2020-06-23 - Tourist Season

Summer. Tourist Season. The kind of night that made bars a lot of money, if you can stand the fact that it's mostly college students from Hoaquim on break, and out of towners who have discovered there isn't a lot to do in Gray Harbor except get drunk. And go to the Casino, these days? Alexander sort of had forgotten about tourist season, which is probably why he looks mildly miserable as he is sitting at the bar, both hands clenched around a bottle of cheap beer.

Or maybe it's the bruises that are driving the misery instead of the company. Or both. Definitely both. His eyes are red, and the back of his head looks a bit mangled, with dark bruises running down the back of his neck. This has not stopped a couple of drunk college students from approaching him. "Oh hey! It's YOU! You were at the Beer Olympics! We were on your teeaaaaam! Do you remember?"

Alexander does. He eyes them with wariness and a small amount of panic as they lean in and start chiding him for abandoning them.

An EMT in full gear busts into the bar, but no one called for an ambulance. No, it's the blonde that's currently supposed to be in charge of the place, whose focus is so split again nowadays that she went to the wrong workplace first before realizing she wasn't meant to work a duty shift at the FD today. "Hey, hey. Sorry I'm late. You can tell...uh, what's her name she can go home now, I'm here."

Bennie slides in behind the bar, pulling her hair down from its tight bun and giving the wild waves a shake out as she spies Alexander and her admirers. She still Shines in the capital S way, but the little s way has long since been clouded over. Almost a full month now. She kisses her fingertips and taps the Missing poster of Easton that hangs above the bottles of booze then turns her attention to the co-eds that are chiding Alexander. "Hey girls? Free shots if you leave this one alone and buzz along bar flies to someone else."

Jay comes out from the back, slipping behind the bar and glancing over at Bennie. "Hey, Bee." He gives her a quick smile and then leans against the bar. "I covered you. You're fine. Nearing the end of my shift anyway." He winks at her and then ushers the girls around Alexander over. "Come on, I'll make you all those drinks."

The girls turn as Bennie slides behind the bar, and their eyes light up. "Oh, wow. Is it costume night? OMG," and yes, she says O-M-G, "I should come as a nurse next time! It'd be so fun!" Her friend agrees enthusiastically, and squeals about her 'super-cute' maid costume that she's just dying to wear again. They do manage to hear the offer of free drinks, though, and move away with a dismissive, "He's a weird old guy, anyway!"

Alexander gives Bennie a look of complete gratitude. "You are a lady of mercy and deliverance, Bennie," he says, although it's barely able to be heard through the hubbub. He doesn't miss the dim of her shine, or the gesture to the post. "How are you holding up?" Jay is given a wary, curious sort of look, that turns into a direct stare that violates the boundaries of politeness. Although it's not openly hostile. Just intense. And creepy. "Hello."

One of the doors opens and amidst the tourists an old townie strolls in. It's Jefferson Jackson, the fellow heading towards the bar. Along the way he looks over the younger folks lining up to get themselves some drinks before he spots someone he recognizes in Bennie and Alexander and gives them a wave. After that it's a matter of finding a stool so he can take a load off, checking out the liquor bottles behind the bar for a moment before asking the folks around, "How's it going, folks?" Turning on his stool he looks around, checking out the crowd once again.

"Bless you." Bennie smiles slightly at Jay as her shoulders sag with relief. "I swear, some days I don't know if I'm coming or going." She undoes her Batman medical utility belt and drops it in a heap at her feet before kicking it under a shelf as she starts to undo the buttons of her white short sleeved uniform shirt as her blue eyes dance over Alexander's disheveled appearance. "My there is a lot of religious praise in the bar tonight. I'm good. Up and down. I'm managing." Her status degrades the more she talks, so she just throws the focus back to Alexander. "Isabella catch another friend wrapped in a bra and a bedsheet in your living room again?" She greets Jefferson with a nod and pulls out a bottle of Buffalo Trace, asking aside, "How's the job hunt?"

Jay gets the girls set up with their drinks and then sidles over closer to where Bennie is. Jay picks up shifts at the Deuce whenever he can and they need the help. Less so over the course of the past few months, but more so now, since... Easton. He tips his chin up at Alexander and doesn't seem to mind the creepy staring. "You want a drink, Bee? Club soda with lime?" He grins softly.

