their last moos,
they chewed their last hay
Cows outgunned

The order was given to turn cows to whoppers
Enforced by the might of ten thousand coppers
But on the horizon surrounding the shoppers
Came the deafening roar of chickens in choppers

We will fight for bovine freedom
And hold our large heads high
We will run free with the Buffalo, or die
Cows with guns

Finishing with a flourish, she bows to the diminishing crowd before carefully packing away the guitar and returning it reverently to Lyric.

"No horses that I've seen," she tells Park. Ohh. Lyric tilts her head and regards Jay. He looked familiar so she tells him as much. "Where did I see you before?" Then she recalls very clearly and she laughs. "You were on the black feathered bird." Leaning a hip against the bar, she grins, but that may be because of the song Park is singing. "Surprise me, make me anything." Another laugh at the song, but she does seem to genuinely like it.

"Cassowary. Right." He smirks at her. "I remember. That was a wild ride." He turns around and grabs a few things. It doesn't take him long before he's pushing a stout glass with an amber liquid in front of her. "Old Fashioned. You can't go wrong with it, in my experience, and if you don't like it just means you're young." He winks.

Once the guitar is handed over, Park has to fan herself. "This onesie is soooo hot." A grin for Jay. "Hi! I'm Park. Or you can call me Mee if you like, since that's my name. Park Mee." Another hug for Lyric. "I have to dash" she pouts, "Before I become all sweaty and start smelling like a cow too." With a wry smile she looks between Jay and Lyric before smiling to the latter, "I won't wait up for you. Have a good one...or more if you can." A fingerwave for them both before she is bouncing out. No doubt to ride her moped home while dressed as a cow.

"Jay," he tells Park with a lazy smile. "Well, Jie. But you know." He shrugs, as if sharing a little secret between two Chinese-Americans before he waves at her. "Bye!"

"It was a crazy ride." Lyric agrees, then reaches for the drink. Of course she smells it first before taking a sip of it. It was different but it wasn't bad. Not bad at all. "I may be kind of young, a little bit. But it's still good." Putting the glass down she takes the guitar and puts it in the case and fastens it. It's placed beside her and only then, when Park mentions leaving, she notices people were all clearing out quickly. "I will be home soon, Park. See you and the rest of the band later." The introduction between the two makes her smile. "I'm Lyric." Looking over and waving to Park in return before looking back at Jay.

He repeats, now that Park is gone and Lyric introduces himself: "Jay. And I know. You're hard to miss." He shrugs and smiles, laid back. "You were good up there." He gestures at the stage. "But you know that."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm glad you didn't get hurt or anything." Checking the time, it was getting late. "I need to get going, it's getting super late." The words are followed by a stifling of a yawn. "You ever go to the Cabaret?" The strip club.

"Not often, but I know where it is and what not." Jay cocks his head to the side and asks, "Why?"

"I'm a DJ there. If you come there, I can buy you a drink too. You know. Cause you're gorgeous too." A cheesy grin directed at him. Lyric adds, "Park is a DJ there too."

Jay lifts his brows and then flashes her a rather bright smile. "I'm gonna take you up on that offer, I think," he tells her, leaning onto his elbows, crossing his arms. "You gonna surprise me?"

"I'm not the bartender, but I'll surprise you. with something of my choice." Lyric finishes off her drink then grins at him. "I gotta go for now, but I look forward to it. Thank you for the drink."

"You can surprise me with something that isn't a drink, if you want," Jay teases with a grin as she makes to leave. "Drive safe, gorgeous."

Something that wasn't a drink. Lyric ponders that with a smile playing over her features, "Flirt." An observation, not an accusation. "We'll start with the drink." The smile widens into a grin, she doesn't mention anything about the driving safe. "See you soon!" Then she collects her guitar before heading out.