Who: Raven and Logan What: Logan gives Raven the low-down When: Late last month, before the zombies Where: Logan's bar Rating/Warnings Fairly low Status: Complete!
Raven was living in a lush hotel suite with full access to room service and mini bar. It was luxurious, but one could only survive off of a room service menu for so long before one became bored with its offerings. Since she was going to be staying in Orange County for a little while to keep an eye on her erstwhile brother, she may as well step out now and again. Enjoy what she could when she wanted.
This evening she wanted to go out drinking. Have a good time. Just relax. Put all other thoughts out of her head for a short time. After driving around for a short while she found a bar that seemed perfect for what she wanted.
It had been a slow day, though it wasn’t yet the time when things picked up. Logan was tending the bar himself, and there were only a few of the regulars to serve. He leaned on the bar, looking up at one of the tvs playing a hockey game.
Raven made her way towards the bar. She glanced around her as she did, making note of her fellow patrons, where they were sitting and with whom they were sitting with. She also made note of any doors either to the back rooms, the restrooms or anything that may have looked like an exit. She was out to relax tonight, but that didn’t mean she could let her guard completely down.
“Excuse me,” she spoke to the bartender who seemed much more interested in the game on TV than her. “I’d like a beer, please.”
Logan looked at the woman as she approached. There was something about her, that reminded him of a dangerous animal. In a way, it reminded him of him. She sure seemed wary, anyway.
“Sure thing, darlin’. Tap or bottle?” He leaned on the bar and gave her a smile.
Raven didn’t hesitate a beat. “Tap.” She said and pointed at one of the tabs the bar had to offer and called it by name. Then she leaned against the bar, her arms folded over her front as she watched the scruffy bartender fill her order. A smile played across her face. “Kind of a slow night, tonight, isn’t it?” She asked.
“One tap comin’ up.” Logan pulled out a glass and drew the beer out for her. He had an air about him, like someone who’d been around a very long time. Much longer than even he looked. Though he was short, he did look damn good in a muscle shirt. “It’ll pick up later, especially after my usual bartender comes in.”
There was something so familiar about Raven. She looked so much like Vel that it made his heart hurt. Vel wasn’t dead, but it sometimes felt like it, with the way she’d excised herself and their daughter from his life.
Raven watched him expertly fill her glass. There was something about this man that piqued her interest, but she wasn’t exactly sure what it was. His over-all physique was quite nice to look at, but his face was a little more scruffed and grisled than the type she usually went for. Perhaps it was the world-weary look in his eyes, as if he’d already seen far more than his years should have allowed for.
Raven tapped the toe of her shoe lightly on the floor. “That’s good to hear,” she said. She smiled a little, “though I’m a little disappointed to hear that I won’t have you pouring my drinks all evening.”
“Never had anyone complain about Bo before.” Granted, she was a succubus, so that was cheating, but Logan wasn’t going to complain about that.
“But it won’t be for a few hours yet, so I’m all yours, darlin.”
Raven’s smile grew at the news. “Then I’ll have to be sure to take advantage of that while I can.” She wasn’t usually a big drinker. She didn’t like the numb feeling or loss of control a buzz provided. But she wasn’t above hanging around the bar for a bit. “What’s your name?”
“Logan, what’s yours?” Like he didn’t know, but it was polite and he wanted to hear it. Because it was weird, a woman looking like his ex who had the name of a woman who’d caused him and his so much trouble. That he’d also slept with, because of course he had.
“Oh, you’re the guy from that website,” Raven said. Her interest in the man made a bit more sense now. And how funny was it that out of all the bars Orange County boasted, she would have wandered into his. “I’m glad I’ve gotten to meet you in person. I’m Raven.”
“That’s a new one. That guy from that website.” Logan snorted in amusement, “But for that that first drink’ll be free.”
He wondered what her story was, but also knew that she was clearly the kind of woman who didn’t give out her story lightly.
