2021-02-20 - Tequila Makes His Clothes Stay On

Though no plans were officially set for the time, the place was pre-determined to be Seth's, so the enforcer is busy doing what Seth does when he expects a quest. He is cooking up enough food to feed a damned football team. So far laid out on the table in the entertainment section of the house are bowls of chips with a selection of dips, some bratwurst that has been grilled over charcoal, same shaved ham that seems hand carved off the bone instead of pre-sliced deli meat, and a variety of fixings that go along with it to make sandwiches. At the moment, he is working on what looks to be a charcuterie board of some sort with a variety of cheeses, nuts, and fruit. An open beer bottle sits on the counter next to him, something he sips at occasionally as he works.

Let's be honest here, it's the food. The promise of food. Abundances of food. Pshaw, don't be silly, it's not like an ex-confidence artist and a not-so-ex-hit man could become friends as an after-effect of a weed dispensary explosion. It's clearly about the food. Free food is the nemesis of any bachelor who never got around to learning how to cook. It's a miracle he doesn't bring his cat, too. The cat probably will leave hairballs in his bed out of spite because he didn't.

He's picked up a bottle of scotch because it's polite to bring something -- and heaven knows Seth is rarely short on food. Does Seth know he's about to get a backdoor guest who hopes for all the food? Nope. Will Seth mind? Probably not when the backdoor guest brings whiskey. Worst case scenario he'll open the door wrapped in Vic and very little else and eh, nothing Ravn hasn't seen before. In Vic's case, literally.

He knocks on the door, tote bag under one arm and waves to the security camera. Might as well reassure the man inside that he's unarmed.

It is always interesting when you are expecting one person, but then someone totally unexpected knocks on the door. The curious arched brow of the enforcer as he glances at the video screen expresses his surprise as he tosses the bar towel over his shoulder and makes his way to the door to answer it, "Ravn? I wasn't expecting you. It's a good thing I tend to over-prepare," Seth says with a chuckle as he stands aside for the Dane to walk inside. "Come on in. Food is in the usual place, and I'll grab some glasses for the whiskey. What brings you by?
Did you get 'food sense' that has been developed to fine degree over your years of freeloading?" the enforcer says with an obviously joking grin. "Help yourself."

"How do you think the noble houses of Europe can afford their mansions? It's not by spending money on food." Ravn cracks a half-smile and trots inside. "Joking, by the way. I was just feeling -- like I haven't had a drink properly since I came out of hospital, and if I have it here, at least I'll not get mugged in the alley behind the Poorhouse. Wake up on your couch with eleventy billion dicks sharpied on my face, sure. How's things? Vic still grumpy about the whole getting shot thing too?"

"Oh please, I couldn't have been any more than 10 billion dicks. Your head isn't that big." Seth grins, "She's recovering," hechuckles, closing the door behind the Dane and moving back towards the kitchen to continue his prep work. "I don't think she is ever going to be happy about it, but since she is out of the hospital she is doing much better. Taking it easy, like we all should be doing."

The enforcer reaches into a cabinet and pulls down two tumbler glasses, sliding them across the bartop toward Ravn with a little flick of his wrist. "How about you? You holding up ok?"

"Doing a hell of a lot better than I should be, considering my injuries. The one great thing about this place -- we get to cheat medical science with magic." Ravn nods and places the bottle on the nearest table, tote bag and all, before he pads after. Is he any use in a kitchen? Nope. At least he knows to stay in the door and not be in the way. And he can be handed things, like, take this, Ravn, put it on the table, Ravn, don't drop it, Ravn.

"How about -- work? Your other job, the one that you don't report to the IRS. Things quiet?" Ravn quirks an eyebrow. "Or maybe I should say, things back to normal?"

"As normal as they get," Seth says with a roll of his shoulder. "I haven't been working in that regard since everything went down, anyway. I should probably at least touch base with Joey and see how he is doing, how he is healing, and all that, but sometimes I think I avoid it. No news is good news and all that, and if I go there is always the possibility of new news and sometimes I like the quiet."

Seth smirks and finishes up the charcuterie board, taking it over to the ever-growing pile of munchables that are starting to fill the small table. "Feel free to open the bottle and pour a drink."

Ravn does so. Glasses get filled with liquid golden fire. He's brought a good quality brand -- nothing so fancy you need to be introduced to it formally first, but definitely too good to muck up with coffee and whipped cream. He raises his glass. "Cheers, then."

It's good. Burns just the way it should, and then snuggles the palate like a red-headed Scottish lover (but with less swearing). The Dane savours the taste a moment and then looks at Seth. "I kind of need to talk to you sort of off the record about something. Do you know Ignacio de Santos? Spanish writer, from New York. Old friend of Rosencrantz'. The Revisionist has kind of dubbed him 'the Mr Rogers of Gray Harbor'. We've talked about -- taking advantage of that. Hell, it's a business proposal six miles long." He sighs and takes a breath. "Clayton's files made one thing clear to me: The Veil eats homeless people, mentally ill people, drifters -- like cereal. People like you and me, we notice if each other go missing. Some random bum in a cardboard box? Not so. We are... we have an opportunity to strike back where it might actually make a difference."