Alexander's eyes shift back to Bennie, staring at her fixedly as she talks. A tight knot of laughing college students brush by him, and he leans away from them - although it's her question that makes him actually startle. "What? No. Why would I?" Oh. He grins, briefly. "No. I have learned my lesson, and inform Isabella if I am providing shelter to any naked friends, now." He takes a sip of his beer. "I took a job. Got jumped. I'm okay." He meets Jay's chin tilt with a hesitant one of his own, but informs him, solemnly, "Bennie. Her name is Bennie."

Then looks down at his beer, giving Jefferson a sidelong look as he arrives. "Jefferson. Hello." He opens his mouth as if to answer Bennie's question to the man himself, but then closes it with a click of teeth, and goes back to wary staring instead.

"I got a job with August, working at Out on a Limb," Jefferson tells Bennie with a grin. The bottle is given an approving glance and the woman a thumbs up, "Thanks. That's some good stuff." Letting out a deep sigh he says, "I checked out an art place today. Met Hera and Devlin. Might have picked up a little extra work helping out there, too, so that's pretty neat as well." Alexander is given a long look, "Glad you're okay. What kind of job was it, if you don't mind me asking?" Jefferson's quite concerned.

"Thanks, Jay, club soda would be great." Because she wasn't pulling out the Trace for her, but to pour a few fingers for Jefferson just because she remembered, not that she's trying to step on the actual bartender's toes. She steps back, shouldering out her uniform shirt leaving her in a white tank. Lest she be accused of wearing a costume again."Alexander just likes people to be called by their given names. Nicknames make him twitch." She explains to Jay, not slowing down since the moment she got here, now working on leaning to unlace one of her boots. "You'll let me know if you need me, right?" This to Alexander, just what he might need her for implied but not said. As she toes out of one boot, she's giving Jefferson a chipper, "That's great! Or. Neat. Or ..yay!" At his job outlook.

"Yeah, thanks, I know her name." Jay smiles, a little dismissively, at Alexander. Bennie's explanation makes him glances back at the guy. "Kay." And then he steps off to the side to get Bennie her club soda, wedging a bit of lime onto the edge of the glass and putting it in front of her, with a tiny straw and a little umbrella, too.

"An art place?" Alexander's head cocks to one side. "The art gallery. I heard one opened a while back." He considers Jefferson, and his question, in silence. Then says, "Investigation. Some people don't like being investigated." There's a weary sort of resignation to that, like it's totally not the first time Alexander has gotten a fistful of knuckles for poking his nose somewhere it probably shouldn't be. He frowns, looks from Jefferson, Bennie, and even Jay - although the dismissiveness has him narrowing his eyes for a moment. He says, "Keep an eye out? There've been some unusual bits of harassment, lately. Shaking down businesses and such. Hard cases. Be careful if any show up."

He's nowhere near as much a regular as he was. Joe's been through a lot where the Twofer is concerned, considering the door to Hell in the basement. But....a good dockside dive is worth even bellying up to the bar over a Hellmouth, so there's the sailor rolling in. For once, he's only there by himself, without the other two of the Three Gay Caballeros at hand.

He looks cheerful enough, as he limps up to the bar, stride made all the stranger by the roll from a day spent on the water, and hitches himself up to a seat on the stool. "Cuba Libre," is the poison this evening.

"Yeah. It's nice to work outside all day, I like the folks there and it keeps me busy," Jefferson says with a grin as he picks up his glass, taking a little smell of it before it's time for a sip. "This stuff is so good." Then he looks at Alexander and nods, "Yeah. You can take art lessons there as well as look at the stuff on display." When Alexander talks about the stuff going on Jefferson frowns. "A protection racket? Here? You know who's running it?" Then he shakes his head, closing his eyes for a few seconds and taking a deep breath, "This is bad news."

"You're a peach." Bennie declares of Jay as he sets down her drink, going so far as to squeeze him in a hug consisting of one arm that's part affection part trying to use him to balance as she works on her other boot. "Oh. Goody. Another thing to worry about. But get the word out that robbing the bar this week isn't going to work for me, but I may be able to pencil them in next Tuesday if they want to give me trouble between ten thirty eight in the morning and noon. Actually, make it eleven thirty." She releases Jay so he can tend to Joe and she can attend to undoing her belt buckle.

