Who: Finn and Nick What: chatting When: recently Where: Verdant Rating: low.
Nick hummed as he loaded a few glasses into the dishwasher. A few patrons had just vacated the bar, so the bartender finished filling the bar’s dishwasher. He didn’t really have much happening at the moment and the bar didn’t seem overly busy. While alcohol didn’t affect Nick much, he didn’t drink while at work. Instead, he filled a glass with soda water with a lime slice.
He bent down to pick up a napkin which sled off the bar. With a lack of patrons at the moment, Nick pulled out his phone and texted Karl about a run the next night, since he didn’t work. Nick, being married to the owner, sometimes asked to have a specific night off so he could fit in a run with Karl before the Change was forced on him. Accomplished, he tucked the phone back in his pocket and used some hand sanitizer to not spread illnesses.
Finn had a hard time connecting to people, so he was there by himself in his usual spot that he often frequented at the bar. Just scrolling through his phone and various entertainment apps, when he looked up to see the familiar face of Nick. He gave him a bit of a nod. “Can I get a whiskey?” He wasn’t really dripping in loneliness or anything, he’d come to enjoy his own company-he just didn’t really know how to change that. Or if he should. So, like any other night he ordered the same thing. Just something to sip at, eat a few bar nuts, etc. He wasn’t looking to get shit faced. It was more of a social thing even if he didn’t really know how to accomplish the social part yet.
“Hey Finn.” Nick nodded at the now semi-familiar regular who sat in his usual spot. He liked the young man, but noticed he seemed to spend a lot of time by himself, though the werewolf didn’t know if he chose to be by himself or not. Not everyone was as social as Nick.
“Do you want to try a new drink?” Nick asked, as he pulled a bottle of beer out for a different patron, as he pulled the top off and passed it to the waiting woman. “I could make a suggestion or two. Of course, if you want whiskey, I can pour one for you.” The werewolf liked Finn and since the bar wasn’t busy he could give the other man his attention for the time being.
Finn held a hand up in a bit of a half wave. “Hey.” He was a little bit down, but it didn’t show too much. Finn wasn’t the most open with his feelings. He was quite guarded most of the time, but he was starting to at least be a bit more friendly to people he saw regularly. Like Nick. “What kind of new?”
He didn’t start trouble, he was just quiet usually. He kept an eye out if there were any problems for others, but otherwise just minded his own business. “Both maybe?” New, and a whiskey. He could do both. He walked home anyways. Finn didn’t drive.
Nick nodded, a smile on his face. Finn never started trouble, for which Nick felt grateful. Unlike some of the vampires. Like the one who worked here, though Nick still liked Damon. The werewolf thought for a second and started making an Old Fashioned with orange cardamom bitters. He liked to experiment with bitters and this seemed like a good addition.
The werewolf passed Finn his glass of whiskey as he finished making the drink. Nick always added two extra splashes of bitters in his old fashioneds, otherwise he found the alcohol could overtake the taste a bit. He went to the freezer and pulled out a tray of larger ice cubes and dropped it in the glass, before he added an orange slice and maraschino cherry garnish.
“Here you go.” He handed Finn the drink. “So, how are things going? Anything new and exciting?”
Finn was trying to learn to trust people. For him though, just came hard. He wasn’t really sure how Rey did it. Life or death was one thing, that was how he’d met and started to trust her, but for just people he met there? He was having a rough time with it. Instead of talk about that topic though, he decided on a different one. “My ship showed up…Well not really my ship, but ship from home.”
He’d been learning how to fly it slowly. The Falcon was a heavy ship to fly though, it was going to take time to learn.
Nick probably trusted a little too easily, something with which he thought his Packmates might agree. Though, obviously being raised a werewolf meant he couldn’t trust many with his secret until later in life, when they met the greater supernatural population. Given that Nick came from a world with Star Wars and had watched the newer shows over the last couple years living here, he had an idea of the ships that could appear. “That must be exciting! What is the ship’s name?”
He poured a couple shots of tequila when a couple young women walked to the bar and asked. Nick placed two lime slices on top and handed them the salt shaker and then the shots.
“Did you fly back home?”
He wished he could. But maybe there would be someone. He liked coming to the bar well enough. He was just often a bit quiet. “The Millenium Falcon. You know about ships? Most people don’t seem to realize most of them have a name.” They were almost like a friend in that sense. Or an extension of the person flying them.
“No, we just took her up. I’m learning to fly though.” It was a nice distraction from all the things that had been a bit frustrating to him recently. He was glad for that.
Even without his knowledge of Star Wars, the werewolf knew about ships. His father ran multiple multi-billion dollar companies and while Nick didn’t always care about a lot of the businesses, he did enjoy hearing what people named their ships.
“My dad runs quite a few companies at home, and they do involve shipping. While most don’t have fun names, I do enjoy learning what people name their yachts and sailboats.” Sometimes Nick’s rich boy status showed through without intending a thing.
“How was flying here?” Nick showed genuine interest in both the ship and Finn’s life. He liked people in general after all. “A friend of mine from home recently went flying, but she went with a person and not on a ship.”
Finn just looked over at the drink in front of him distractedly for a moment. “I didn’t know people name those too..but I guess it makes sense. Similar to a ship, just on water.” He shrugged. “I’ve never been on a boat though that wasn’t in space. “ Occasionally people called those boats too. Trying to discern the two was a little confusing.
“Different. Not so many red flags, or planets though as I remember.” There were so many to navigate back home. It was nice though. Quieter up there.” Finn was trying his best.
Nick bent down to start pulling glasses out of the dishwasher as he listened, but did look up as Finn spoke. “I think it’s fun to see what people name their ships or boats.” Sometimes they told him a lot about a person.
“I’m glad it’s quieter.” Nick couldn’t tell if he liked that it was quieter or not.
A couple customers walked into the bar. “I have to go help them, but I’ll be back in a few to check on you.” Helped by the fact that Nick liked Finn.