"Wait, what?" Seth says, the topic of conversation taking a quick turn he wasn't expecting and throwing him mentally for a loop for a moment. "Say that again, slower, and now that you have my attention. I don't know any Santos, no." Seth puts down the knife he had picked up, and moves over closer towards Ravn, "You remind me that I need to go check up on Dan. Nova was talking about having some nightmares that sounded eerily familiar in the setting. I can't be sure, but I need to make sure."

"Dan was who got me thinking along this path in the first place. Long story short, Seth -- the things that Clayton calls dolorphages, they groom assholes like Dan. Their anathema is altruism -- they can't handle it, they can't cope with it, they've tried to murder de Santos several times because he's basically this glowy ball of bloody nice. We want to try to do a community centre -- thing -- something. This is where you come in. Kelly? Already works with troubled kids. He'll be on board. But your cousin -- we need to know if we can somehow make him stay out of it. Can't do this if people down on their luck get recruited to drug running or prostitution next. Or, if they do, at least they need to be treated like people. You follow?" Ravn cants his head. "I need you on board. I know getting Kelly won't be difficult. I'll hold his dog hostage."

There is a roar of an engine nearby and moments later a rhythmic knock at the door of Seth's place. Standing on the porch in a Virgin Mary crop top, snug black hoodie that is mostly unzipped, a pair of lowrider jeans, and some fur boots in Nova Nazario. Her hood is pulled onto her head to keep her ears from the cold. A strange thing considering the rest of her outfit did nothing to combat the weather. Her galaxy Nissian has been parked off the curb. A large paper bag is clutched in one hand, the other in a hoodie pocket. She has a full face of makeup with thick liner and lashes, a sure sign she came to party. They hadn't specified a time so she tried not to be too early or late.

Seth looks like he is about to answer Ravn, but then there is a knock at the door. "Hold that thought." the enforcer says as he strolls over towards the door, taking a quick peek through the peephole before he opens it fully. "Speak of the devil, and she does appear. Hey Nova, come on in. Ravn's here, he just showed up with a bottle of whiskey and a smile. Hope you don't mind."

The Dane sips his whiskey, blissfully ignorant of the latina shitstorm that's about to blow into his life. Who knows? Maybe fate will be a little kinder to him this time. At least he's not as badly out of his element as he was at the Platinum where it was painfully obvious he had no idea of how to comport himself in a strip club.

Nova's expression falters as she enters and see's the Dane. She wasn't the best at hiding how she felt and what she felt was disappointment. Full lips give a smile to Seth as she leans in and gives him a one armed hug. An upnod is then given in Ravn's direction with less enthusiasm. "It's your casa." She says simply with a shrug. Seth had told her not to get whiskey, yet here was that mildly annoying copper blonde with a bottle. Her hood is lowered and she notices the food. Tilting her head to Ravn again she looks at Seth with a hint of sarcasm. "All this for him?"

"Nada," Seth explains with a shrug as he closes the door behind Nova and makes his way back into the room, "You actually. I like to cook and I overcompensate. I didn't know he was coming over till he showed up. The smell must have lured him in." He makes his way back over to the counter to lean against it, folding his arms over his chest. "He was just telling me of some idea he had to battle Them, and I was telling him about some of what you told me in regards to the ugliness you were telling me about. I still need to go visit Dan again."

Seth looks over at Ravn, rolling his shoulder, "Don't make it attractive to Felix, and Felix won't want a piece. If he starts to sniff at it, and I find out, I will try and keep him away from it though. I can't promise anything."

"Never a good idea to make promises one can't keep anyway. Appreciate it, Seth." The Dane upnods back at Nova over the rim of his whiskey tumbler. "Hey there. Please don't stab me today, either."

"He cooks." She says with approval toward the spread. She reaches forward and grabs a piece of cheese, popping it delicately in her mouth and smiling. Nova sets the bottle near the enforcer on the counter. Removing it from it's brown paper, it is a tall glass container of Don Julio 1942, something she makes sure to accidentally brush past Seth. The show was more notably for the Dane in a 'This is not for you' way.

"Don't give me a reason to want to stab you then." Nova says plainly back. The lack of humor made this questionably serious in nature. Standing between the two she motions to the food and booze. "Today is not for solving problems and being sad ya? Today is for enjoying a slice of time." One thick set of lashes winks toward the larger man. "Got a lime Papi?"

Seth can't help but chuckle at the obvious animosity between Ravn and Nova, well mostly Nova, acknowledging it with an amusing shake of his head. "Yeah, I'll grab one from the kitchen," he confirms as he makes his way past Nova in order to move around her towards the kitchen. "The shot glasses are in the top cabinet of the bar, and there is salt on the table if you need it."