Jay holds Bennie up while she works on her boot and then snorts a little bit. "I feel sorry for people walking in here to rob the place." And he's not even talking about himself. Some of the waitresses here have several blackbelts, all stacked one on top of the other. It's pretty terrifying. "But we'll keep an eye out. I'll let the rest know."

Alexander's a paranoid sort of guy, so he glances towards the door every time it opens, noting who goes in and out. Most are uninteresting, but his eyes linger on Joe as he rolls in. "Cavanaugh," he greets the man when he gets close enough to the bar that Alexander can say it without having to shout. "Hello." Like Jay and Jefferson, Joe gets the creepy stare and wary face, whereas his expression softens when Bennie speaks up. "I don't think that's how it works. Just keep an eye out." He stares at Jay for a long moment. "The ones I met were hard cases. I wouldn't advise escalating if you don't have to." His gaze slides to Jefferson. "I don't. Not yet. Out of town, I think." And it's summer, when out of towners don't stick out as much.

"Clayton," Joe says, tipping the younger man a little salute, two fingertips to temple. "Evenin'. How's it goin'?" Speaking of out of towners - that's definitely one, with that accent. One that bespeaks a warmer, gentler coast to the east, all sighing drawl. Not in the least discommoded by getting the fish-eye. Alexanders are hard to tame and he hasn't doesn't his due diligence on getting this one to take food from his hand, not yet.

No comment on the racket, but he lifts a curious brow.

"No?" Bennie blinks perfectly innocent at Alexander before her lips split in a grin ruining the ruse. "Well maybe I should put a warning sign on the door then: This bar is protected by a blonde with zero fraks in her field of fraks to give. Or you know, something more concise."

And then she drops trou.

Thankfully for all involved she's wearing a pair of floral shorts beneath her uniform pants. This must not be the first time she's gotten her work schedule mixed up. "Get the man his Cobra Kai, Jay." She flicks a finger at Cavanaugh.

"Yeah, protection rackets don't work in real life like they do in the movies," Jefferson says with a deep frown on his face before taking another little sip of whiskey. "Hopefully the cops can step in and make sure whoever's running the show gets shut down before somebody gets hurt." Looking around the bar he says, "I hope these assholes don't try to mess around with August's businesses with me around. I don't need to get caught up in this shit." Looking at the newcomer Jeff gives him a friendly upnod, then glances at Alexander, "Try to keep yourself safe."

"Mm, protection rackets." Jay doesn't seem too worried. He puts together Cavanaugh's drink with some efficiency and set it across from the man. "Bee, I gotta roll. Hot date. You good here?"

"It goes okay," Alexander says to Joe. "Are you well? Isabella was wondering." His examination seems to be lingering on Joe, perhaps trying to see how much, if any, of his Glimmer he's gotten back. But Bennie's playful response catches his attention, and he smiles at her, just a little. "'Fuck off' is very concise. I think. It might give the wrong impression to customers, though." A glance towards Jefferson, and a slow nod. "If someone does harass August, will you let me know? Please." The suggestion to keep himself safe just gets a slightly wider smile and a shrug. No promises. Jay, and his 'Bee' get another long stare from the man. "Bennie." As if Jay might have forgotten. "Enjoy your date."

It's back. Slightly brighter, if anything, as if that expedition to the Asylum had something snap back into place. Joe's just taking his drink as Bennie drops her pants, and now it's both brows climbing for his hairline.

"Damn," he says, mildly. "It's been decades since all I had to do was look at a woman and have her drop her pants. Di'n't even buy you a drink." A little pokerfaced, otherwise. "What, someone's tryin'a set up somethin' like that here?" Tone very dubious indeed.

"Yeah, yeah. Go. Go. Get some for me, will yah? It's been a long month." Bennie tries to smile at Jay to go hand in hand with her joke, but it just manifests more in a grimace. "God. A month." She shakes it off and goes to step back into her boots, sweeping her hair back from one side of her face as she mutters down at her stubborn feet and her stubborn boots. "Maybe if I preface it with Bad Guys: Frak Off." A smile is flashed up at Joe as Bennie straightens. "Keep buying your own, pay your tab, and you'll win your way into my heart. But these drawers are strictly off limits."