Oh, Raven could tell stories, alright. There was just no telling of the stories she told were true or not. At the sound of a free drink, her smile broadened. That was easy. “Thank you very much.” She wrapped her fingers around the glass given to her and raised it to her mouth. She liked to think she had a discerning taste when it came to alcohol. Not just anything would do. As far as she was concerned, beer from a tap was far superior to anything that came out of a bottle, or worse, a can.
“Owning the place has certain advantages,” Logan replied. And he’d agree. As much as he loved a good bottle of beer, nothing beat tap. Especially this particular tap, which was a local brewery he was invested it. “I’m not going to complain about advantages that end up being in my favor,” Raven said with a smile. The beer was quite good, but she had discovered that was common for most local breweries. She made note of the name on the tap to remember for later. Maybe she’d take a little trip and see what was what over there.
Since it appeared as though she was going to be staying at this bar for a while, Raven pulled over one of the stool’s and had a seat. She wrapped her hands around the glass again, savoring the chill of it. “Maybe you can help me out a little bit, Logan,” she said, fixing him with a curious sort of look. “That website. What’s it really about? I got a lot of cagey and purposefully vague answers to my post.” Which, she would admit, was a little on the snarky side, but it had gotten attention. Especially the attention of a certain individual. She had never figured Taiyang Xiao Long for the social media type. She had also noted that their daughter had been among the registered users of the site as well as Tai’s other daughter, Ruby, and Raven’s own brother, whom she also would never had thought would bother with such things. It could mean nothing, but if there was something fishy about the community, Raven wanted to know about it.
Logan tilted his head, giving her a considering look. If she was on it, she’d probably dream, and if she was going to dream, she should get a little bit of a warning. “You get a lot of cagey answers because not everyone knows how to talk to new people about it.”
Then he lifted his fist, three knives sliding out from between his knuckles. “You’ve entered a new, fucked up world, darlin’.”
Raven wasn’t sure what she was even seeing at first and confusion was not something Raven particularly enjoyed feeling. The first thing she thought was that she was seeing some sort of magic trick and she hated that. Though both sides of her family (the Welsh and the Swedish) had been in the States for generations, her parents had still been staunch believers in old world myths. She and her brother had even been named in honor of one. Raven herself was pragmatic and she’d never put much stock in what she considered to be old wives’ tales.
So, at the sight of Logan’s claws (after jerking back and out of the way), she immediately tried to figure out how he’d accomplished the trick. It had to have been some kind of sleight of hand. There was no way knives had just manifested out of the back of this man’s hands. There was no way.
“How did you do that?” She demanded, her reddish eyes darting from the claws to Logan and back.
He calmly ran his finger down the edge of one, then held it up as it healed. “They’re kinda built in, an’ they came after a few months of living in Orange County.”
What the hell kind of sense did that make?! Raven stared at the cut in Logan’s finger as it healed without a scar. She was speechless, but just for a moment. He had to be putting her on. Some kind of joke to play on the dumb tourists. Well, Raven wasn’t having any of it. “What do you mean ‘built in’?” She asked, eyes flashing in annoyance. “Are you trying to tell me that some asshole is going around sticking knives into people’s arms?” That sounded just as ludicrous as thinking magic had anything to do with it. She snorted. “If this is some sort of joke you play on new customers, I can see why your bar is empty.”
“Nah. My bones are bonded to a metal called adamantium. The claws were bone originally, it’s the healin’ that came naturally. Heightened senses, too. Other people get other gifts. Give me ten minutes and I can get you a girl who can walk through walls down here. An’ she really likes to show that off to new folks too.”
Adamantium? Seriously? That sounded made up as shit. And a girl who could walk through walls? The fuck? If it wasn’t for the fact that Logan was speaking with absolute seriousness, Raven would have turned around and walked right out of the bar, the attractive bartender be damned.