The arrival of Nova and her declaration seems to shift the mood into something a little less heavy as the mood of the enforcer seems to lighten almost immediately, "Feel free to help yourselves to the spread. Me casa es su casa and all that." As far as any stabbings that may or may not occur, Seth is leaving that all up to the fates it seems, since he doesn't mention that particular 'rule'. "Aside from what is laid out, can I get anyone anything?"

"I think we covered what I needed to talk to you about," Ravn tells the enforcer. "If the two of you have some kind of date night scheduled, I should probably be on my way. Same applies if it's business. Discretion is a virtue and all that." Might not be dancing business he's referring to there.

When Seth moves past her, Nova looks directly into Ravn’s eyes. Her mouth isn’t moving, yet her voice is clear. <<I promised him I would give you a chance. So that’s what I’m doing. Play nice and so will I. That means you are getting hella drunk staying here.>>

Nova follows Seth to the kitchen, without waiting for Ravn’s reaction. If anything that leaves more of an impact. Fierce woman telling you that you will get drunk by barging into your brain. “Nah, it’s fine. I’ll wait to call it that until he takes me out.” Nova says aloud and laughs. When handed a lime, she begins to slice it expertly.

Heaven only knows what causes Ravn to startle and drop his glass. Nothing happened, unless you consider a woman walking past you to be life threatening. She only glanced at him. There were certainly no knives involved, not even a fingernail drawn across throat gesture behind Seth's back.

Such a waste of good whiskey too.

"Please... Don't do that," he murmurs. And looks around for a dish rag or pack of paper towels. There's whiskey on the floor, daddy-o.

Seth laughs, "And I told you that I am already somewhat attached...which to be fair you said you didn't care." Seth rolls his shoulder as he maneuvers around his kitchen, pulling down a trio of shot glasses and sliding them up onto the bar, along with the salt. "Anyone want to add some fresh jalapeno? Usually, I save it for a margarita but I have the feeling we are forgoing the sour mix and just hitting things straight."

Then Ravn is dropping shit all over his floor and Seth arches a brow, tossing the Dane a bar towel from the rack in front of him. "Careful butterfingers. Did the glass break? Do I need to pull out the broom, or is the towel sufficient?"

Was the glass broken? To absolute smithereens. Nova does her best to hide a snicker, which hopefully could be seen as her simply finding Ravn's 'misfortune' comical. Stepping away from the lime, she looks about for a broom to help with the mess. Nova's movements are graceful in nature as she then bends down and places the dustpan near the mess, beginning to brush shattered glass into it. "I am all about that picante." She smiles to her host. Spiced Margaritas were her favorite drink in the world, but she agreed with his assessment.

She stands, snapping up easily from a crouch, disposing of the booze covered shard in a trash can. "I think we gotta have two to catch up with your friend." Nova teases at Seth.

"The last woman who went 'play nice and so will I' at me is dead," Ravn says matter-of-factly. "Had her heart ripped out of her chest and her eyes removed with a fork. It was not a pretty sight, and I'm not over it. You reminded me of her. Thankfully you don't look any like her."

He kneels down to wipe the spilled whiskey off the floor with the paper towels. "I believe I've already apologised to you once for talking in a way that made you think I was an undercover cop. I'm still not an undercover cop."

Looking between Ravn and Nova Seth just kind of arches a brow at the banter between the two of them. "I'm not sure I know what is going on between you two, but I don't think it is anything a good stiff drink can't fix. Behave, or I will say they have to be body shots between the two of you just to get you over whatever..." he says moving his fingers back and forth between Ravn and Nova, "...this is."

Seth cuts up the jalapeno into little round slices, pops a couple into each of the shot glasses, and then passes the glasses over to Nova, "If you would be so kind as to do the honors?"

Nova gives Ravn an odd look, her own sculpted brow raised. Half of her wanted to mention she could look like his ex given her specialty in illusions, but she didn't think he would find that funny. Instead she just jerks her head from Ravn toward the shots, yes she was sharing. She then turns her look of interest to the redhead, "Promise you'll watch the whole time?" She asks him. Nova did not kid when she had stated she had no intentions of backing off, Seth seemed to enjoy that well enough.

When all were gathered at the counter Nova raises her glass in cheers, "Salud!" She downs then shot, and begins to suck on the slices of pepper, humming with pleasure. A smile comes to her face. She could drink like a fish so these boys better be ready to keep up.

"Promise I will leave when either of you start to undress," Ravn murmurs drily and reaches for his glass.

Seth laughs, mostly at Ravn and his discomfort. "I have no intentions of undressing, Ravn. I think you are safe," the enforcer says as he picks up his own glass, lifting it in a salute and tossing it back without question. He chews on the slivers of pepper in the glass, letting the capsaicin coat his mouth for the added heat. "I'm a trained watcher. You would be shocked at the things I have seen, Nova. You aren't going to get me to falter."