Jay flashes Bennie a smile and then takes a deep breath, looking at Alexander. "Man, that is gonna get old real fast, brother." He lifts both brows and salutes at Bennie. "See you later." He ducks into the back to change for his date.

"Yeah, I'll give you a call if someone comes by the Branch & Bole," Jefferson tells Alexander with a nod, taking another drink of whiskey. "Meanwhile, I'll be trying to keep my distance from any of this stuff." Then he finishes off his drink and lays some money on the bar. "I think I'm going to take off. Mood's a little sour for me after that news. I'll catch you all later." He rises to his feet and makes his way towards the door.

"It's her name," Alexander says, his jaw set stubbornly. "And we're not related," he adds in a mutter after Jay has ducked into the back. Even so, there's a flicker of something defensive and sad on his face, for a moment, before it disappears under blankness. He glances over at Joe, and shrugs. "Already been something. Feels likes someone's trying to set up something new. That's bad. Gang wars have casualties." Not counting his own rattled skull and bruises, clearly. "But you stand out again. That's good." A look at Bennie at the month comment, but rather than say anything, he strips the label off his bottle and starts to nervously shred it into tiny, thin, uniform strips.

Joe lays a long hand over his own heart, feigns looking stricken. "If you're sure," he retorts, but he's clearly teasing. Of course he is.

But the cheerfulness fades in the face of Alexander's reaction, and he nods. The drink - he takes a liberal slug of it. At least it isn't one of those bourbon messes he drinks when he's after a real, roaring drunk. "Yeah. Small favors, eh?" he says.

As Alexander looks after Jay with a look, Bennie does the same to Jefferson. "Boy if he came to Gray Harbor to stay away from trouble, that man's in for a rude awakening." The blonde finally settles for a moment, and that is to say she pulls a book out from behind the bar: Bartending for Dummies and leans against the cooler to sip at her club soda. "Guess it'd be a bad time to quit the City then?" She tosses in her own comment about gang wars.

"He's town," Alexander says, quietly, about Jefferson. "Ex-con. I remember him from when I was a kid." A long pause. "He seems to be trying to be better. I hope it works." He takes a deep breath, rubs at his face. "I wouldn't worry much about it," he admits to Bennie, after a moment. "I worry because I like crime." A pause. "Investigating. Not committing. It's interesting. But most people probably won't even notice something is happening. Just if anyone comes, don't escalate, and let me know?" His gaze shifts back to Joe, and he stares at the man as if he might manage to pry his skull off and look at what's inside.

"That's lucky," says Joe, oh so dryly. "I've got a whole handful of crimes I'm real fond of committin'. Or was, anyhow. We're a match made in heaven." A glance after Jefferson, expression neutral. "I wish him luck. World's hard enough on ex-cons, let alone in this town."

Then he turns that guileless blue stare on Alexander again. "What's that look for?" he inquires, as he props an elbow on the bar.

"Oh, you know me. All about the non-escalating." Bennie, the woman who freaked and leveled an entire room of patients and orderlies at the Asylum sips casually at her drink. Sluuuuuurp. She flips through pages of the book, trying to figure out how to make a Cobra Kai incase Joseph orders another, but can't seem to find the name in the index. "He's probably trying to figure out how you tick." She says without so much as looking up, "It's charming when you think about it."

Alexander's head tilts. "What sort of crimes?" he asks, quite seriously. He opens his mouth to answer the question, but Bennie beats him to it. He nods, adds, "I don't know you. I know gossip. You're considered attractive by many of the women in town, and I'm told your accent is 'dead sexy'. You're an astronaut. You're friends with Javier. You were in the Asylum. But still insufficient data." He glances towards Bennie. "People do not usually find it charming," he admits. "You're an exception." But he offers her a natural sort of smile, before tearing more of the label into little strips.

"Well, my absolute favorite isn't an offence in civilian law. But if you're under military discipline - an officer fraternizing with an enlisted person, even one not in his chain of command, can be arrested and do jail time. Which I did for almost all of my career," Joe's tone is lazy, still, but there's an edge behind it.

