Guy will one punch your mom (coolestguyever) wrote in newalliance, @ 2012-06-03 00:31:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | guy gardner, ice |
Who: Guy Gardner and Tora Olafsdotter
Where: Warriors Bar
When: May 28th, 2012, Late Afternoon
What: Tora drops by the bar to see Guy.
Rating: SFW
The bar was still relatively quiet as it hadn’t quite yet hit Happy Hour, but that was when Tora preferred to come in. You couldn’t have a nice conversation with your local bar staff if they were scrambling about to make drink orders. She plunked herself down on a barstool, and not seeing who she was looking for, she perched herself up a bit and looked back and forth. “Is Guy working today?” she asked one of the bartenders who replied that she thought he was in but that her shift was ending soon. “Oh. Can I just get a seltzer for now?” Tora decided to wait a bit just in case he was in the back or running late.
Their game was an ongoing tradition she had with her favorite bar. She was trying to get through everything on the menu, and if she did, Guy promised he would name a drink after her. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but she liked the challenge. The bartender brought her seltzer, and she opened up a tab before fishing out a dollar for tip. She sipped the cold drink, happy for the relief from the sunny day.
Guy came through the backdoor of the bar, seizing a bottle of beer on his way to the front and then walked out behind the bar counter. He stopped mid-step and stared at Tora who was at the bar with her seltzer water. He contemplated texting Jennie-Lynn, to get her ass in gear and over to the bar so she could do that wing-man thing she promised him to do. Pride, however, prevented him and Guy convinced himself in that brief moment that he could do this on his own. He continued walking and then waved the previous bartender away to head out early and he’d take it from there. She didn’t argue with him and made a quick exit, happy to get out a few minutes early.
“Hey,” he said with a small boost of confidence, “you’re still coming back, huh?” A sloppy smile slid onto Guy’s face with ease and he grabbed the nearest drink menu he had. Normally people came into his bar already knowing what they wanted, but he learned from a few irregulars and newbies to actual bars, that he needed to accommodate. The menu was placed before her and then folded his arms in front of his chest, knowing full well what she was here for.
“Hi,” Tora replied with a warm smile. “I’m not giving up yet!” she chirped, turning her attention to the menu in front of him. “Let us see...where did we leave off?” She went through the mental checklist of things she had already drank, some were very much to her liking and others were very much not. (Tequila was not her friend.) “Ah yes, here we are. Can I start with a Dark and Stormy?”
She crossed her arms in front of her on the bar. She liked Warriors. The atmosphere was laid back and not at all intimidating like some of the clubs that Bea had convinced her to go to where the men were all over you and the barstaff looked entirely disinterested in your existence. “How was your week?”
She smiled and Guy smiled back, “Gotta admire a woman who likes the idea of having a drink named after her.” She had made her order and Guy went to prepare the drink for her. Despite how ominous the name of the drink, it was very easy to make and a popular one on tropical islands. He grabbed the ginger beer and then his favorite brand of rum, giving the drink the proper proportions and then mixing it together. He even tossed in a little umbrella there. Even if he didn’t have to, he wanted to.
“Here you go,” he placed it in front of her, “Rum and ginger beer. And, let’s see.” Guy reached down under the counter and pulled out the special menu he’d set aside for her to keep track. It was smaller and unlike the one she had, it didn’t have a plastic protectant. Grabbing the pencil, he poked a hole next to where it said Dark and Stormy, “You still have a few to go. Though I’d recommend arranging a ride home if you ever want to try the Irish Car Bomb.” He smirked, half joking, and part of him thinking of offering her a ride home himself.
Don’t be creepy, Guy he thought and said, “So how’re things? Your day, that is. You come here a bunch, but you go other places to. Does your boyfriend mind?” The fact that he managed to ask it at all made him feel like he could actually do this. That is, ask her out, should her answer prove favorable.
Tora took the glass and started with a tentative sip. After all, while she did like the bar, not every drink had been terribly to her taste, but to her credit, she had finished each of them. She smiled, taking a more enthusiastic drink this time. “I like this!” she chirped. It was flavorful and spiced, more like a dessert than a drink. She wondered for a moment what was in an Irish Car Bomb, but she could wait to ask that question.
“My day was nice. I finished my paperwork early, and I think my co-worker is letting me babysit his adorable daughter soon and...” She shrugged. It was hard to articulate why her day had been nice. It hadn’t been particularly special, but her mood had stayed cheery all day. She was a little surprised by his latter question, and she thought for a moment about Loki. He wasn’t really a boyfriend. Nothing had really happened beyond a bit of flirting. “I don’t have a boyfriend, but if I did I would hope he did not mind.” She thought on this for a moment before smiling. “If I had a boyfriend, I would insist he come here with me. This bar is such a nice place, after all.”