The lightly tanned women's smile only widens at this as she pours another round of shots. Passing Ravn a newly filled shot glass, she pokes her bottom lip out. "Some people pay good money to see me take my clothes off." Her tone is mock pain. "It would be a favor if I was desnuda for you." Then she is giggling again.

"Well, pretty sure unwritten rules say we gotta drink till the last person doesn't think things are awkward, so better keep the bottle in reach." Her plump and glossy lower lip is bitten in Seth's direction.

"You're assuming that I want to see you naked." Ravn sips his shot; he seems to be in no hurry to toss it down the hatch quickly. "Sorry, it's not a priority. Naked women tend to just make me uncomfortable. Don't know what to say to them, don't understand why they'd put everything out there for some random stranger to stare at. But then, what I don't know about women could probably be the subject of somebody's PhD."

"I am sure you naked would be a sight to behold, and maybe someday I will take a trip over to the club and catch your act...but I don't think in the middle of my living room is probably the best place for that," smirks Seth with a chuckle as he slides his glass over for a refill. "Vic probably wouldn't care and would just roll her eyes, but I am not about to take that chance. I don't really relish the thought of any more lead passing through my body than already has. Now if you and Ravn want to get naked, well, far be it for me to deny that bit of tomfoolery."

"If she's not your girlfriend I don't see why you can't have your cake and strip it too." Nova shrugs and takes her second shot. "Always more fun if you use your hands." She adds,snagging a piece of jalapeno. Challenging eyes move to Ravn, there is some sincerity mixed in. "Finish that shot and say you'll keep an open mind, and I will tell you why I do it." Seth had mentioned something about Ravn having a curious academic mind, she hoped to play to his desire to understand things.

"You'll tell me if you want to tell me, and if you don't, you won't." Ravn is drinking. Just not quite at breakneck speed. Might simply be that tequila is not his usual choice. "Either way you don't owe an explanation to me or anyone else. Want to talk about it, be my guest."

He glances to Seth. "I'm not big on that sort of thing. Neuropathy, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. No Lap dances for Ravn," says Seth with a sad shake of his head. "I guess you will just have to get a stunt cock. No, I am not volunteering."

Seth lets out a laugh and takes the refilled shot, downing that one as well before sliding it back towards Nova. "Seriously though, I'm sorry you go through that. It's gotta really suck to have it be so difficult to be intimate with someone."

Nova officially has no understanding of how these two beings are friends. Her eyes trail from the empty shot glass that had been moved towards her to the first still in Ravn's hand. "Two main reasons," sh states, holding up two fingers in a peace sign. "First, is, the more powerful you are with weird shit, the worse it is." Her head moves towards Seth, dark hair spilling down her shoulder. "Your amigo found me on a pretty bad day, I owe him. Hard to hold a lotta jobs or go through school if you can't sleep or focus. You got dealing, or stripping, I chose stripping." She fills two of the glasses again, obviously that part was not her favorite to admit out loud, but she was doing her best to be sincere.

The third shot is knocked back as she pauses, licking her lips and thinking. "Numero dos, you get to experience what it is like to be art. The club is un museo, people beg for a chance to be able to look at the most beautiful or interesante piece. They want desperately to forget the bad shit and be apart of that. Owner of that art. In their minds, they are for as long as they can pay." She is unzipping her hoodie and tying it around her waist.

Ravn offers a small, lopsided smile at that; it's probably meant to be -- if not polite, then at least not condescending. "Can't say I have the first idea what that's like. Sounds like a rough choice. But if stripping makes you feel validated and the money's decent, why not? Rent doesn't pay itself."

He pauses and then adds, "I don't have the kind of shine most of you people do. Can't relate on that one at all, sorry. Barring the occasional chatty ghost my home life is pretty dull."

"Yeah. Same." Says Seth, nodding in agreement with Ravn as he notes his own lack of shine. He doesn't glow nearly as bright as others, and certainly not as bright as Nova in all her blinding brilliance. "Baring a pregnant toad, some gremlins, or a few of Santa's elves I have had it relatively easy in that regard. Of course, now that I have said that I have probably totally fucked myself."

Seth slams back the third shot and slides the shot glass back over towards Nova. "I'm with him. If it pays well, you get no issue from me. Hell, I can't talk about career choices. I've got zero stones to throw. Zero."

She looks curiously toward Seth, lips curling. “This what you wouldn’t tell me?” Nova snickers and gives pause to the influx of alcohol, long enough for some anxiety talking about her career choice to dissipate.

“You don’t have to do the tequila!” She says to Ravn with a grin. “Also power has its ups. I can fuck with memory, make people see beautiful illusions, feel what other people feel or vice versa.” She glances at Seth, “You patching bullet holes? Not gonna be far off me soon.”

Whether that was a promise or a threat, she made it a whole two minutes sans booze. Another round for her and the enforcer is poured.