Her eyes moved back to the blades still protruding from over the backs of Logan’s knuckles. The longer she looked at them the more it really did look as though they were coming right out of his skin. It looked like it fucking hurt too. That was a lot to go through to pull off some kind of prank. Raven pursed her lips together. If it wasn’t a trick, that meant what Logan was saying was true. Or, at least, he believed it to be true.
Raven’s eyes narrowed a moment before she reached out a finger to gingerly touch the blade closest to her.
“Careful, those cuts don’t heal fast or normal for most people,” Logan cautioned. “This shit can cut through steel like it’s paper, an’ it’s poisonous, like mercury.”
A fact he dealt with frequently, considering how badly it affected his healing factor. With his other hand, he reached out and slashed through a glass with a single claw, slicing it neatly in half.
Raven hesitated, but did not pull her hand back. Her eyes darted up at Logan again, then back at the claws. They certainly looked dangerous enough on their own. If she’d had any doubt about their authenticity, Logan quickly put that to rest when he slashed through the glass. The movement and resulting sound made Raven jump involuntarily and jerk her hand back. Point made.
“Where did they come from?” She asked, now more curious than anything else. “You said something about them coming after a few months of you living here. How?”
“Jury still out on that one. But a lot of us dream of other lives. Things where shit is different, like in my case, a world where I was born with an extra gene that gave me powers and physical changes. And eventually.” He shrugged, the claws retracting, “I changed here too. It was just bone first. Metal came… later.”
And from his tone, it hadn’t been pleasant.
There was that word again: dreams. Raven had seen plenty of posts about strange dreams on the network, but other than a raised brow and a few chuckles, hadn’t given them much thought. She narrowed her eyes at Logan’s words. “So you’re telling me that you dreamed you were different and then suddenly you were?”
“Like staring at another life in another universe,” Logan explained. “Living it even. Years in a few hours of sleep.”
Again, Raven wanted to dismiss what Logan was saying as nothing more than a joke, but it was very difficult to, given what she’d just seen. She attempted to cling on those last shards of skepticism by narrowing her eyes at him critically. “How is that even possible?” She asked.
Logan shrugged, like he didn’t really know or care, “Alternate universes. Portals. A buncha physics bullshit. I don’t know. I just know it happened.”
This was starting to sound a bit science fiction-ey and Raven knew she shouldn’t believe a word of it and yet she couldn’t help it. That was exceptionally annoying. It was also exceptionally annoying that Qrow had failed to mention any of this when she’d told him she’d be staying for a while. Maybe he thought once she’d figured it out she’d leave and he’d be left to do as he pleased. Raven’s eyes narrowed. Hate to spoil your fun, Brother Dear, but I’m not going anywhere.
Not that any of this madness exactly appealed to her. She took a healthy drought of the beer that had been poured for her. “Alternate universes.” She said as she set the glass down again. “So that’s the short answer for that website.” She frowned as a thought occurred to her. “Does everyone on that site sees these alternate universes?”
Logan rubbed his chin, then shrugged one shoulder, “Most of us do. Can’t remember anyone who’s never had a dream like that once they gain access to the network.”
It was related, in one way or another. It had just proven difficult to determine why.
Raven frowned a little more. “I see.” She wasn’t exactly sure why that bothered her. She didn’t like the idea of seeing a possible alternate reality for herself, of course that went without saying. But, there was something about the idea that Yang (and to a lesser degree Tai and maybe Qrow) was experiencing the same thing that bothered her. She wanted to ask, but she’d already burned those bridges.
She chewed the inside of her cheek and looked down at her glass. Half the beer was gone. “I think I may need another one of these,” she said, tapping the glass with her fingers.
“Sure thing. Need anything else, darlin?” Logan asked, taking the glass and replacing it with a fresh one.
Raven took a gulp from the glass and let out a breath when she set it down again. “Anything else?” She asked and then shook her head. “I think I might need the number of a good shrink if I’m going to be staying here a while.”