2021-06-07 - A Historian, an ADA, and an Enforcer Walk Into a Bar

The Two if By Sea is not Ravn Abildgaard's first choice of a watering hole. Not that he's got anything against the place -- he used to work here, he knows to not expect health and safety violations, or expect poor service. It's more that working in a tourist place with a bit of ambition is one thing -- and going there on your own time is another. He's the dive bar with sand on the floor kind of patron but with a storm coming in any time now and his boat about to get pulled right out of the water come morning, well -- let's just say he wants a stiff drink and he wants it somewhere from where he can see that damn boat, right out there. TiBS overlooks the beach and the marina and hence, today, TiBS will have to do.

He picks a spot on the deck because even in the US there's still no law against smoking outdoors and settles by one of the firepits with a glass of a scotch that matches his usual request -- legal in Kentucky, whatever that's actually supposed to mean. Top shelf and pricey, if nothing else. The deck comes with the added bonus that most tourists and yachters come up for a meal will be seated indoors -- and while Ravn likes people, he's not particularly fond of children.

Seth comes in looking for his other, and some would say better, half. Vic was supposed to be working her shift tonight, so it comes as a surprise when the enforcer doesn't find his partner standing behind the bar giving some drunk tourist a huge helping of stink eye, and a overflowing mug of 'shut the fuck up'.

What he does spot, however, is a certain Dane. Gathering a drink from the bar, he ventures out towards the smoking historian. "Why am I always running into you, Darth? I would think you were stalking me if you weren't the one here before me. Maybe I am stalking you, and I just don't know it yet."

Stepping out onto the deck from the inside comes Cassidy. It's fairly obvious she came here not long after the work day ended - her make-up is still fresh and her hair is close to perfect. Today it's a classic black pencil skirt that reaches just past her knees and a polka dotted flounce collar blouse.

When she lifts her eyes to the surroundings she doesn't hesitate or stop when she notices the two others. She steps out just the same and goes for her cigarettes a comfortable distance away.

"You have a crush on me but you're too shy to come out and say it." Ravn raises his glass of whiskey in a lazy salute to the burly ginger. "Sorry, until you wear the kilt for me and not Rosencrantz, I will not fall to your devilish charms, Irish."

He doesn't seem to have noticed the arrival of Cassidy; possibly because his gaze is indeed on the marina and the boats in it, rather than on the deck and who comes out from the main seating area inside.

Dipping into a blazer pocket for a cigarette as well and lighting it with his battered old zippo he looks up at the other man; a few inches shorter than Ravn himself and about half a mile broader over the shoulders. "I don't think Vic's on shift today? As I recall, the deck is more crowded when she is -- largely because half the smartass yachter guys end up out here, licking their injured pride."

"You wish," smirks Seth as he makes his way over towards the Dane. "And for the record, I never wore the kilt specifically for Itz. Sure, I thought giving him a bit of a tease was fun, but it was never just all about him. A lot of it was for Vic," laughs the enforcer as he takes a sip of his drink, casting his glance out over the water.

He nods his agreement when Ravn starts to talk about Vic. "Yeah, I thought she was supposed to be here tonight, but I guess I must have the date wrong. Or she was called away on 'other' business which is always possible. You never know in this town."

The click of the door behind him closing causes the enforcer to turn his head and glance towards it, and the new arrival. If who the newcomer is registered in his brain, he doesn't show it outwardly, and simply offers the ADA a polite nod.

Cassidy lights her cigarette. Menthol. Kools. She takes that first drag and takes a good three seconds before exhaling the first billow of smoke toward the Chehalis.

Ravn looks out at the bay before nodding slightly. "All you ever know in this town is not to make evening plans. Speaking of which, when this bloody storm is over, we should have another movie night. Help me drag Mac out of her damn shop -- she's been hiding in there since that day Liu and his buddies shot up the police precinct. Literally, months. That experience really sent her down for the count."

He looks back and perhaps notices Cassidy at that. She gets an upnod and a lazy wave of a gloved hand. "Gotta stop meeting like this, Bennett."

"Yeah?" asks Seth ass he looks back to Ravn, wrinkling his nose ever so slightly as the smoke hits his nostrils. "I have never been to her shop. I got the impression she wasn't too thrilled with my company, so I just...I've never just gone." The enforcer shrugs, "We can do another marathon of something, though it won't be the same without Alexander. Maybe we can do some other kind of genre of movie? Kaiju? Star Trek? Friday the 13th? Nightmare on Elm Street? Halloween? I am sure we can come up with some genre to watch...maybe. Seems to me that Mac is easily, well I don't want to say offended...but offended."