"You've got considerably more juice than I have," Ravn points out -- in accordance with the truth. Seth ain't no Nova, but Ravn ain't no Seth. On the fluid scale from bending a spoon to world dominance he's at ... well, he can probably bend the spoon faster than Uri Geller, at least.

He downs the shot at last and nods, reaching for the whiskey bottle instead. "Never got really good with tequila," he admits. "Where I'm from it's -- popular enough, but it's also got a kind of frat boy feel to it. Never really got used to drinking a lot of it, and certainly not fast. Mostly because I've never been a frat boy."

Whiskey at least the Dane can knock back like it's apple juice. "Someone showed me an illusion once. A pod of humpback whales off the coast, singing to each other in the depths. I know it wasn't real, but it was beautiful."

"I told you. I'm a bouncer. It isn't exactly the most glamorous of job choices you know, I make my living kicking the crap out of people that misbehave. Well that, and doing the light rigs for the dance floor." Seth says with a shrug of his shoulder as he downs the next shot that is handed over to him without much fanfare. "You get naked, I bust heads, Ravn...teaches? Why do I hang out with you?" Seth jokes.

“Bet you still look hot ‘busting heads’.” Fourth shot down. She bites into a nearby slice of lime with her teeth, sucking in the juice. “Might as well make a game out of this. C’mon Ravn, you gotta know something fun to do.”

Nova had smiled at the whales bit. Weird share but okay. She had mostly planned to spend the day staring at Seth, but that obviously made Ravn uncomfortable. The athletic woman had a pretty one track mind when there was something she wanted, trying to curb that? Not her strong suit.

"Sorry. I don't fight, and I don't chase skirts. Very boring." Ravn shrugs lightly. "You know what I do, though? Cold reading."

"Cold reading? What is that?" the enforcer asks as he picks up the next shot, sliding the liquid down his throat slower than the previous ones, but fast enough to still be considered a shot. "I mean, I know what you used to do, but I have never heard that be called a cold read before, but I may not be all up on that lingo," Seth admits.

He looks over towards Nova, and his now empty glass which he slides over her way, "This stuff is not for the weak, is it?"

Nova looks up at the ceiling and then back to the copper haired Dane. You can damn near see the wheels in her head turning. "I think I saw that on TV, it's like knowing what people are about just by looking at um?" She seems to desire validation from him, almost pleading for him to tell her if she did something right.

With Seth near her side, the confident, coy facade returns. "No, but neither of us are, so that's what makes it agradable. B'sides you are the one who told me I could come over with this bottle to your place." A hand twirls her hair to one shoulder, spiraling it as she goes. Hazel eyes look him up and down with the same appraising look she had given him the other day. Then she remembers Ravn.

"Do me?" She says this ambiguously to tease him, but part of her wants to see what he can 'read' about her.

"Lady's right. Cold reading means paying careful attention to what people say -- and what they don't say. Add a few well thought out questions and you've got most TV psychics down pat." Ravn nods at Nova; she's entirely right, and it is is a scam.

He pretends to not get the innuendo; oblivious Dane can be very oblivious when he wants to. Instead, he looks at Nova as if he's watching her for the first time -- which is definitely not the case -- and then says, "Do you want me to tell you what I actually read? Or do I smile and tell you that you're a talented young woman who's seen some hard times and been faced with some unique challenges, but with the help of close friends in unexpected places, you'll pull through and realise your full potential?"

"Don't bullshit her," Seth says with chuckle. "She asked for it, give it to the lady. Something tells me she isn't the type to want people to pussyfoot around."

The enforcer stifles a yawn behind his hand and pushes off the counter and moves over to the table with the food on it, setting up a plate for himself. "Though I would watch how you phrase things, she also seems like the type of lady that will break your dick off if you piss her off. So...tred lightly?"

So far, the brawn was doing better than the brain at nailing her down. Nova follows Seth’s lead and also grabs a little bit of food, probably more than one would expect until they thought through the fact she specializes in pole dancing. Only one of them had gotten a peak at that anyway.

“I don’t like bull and I can figure out if you lie anyway.” This is given with a look between the two. Fingers that had picked up a piece of meat are licked one at a time in a practiced way. “You gotta tell me bout Seth too though.” She adds with a giggle. The first shot was starting to seep in.

Ravn tosses the whiskey down and refills his glass before looking back at them both. For all of his cheeky jokes about following anybody home who will feed him, the Dane has yet to actually secure anything edible for himself. "You want to fuck him," he says bluntly. "You're going to make sure that he knows it, but you're also going to take no for an answer, if that's what you get -- though you'll rib him about missing out. You feel a connection to him that's not simply about getting laid or making a good impression on someone who might prove useful later. You're hoping I'll take the hint and bugger off soon -- nothing personal much, but you weren't planning for a threesome. You expect me to snub you like the privileged white boy academic I am, and you're ready to stab me with the nearest fork when I do. You like being in charge, but you're off your base. At a guess, the big guy here helped you out or held your hair at a bad time, and you think he might just be somebody decent in a world full of shitty assholes who pay you to let them treat you like meat at a butcher's."