That explanation has him raising his brows again. "Well, that's flattering to know," he says. "People do tend to like the accent, I've found. I was an astronaut, now I'm retired. I'm not friends with Javier, I'm his lover. I was in the Asylum, yes, after intractable depression and a suicide attempt." He rolls his wrists, as if Alexander might've missed those scars. "What's the threshold for sufficient data? You can ask more questions, if you want."

"Often imitated, never duplicated!" Bennie chirps as Alexander tells her she's an exception, her brows knitting as she flips back and forth in the book and starts counting something out on her fingers. Her eyes don't flick back up from her reading until Joseph says that he's Ruiz' lover. Nope, not touching that one. Back down to her reading.

"Oh." Alexander stares at Joe for a long moment. Then shrugs. "That's a boring crime. I was hoping it was smuggling. Smuggling is an interesting crime, and can be very difficult to unravel, much less develop enough evidence for to bring in more than the mules. Isolating routes, identifying carriers and suppliers, intercepting transports - interesting." There's something earnest about it, a genuine attempt to explain the appeal from Alexander's perspective.

He turns to his beer, takes a sip. He nurses his drinks like he can only afford one. Which, by the state of his clothes, might be the case. "I feel like you should enjoy someone's company if you have sex with them, so I'm sorry you and Javier aren't friends. Are you sure you aren't? Sometimes he's grumpy, but that usually means he cares." A sidelong look to the scars. "Why were you depressed?"

Look, don't give Alexander carte blanche to answer questions unless you want a lot. "And I don't know. Depends on how interesting you are." It's not a joke, although his gaze flicks back to Bennie at the book search. "What are you doing?"

"Smuggling is certainly more intricate," Joe concedes. "More fun to unpick, though I never did interdiction work on anything other than the most macro scale." Not dismissing Alexander's perspective in the least.

That comment makes him blink. "Oh, I agree. I'd say more that I'd assumed it was folded into the statement. I don't fuck people I don't like, whose company I don't enjoy. So by those lights, yes, we're friends. Just that we weren't only friends."

A look for the scars, thoughtful. No hint of shame; he's never bothered to try and conceal them. "Because an injury ended my career in space several years before it otherwise might have done. Because I was in a lot of pain and wasn't sure I'd ever be able to walk easily again. Because I'd started shining, and They came and made things worse."

"Getting the basics down, I'd imagine," Joe offers, helpfully.

"I prefer serial killers." The blonde interjects, "And listening to Alexander is way more interesting than that guy on Sixty Minutes. You ever notice how he leads the questions with the interviewee." Bennie's tongue pokes at the corner of her mouth. "Learning to bartend...but this book is crap. Doesn't even tell you how to make a Cobra Kai." Then, "You need a healer. Someone who can fix aches and pains you never even knew you had."

"Serial killers are fascinating," Alexander agrees, perking up visibly. His words don't get louder, but they get faster, shot out like bullets with his enthusiasm. "Although most are not as exciting as dramatic portrayals would have one believe. Yes, there are ritual and psychological elements to some serial murders, but most serial killers aren't geniuses or even particularly competent. They're difficult to catch, when they are, because they tend to target strangers. Most murders are intimate violence - even modern investigative techniques tend to falter when confronted with crimes where the unknown perpetrator and known victim have no intimate link. That, and territory. The wider a serial killer ranges, the more likely they are to continue to get away with crimes, because jurisdictions don't talk to each other, and crimes can be difficult to link. And, of course you can't discount--"

Other patrons are giving him Looks, which he finally seems to notice. His mouth shuts with a click, and he hunches in place, reaching for the beer. More quietly and slowly, he says, "But interdiction work sounds interesting, too." There's a nod of satisfaction as Joe confirms that they are friends. And he listens, then, with a grimace at the last. "They always make things worse. Dolorphages."

He spreads his hands. "I didn't really do it, but I know guys who got into things like the DEA after the military. The border....that's a fascinating silent war. Trying to stop trafficking...." A rueful smile for the mention of serial killers. "They're fascinating. How and why a given killer does what they do. Why someone kills strangers..."

Bennie's comment makes him look down at his drink. "Is that what I'm drinking?" he asks, a bit blankly. "I'd wondered. I ordered a Cuba Libre, but....." He shrugs. "Thought it tasted odd."