Seth shrugs and glances back towards the ADA again as Ravn announces her, steely eyes giving her a once over. "I don't think we bite. Do we bite, Darth?"

Cassidy snerks, shooting out some smoke from her nose. She grins and looks at Ravn. "Darth? I fucking knew it. There's like an underground LARPing gang in this town."

Then she crosses one arm over her chest and rests the other elbow on its wrist, keeping her cigarette within easy reach of her mouth. "What? I'm just out here enjoying a cigarette. Then I'm going to go back inside."

Ravn glances back at Seth and shakes his head. "Mac is hard to read. I had the same feeling at first? Think it's more a combination of a sharp tongue and really, seriously not wanting to get hit on by random guys. Once you get past that, she's pretty easy going -- though she'll still prank the hell out of you if she sees the perfect opportunity. You know Mac -- good looking and doesn't want to be touched, probably had to say 'keep your hands off me' to more guys than she wants to remember. Also, the Reyes mess? She was dragged into that, they burned down her shop. Been a bit fidgety since, I think."

He leaves it unsaid; Reyes and his crew on one side, Monaghan's crew on the other. One of those universal Gray Harbor truths that no one really wants to be talking about a lot.

Then the Dane looks up at Cassidy and grins slightly. "I only bite if people ask me very nicely. The 'Darth' thing is a joke from when I was a bartender here. I was Vic Grey's Sith apprentice, learning how to sling drinks. If you'd come back three months ago, I might have been the guy making your lemondrop. I got Seth's order wrong and he's never going to let me live it down."

"It was a whiskey, neat," explains Seth with a smirk plastered to his face, "ANY bartender should have known what that meant, so when it showed up with ice in it... Of course, I am never going to let you live that down!"

The enforcer shakes his head with a chuckle, "Hell if you can mess that drink up, I would have hated to see what you did with a lemon drop. How Vic didn't murder you I don't know."

Cassidy rolls a shoulder at the reasonable explanation for the nickname. It's a silent concession that he is not part of the secret LARPers...but she is still sure they exist in this town. And it's only a matter of time before she finds them...

She continues to smoke her cigarette and take in the scenery of the water (more turbulent than usual) and the ominous weather in the horizon.

"Well, at the time I got your order wrong, I might have served a lemon run through a blender. In drops." Ravn hitches a shoulder then grins. "I was trying, you realise. It's just that in Danish, if you ask for a neat whiskey, odds are you probably will get a whiskey with ice. Because it's the default, and neat will get heard as, well, 'normal'."

Then he looks over at the ADA. "So, you guys know each other? Cassidy Bennett, Seth Monaghan."

Seth smirks, "Well it isn't my fault you are Danish, Darth, and that you don't understand the normal way of things." The enforcer chuckles and goes to pat the Dane on the back, stopping himself just before as he remembers his friend's condition.

Dropping his arm to his side, Seth looks over towards the ADA and shakes his head, "No, I don't believe I have ever had the pleasure." The enforcer strides forwards a couple of feet, extending his hand out for a formal greeting. "Hi there."

"No we don't. Not officially, at least."

Cassidy uncrosses her arm and switches her cigarette to her left hand so she can shake Seth's hand. "Hello."

Ravn straightens up a bit in his seat and looks up at the blonde. "You're quieter than usual today. All argued out at work, or did Woods manage to hit you with a plate while I wasn't looking?"

He glances back at Seth. "Funny story, that. You know Everett Woods, the big guy who has Sweet Retreats? He was throwing plates at us the other day. Literally, no metaphor. Suddenly, flying china."

Handshake done, Seth retakes his place over by the rail near Ravn and retrieves his drink to take a sip. "No shit? Just up and started to throw plates at you? Why in the hell did he do that?"

Cassidy's look to Ravn? Well. It's professional. She takes the last drag from her cigarette and puts it out in the ashtray.

"Later boys." Then she's back inside; she's off the deck and disappearing into the crowd of tourists.

"It's Woods, I'm not sure anyone not Kailey Holt understands why he ever does anything." Ravn chuckles.

He glances after Cassidy as she walks off, then looks back at the other man. Once the ADA is out of earshot he adds, "Not sure what that was about. Rough day at work, or maybe we both suck too much for words. Anyhow, I talked to Mac. You should go see her sometime. She's struggling pretty hard with the fall-out from that mess at the precinct with Liu, but I think she'll appreciate little nudges to rejoin society at her own pace."