He sips the whiskey and then looks at Seth. "He'll be harder because I know him. Difficult to keep observation from knowledge."

For Seth's part he just watches the pair with interest almost as if this was some sort of mental tennis match, his eyes focused like a hawk on Nova for signs of reaction as Ravn serves his cold read, ready to step in if he sees any trouble brewing on Nova's return.

Nova's jaw drops just as she is about to take another bite of delicious prepared snackage. The meat hovering inches from her lips, she sets it back on her plate, and then puts the plate on the counter. Her head moves up and down with slow approval. "Okay." She says simply. One hand goes to her hip and she puts her weight against the counter. "If you plan on maybe not snubbing nobody, I wouldn't hate you staying." Now it's Ravn she looks up and down, in a less hungry manner mind you. "I'm not gonna stop being a flirt though." It was probable she just meant in general. She then looks from the enforcer to the shot glasses. "You can just tell me whatever about him then, gotta make it just as adverso." It was for the better she had been drinking, Nova tended to take more in stride that way.

Moving to the glasses, because she was too sober for this level of woke, Nova offers the 'white boy academic' a daring look. "I also paint cars, you missed that part." This was a joke as there would be no real way to read that from someone.

Ravn offers a lopsided smile. "You don't have car paint on your hands. There was no way for me to tell." He glances at Seth. "Like I said -- it's harder because I know him. Almost impossible to not interpret what I know to match what I see. I can tell you what I thought the first time I met him at the Twofer though, maybe that'll put us on more equal footing."

He sips his whiskey. "Strong man. Easy going but not easily impressed. Has been around, has seen things. Walks in that way that says, I know what a gym is, and I know how to punch you where it hurts. Confidence of someone who wouldn't think twice of doing it if he felt he had a reason. Laid back, not there to pick a fight, but he'd certainly end one. And at the same time, insecure. Man with a secret, got things in his baggage he's not proud of and he doesn't walk to talk about. Sense of humour, uses it like a shield. The kind of man whom I'd think twice about pulling a fast one on because somebody sharp and experienced is dangerous. But also someone who's pretty lonely and wouldn't mind getting to know the locals, maybe find a companion or two who knows what it's like -- whatever it is."

The Dane hitches a shoulder. "Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong. No one's perfect at this. But you get enough to go on that if you want to, you can ask some leading questions. Or stay the hell away from someone if they look like they're going to be entirely too much trouble. Usually best to not talk about it, because no one likes to be reminded how much we give away with our choice of words, our tone, the way we move. Enough of a party trick?"

Seth reamains quiet, a smirk on his face that he tries to hide by taking another shot. With the shot gone, he sets the glass down and slides it over towards Nova, "Well, to be fair even I could have read that much...well maybe all of it but the taking no for an answer part. You may be many things, Nova, but subtle is not one of them."

The enforcer smiles genuinely enough, "Trust me, if I didn't feel attached to someone already I wouldn't hesitate. I have no doubts you would be a spitfire and could probably teach me a thing or two," Seth says with a chuckle as he pops another morsel of food into his mouth, "But by all means, continue to flirt. There is no harm in that."

As Ravn read him though, Seth's arms move up to fold over his chest in an almost protective maneuver as the Dane rambles off what happens to be more true than not. "Touche," he retorts to the Danish mind reader. "My first thought about you is what kind if idiot bartender doesn't know what a 'neat' drink is." Seth smirks, and tosses a cube of cheese over at the man. "I'm just glad you took the ribbing in stride."

"So now you gonna tell me about you or what?" She fills what had been slid along her way and takes it easily. Five should be enough for a solid buzz. Most of what information was given on Seth was in the already known category. Nova arches, stretching her arms out and picks a piece of food from the redheads plate, despite having one of her own. "I think he got that part wrong too." She winks in his direction.

"You make it sound like your engaged ya'know. I had fun with a couple people at once. Nothings that serious. People are attractive, sex is fun. I just don't get to whole being someone's collared bitch thing." She tilts her head and winces. "Not that you a bitch though, I was more talking about me." Oof, nice Nova.

"That'd be an amateur bartender who's not familiar with the American terms, yeah." Ravn chuckles and catches the cheese with the ease and spatial awareness of a mover. "Cold reading is pure observation. There's nothing magical to it. I leave the real magic to people like you two. I'm just a professional fraud -- or former fraud, anyhow."

He glances at Nova and arches an eyebrow. "Am I going to tell you about me? I can't read myself. If you think I know Seth too well, imagine what it's like trying it on yourself. Ask if there's anything about me that you want to know, I suppose. I'm a pretty straight forward guy, not much to hide."

Seth chuckling as Nova make herself at home and steals off of his plate, Seth rolls a shoulder into a shrug and looks at her, "And that very well may be the case with Vic and I. But it isn't something I want to assume one way and then find out differently, ya know? Better to be safe than sorry. And the truth is, on my end I wouldn't mind us being a thing, so I don't want to do something to fuck that up. But if it's made clear that what we are is not an exclusive thing, then I'll let you know. We have never really have had that discussion."