A bob of his head for Alexander. "Yeah, well, that's there MO. I didn't have anyone there who understood what was goin' on. I thought my mind was goin' 'cause of brain damage."

Bennie gets a fond little smile for her friend as he starts going on about serial killings, and even though it may be her job now to shut down things that would distress other customers, she doesn't seem inclined to do so. "I like the forensics. Figuring out how they did it. Not so much the why." She blinks owlishly at Joseph. "A Cubra Libre? Well. That changes things." And back her nose goes in the book, and surprise surprise, she's able to find THAT one.

"Law enforcement is a common post-military career," Alexander agrees, sounding just a little bit wistful. "But yes. They're fascinating." This time, he's careful not to launch into an enthusiastic lecture. There's a bob of his head at Bennie. "Forensics is also fascinating. Bennie is a paramedic," he tells Joseph. "And good at creating things. And waitressing. And many other things." His pride in his friend comes through, even if the whole byplay with the drinks seems to sore right over his head; it's a good bet that Alexander couldn't tell you what went into a screwdriver.

"Wearin' a lot of hats, huh?" Joe wonders, as he looks back to the blonde. "You got enough staff here, these days?" It's got to be hard, taking over management from the vanished Easton.

A nod for Alexander. "Yeah. It's one of the ....not easier in terms of absolute difficulty, but one of the career pipelines that link most directly to the military. I'm not surprised that's where Javier ended up, myself." He's still sipping from that drink, no sign of upset that it's nothing like what he requested.

Bennie glances over as Alexander lists her accolades, giving him a little wink and a smile that would be flirtatious were anyone not to know the pair. The look sobers though as she turns her gaze back to Joseph. "I'm actually thinking about quitting the station because I'm way over my head here. So if you're looking for a job, I can lend you my book? Tourist season. No better time to get your feet wet. Or drown. Good thing with that sexy southern drawl there'd be no shortage of customers lining up to give you mouth to mouth."

Alexander falls silent, looking from Joe to Bennie, and back again. The wink does tease a brief but sunny smile from the investigator, but soon his brow furrows. "Are you sure, Bennie? You don't have to take the bar, you know. I am happy to see you cutting down on the number of jobs, but...I got the impression you liked your medical work. You shouldn't give it up. If you like it." A glance back to Joe. "Neither am I," he adds, quietly. "Surprised."

Working again. In a dive bar in a little town on the opposite coast from where he did nearly all his real work. Joe shakes his head. "Nah," he says. "I like bein' retired, and I got enough money I don't need to work, not now. I wish you luck, though." With that, he's dropping both tab and tip on the bar, generous with the latter, and knocking back the rest of his drink. "Gotta head to bed, though, old men need their sleep."

Especially old men who count Ruiz as a lover.

"It's been a month, Alexander." Bennie responds softly, and then shrugs about her decision. "We'll see." A polite smile is given Joseph's way, "Well, good thing about retired men? Lots of time to drink. Thanks for your patronage!" She sweeps away the money he left, and that of Jeff's, putting the tab in the till and the tip in the jar to be divvied among staff at the end of shift. She fingers her hair back behind her ear, "You good here, Alexander? I should go check the delivery manifests. If any co-eds start hovering around you again, you can come hide with me in the office."

Alexander watches Joseph with that blank but intense stare. "I would like to ask you more questions, sometime." That's it. No 'goodbye' or 'have a nice night'. He does, after a moment, add, "You can ask me questions, too, if you want." And then he turns away and his attention returns firmly to Bennie. "It's been a month," he agrees. "But even if it is much longer than a month, you don't have to give up the things you love to keep this place running. And I don't mean close it. You can probably find a manager who can handle much of the day-to-day organization." Then he blinks. "Oh. Of course. I'm sorry. I should be heading home, anyway. There are a lot of people here." When it's 'just' the two of them in the sea of drinkers, his manner is less abrupt, his posture less tense and defensive. He smiles. "But I was glad to see you. I hoped I would. Don't die."

"Not an option. I'm far too busy for dying this week. Maybe next Tuesday between ten thirty eight and eleven thirty." And with that, Bennie reaches across the bar but stops shy of touching Alexander, only tapping her hand on bar twice before she slides it away to disappear into the back. As to the rest? Well, a topic for another day.