Picking up the bottle, Seth pours himself another shot and slips a few of the pepper slices into the shot glass, "Or supply me with enough of this and eventually I might cease to care, or I'll pass out. Whichever comes first."

Seth looks over at Ravn, and chuckles. "He is. Wears his heart on his sleeve. Good guy, I don't know why he hangs out with me."

“I don’t even know what normal people talk about.” Nova says slipping her shoes off. She swings herself up onto the counter, sitting cross legged. Resting her elbows on her knees, she folds her hands with her chin sitting atop. “When you running outside the law you talk the hustle right? At the club you talk sex. With Rekani it’s music or cars. I don’t have to many like other things I talk to people about.”

She laughs to Seth. She wouldn’t mind. Nova inhales and the exhales slowly. Seth has been much easier for her to just talk to. This Ravn guy was weird.

The smile Ravn offers over the edge of his whiskey glass is lopsided and amused, and perhaps a little wry. "I'm normal people now? I suppose I'm a law abiding citizen these days. Don't feel you can't talk shop around me, I think I've probably heard most of it before."

"There ain't anyone normal here," Seth chuckles to Nova, leaning against the counter next to her. "Ravn has enough of a past he can talk the hustle, I can't speak for him on the sex thing, but I'm pretty sure he isn't a virgin so he can probably keep up. Cars, well, that might be out of his element. Me, I'm good with all three."

Seth eyes the bottle of tequila and reaches out for it, scooping it up into his hand and measuring how much is left. "I think we killed half of this, it not more. I also might be a little bit tipsy." the enforcer says with a chuckle. "I am going to have one hell of a fuckin' headache later. Hey, Ravn, how much you want to bet Kelly calls me foe something while I am all fucked up. Would't that just be my luck?"

"Who is Kelley?" Nova asks, snatching more food from her claimed territory, sitting straight backed once more. "And what kinda hustle?" Nothing on Seth's current state has been said yet, she doesn't want to dissuade him from drinking. She was good with hangovers anyhow so just more reason for him to call her.

Typically by now she'd by on to illusion shit, but she didn't know if the muscular man counted that as off limits. She wouldn't actually have to touch him...Oh right, playing nice. At least this stuff she said was normal. Part of her wondered how many more shots before her emotions just started to leak into the other's consciousness...that could be a problem.

Is Seth wearing a kilt? Or does Vic have another sort of radar? The sort that goes off if someone is horning in on the enforcer's territory? The front door opens, because she has a key, and the tall blonde comes in with an armload of grocery bags. ""Hey babe! I stopped by the Safeway on my way home and thought I'd replace your pizza rol....zuh." The latter trails off as she sees the food spread, booze, and people. Ravn she's used to finding here, the other woman? Not. "Who the fuck are you?" she asks flatly to Nova. Her eyes are flinty cold blue as the focus hard on the stranger. Reyes has created paranoia.

"Every time I tell people I used to be a boardwalk hustler they tell me that in American English, a hustler is a male prostitute," Ravn supplies helpfully and tops up his glass from the whiskey bottle. "I stopped using the term after Hyacinth Addington of all people asked me if I used to be one."

He glances at Seth. "It's Gray Harbor. Be glad if Cthulhu doesn't call you while you're fucked up, man."

There's noise and a familiar voice in the hallway and the Dane looks up in just in time to see Vic -- and the expression in her eyes. He doesn't need years of cold reading experience to sort this one out. The proverbial ball of manure is in mid-flight, heading for destination windmill at maximum velocity.

He's suddenly glad that he's not in any fashion involved with anyone in town in a sexual or romantic capacity. Closest thing to being involved, as far as Ravn is concerned, is Captain de la Vega starting the joke that he and Itzhak Rosencrantz are straight boyfriends. The Dane falls quiet, looking from one woman to the other, and then glancing to Seth. If they start fighting over you, that look says, can we at least make a jell-o pit?

"Hey babe!" Seth says as he sets eyes on Vic, a grin forming on his face as he pours a slips some slivers of jalapeno into a tequila shot and brings it over to her. "Let me trade you, shot for an armload of groceries," he says as he forces the shot glass into Vic's hand as he takes the bags from her arms.

If Seth was doing anything inappropriate in his eyes, he doesn't show it as he just continues on talking like nothing weird is going on here at all. "That's Nova, she's a dancer over at the Cabaret. She is into cars and busting Ravn's balls. You both have that in common at least," the enforcer grins. "I met her the other day while I was out jogging and helped her out, and she was just repaying the kindness with a bottle of tequila. Come say hi! Ravn was just doing some cold reads on us, I bet he would love to do one on you right now, wouldn't you Ravn?"

Seth takes the bags of groceries and slips them onto the counter, rummaging through them to see if there is anything he wants to bolster the already ridiculous amount of food with, like aforementioned pizza rolls. "Nova, this is Vic. She is who I was telling you about."

Nova waves, but does not move from the counter. The aggressive way in which she had been greeted did not make her want to run over and give Vic a hug, you would have though the two were married from that reaction. Her eyes move from Seth to the blonde and back again. Her head turns to Ravn. "You smoke weed?" She was mostly hoping that yes was the answer, it seemed Seth had a conversation he needed to have.

The discomfort did not come from a fear of standing her ground, especially in a fight. This was more an instance of someone needing to sort their life out. She could be a mad dog when she wanted to be, but the enforcer didn't seem to be sticking to his guns of not minding something open or closed, just a weird no mans land.

Nova reaches over and pours herself what is possibly a 'for the road' shot, swigging it and waiting for Ravn's answer.

"Uh huh. Funny you've never mentioned her before," she notes to Seth with a smirk. She goes about putting groceries away, her posture coiled tightly, ready to spring. "Or that she was coming over. With booze." She gives Ravn a look as if to ask him if he knew about this. "Don't worry, I'll get out of your hair in a second. I wouldn't want to interrupt a hot date with a dancer." Oh yeah, she may have insisted on not labeling things, but apparently she misjudged just how she would feel about Seth acting on that label-less-ness.

Vic's look prompts Ravn to shake his head. "I just came by to talk shop. I'm so far removed from the dating scene in this town I don't even know where it is." He glances to Nova. "I smoke, but not regularly. Right now though? Maybe now would be a great time for you and I to go hate each other somewhere else."

Seth can't help but let a little twitch of a smile form on his upper lip as Vic, the one who wanted the label-less-ness in the first place shows the clear cut signs of some possessive jealousy. Vic said it once before, sometimes a little jealousy can be hot. "It's hard to mention her when I haven't seen you since it was just yesterday when I almost ran over her. As far as letting you know she was coming over with booze, I didn't think I needed to? She just brought the tequila over as a thank you." Any other possible reasons Nova may or may not have had in coming over are not mentioned, no need to stoke whatever fire is burning.

The enforcer shrugs, giving Ravn a look before he starts to help with the groceries. "Ravn just stopped by around the same time, with a bottle of whiskey. I seem to be popular with people bringing me booze today, but you don't need to go anywhere, Vic. Stay, have a drink, enjoy some food. I always make to much when I end up entertaining anyway and I would hate to see it just get tossed." As if to prove that point he snags the pizza rolls and starts to preheat the over, because what this party needs is more food.

The mention of weed causes Seth to look up and chuckle even though the question wasn't directed his way, "I don't, no, I got my fill a few weeks ago." Magical weed clouds. Whee.

Nova gives a little thumbs up to Ravn. For the first time since meeting they seemed to be on the same page. "Naw I get it, dancer is about on the same level as maid right? I'll just take out the trash Mami." She shakes her head at Seth in a small disappointed way. Her fingers point at the bottle of booze in Ravn's hand and gives another thumbs up. She is already putting on her shoes. This lady reeked of cop to her anyhow, shame, she'd be prettier if she smiled.

Vic gives Seth a look that speaks volumes. Whether she is angrier with him or herself is up for debate. She doesn’t rise to Nova’s bait, but she gives the woman a steely look that seems to say she isn’t buying what the dancer is selling. She continues putting away groceries with her jaw clenched in silence.

"I'll see you around," Ravn says to Seth and Vic as he pulls his wind breaker on. "Don't kill each other, right? We got plenty things trying to kill us as is. Text me later if either of you need to talk."

Is the Dane fleeing the sinking ship along with the other rats? He absolutely is. Always one to stay the hell out of other people's complications if at all possible (see entries: Bennie Oakes, Easton Marshall) he has no intention of trying to sort this mess out, either. People get together. People get hurt. People still do it. He doesn't know where the proverbial dating scene is, mostly because he's done nothing to try to find out.

Seth has the audacity to actually look confused at the anger that is coming his way from Vic. At least Nova's disappointment he understands, even if he did tell her he was attached and made the choice to still test those waters, but Vic's anger is confusing him in more ways than one.

"Yeah, sure..." Seth responds to Ravn, a helpless look crossing over his face as he glances over to the Dane in an almost silent pled to take him along. Not much scares the big man, but an angry Vic may be at the top of that list. "I'll get in touch, and as I mentioned earlier I will do my best to keep my cousin out of your thing. Just don't make it look attractive to someone like him, and you should be ok." He looks to Nova with an apologetic look and smile before lifting his hand in a departing wave. "Thanks for coming by. I appreciate the gesture and the tequila," he says as he slides the rest of the bottle over her way, "I'll see ya around, Nova."

Seth turns his attention towards VIc again, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as he preps for the fun that is about to come his way. "Ok. Have at it," he tells the other enforcer, folding his arms over his chest. "We doing this here in the bedroom, down at the range, or in the ring at the gym?"