She flashed Guy a big smile before taking another long sip of the drink. “Yes, I will have to remember this one. I think my friend Bea would like it too.”
No boyfriend? Guy smiled bigger when she spoke the words he wanted to hear. “Damn straight,” he said, “This is a nice place. Best bar in town, if I can boast that. We keep it real here, less frills, more fun.” The mention of a friend named Bea set off all sorts of alarms in Guy’s head though. Best friends. Every girl had them, didn’t they? They could be another guy, they were more often another girl. Bea was the one he’d have to be nice to, right? He kept the goofy smile on his face, but was internally trying to figure out what to do. Dammit, she should have called Jen. Although...
“You should bring her around,” he went under the assumption that Bea was a girl. Next time she came in with her friend, Guy would make sure that Jen was there to play wing-man for him. “You two close or just the drinking buddies sort?” he didn’t want to call Jen in for someone that was the occasional friend, but the best friend.
“She’s been here before. You may remember her. The long green hair?” Tora made a gesture around her head to imitate Bea’s wild locks. “She is my roommate and my very best friend.” She was grinning from ear-to-ear just talking about her friend, who was more like family than just a roommate or a co-worker.
She finished off the rest of her drink, setting it back on top of the bar. “I need another drink...surprise me.” She grinned, resting her elbows on the bar top in front of her. “So, you must hear a lot of interesting stories as a bartender...”
Bea. The bi—...Guy caught himself before he had the thought. She didn’t seem to like Guy very much and that annoyed him. Why? Because already he was on the wrong foot with the best friend. The very best friend. God dammit. So he had to make a to-do list. One of those things was make nice with the green haired girl that was friends with Tora. And do it without making it obvious he was trying for Tora’s sake. “Right, her,” he nodded, “She didn’t look very happy to be here. I take it this place isn’t really her...thing.”
Considering that usually it was just Tora that came here and Bea, her friend, was not quite so often. “Well, if you bring her next time, I’ll make your drink and hers on the house.” That would help right? Who didn’t like free booze?!
“And when you finish going through the menu, we’ll have a little party around here to celebrate what we’re going to name your drink,” he added.
“Oh no, she likes it fine!” Tora protested, not wanting to offend Guy. “She just sometimes gets grouchy, and I believe the last time we came here she didn’t see any attractive men.” Which was important to Bea on an outing--not so much to Tora, who preferred a relaxing evening with good company.
As Guy made promises of free drinks and a party, she was practically luminescent. Guy was so terribly kind! Of course, she was oblivious to the fact that this was not something he did for all the regulars. “I will have to bring her next time. And she can make suggestions on what to try next...she knows my tastes.” She shifted in her chair, gathering up her things. “I think I have to cut out now--can I close out my tab?”
“Just consider today’s on me, as a precursor for when you come back next time with your friend,” Guy said quickly. He was looking for the opening to ask her out, but was finding himself lacking of said opening. It was a pity she wasn’t going to stay longer though and as the panic settled in, knowing she didn’t have a boyfriend, he blurted, “Maybe I can take you out sometime on a date.” There was no taking it back now!
Guy smirked and tried to look confident, “If you’re free. And interested.” Maybe he jumped the gun. Maybe he didn’t. Regardless, his impulsiveness had gotten the better of him once again.
Tora was about to thank Guy for the drinks when he blurted out an invitation for a date. It came so suddenly that, for a moment, she didn’t quite register it, and even when it did sink in, she had to take a moment to think. She simple hadn’t looked at Guy in that light before. Still, the offer was on the table, and she had to say something in reply.
“Oh,” she started, stalling as she tried to find her words. He was a good looking person and generous and funny. She smiled, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Sure. That would be nice.”
Holy shit, she said yes, Guy thought and a smile spread across his face, “Great. That’s great. When are you free?” One of the perks of being self-employed, he could make his schedule. Which meant calling up whoever he felt like and demanding they work so he could take Tora on a date. So long as the Corps didn’t call to put him back on duty, this would be the first date he’d had in...a while. Kind of pathetic when he thought about it, though he wasn’t really thinking about that right then.
“We could always talk about it when you come in next time,” he offered, seeing that she was already on her way out. He’d have to text Jen after this. And Kyle. Both would likely be happy for him.
“I have to see...sometimes my work schedule is--” Chaotic was the best word for it. “--difficult.” Tora smiled, reaching for a napkin and a pen on the bar. She scribbled out of her number and handed it to Guy. “Call or send me a text message. We will figure out a time to see each other.” She observed the grin on his face and thought how cute it was to have someone so happy over her. She pressed the napkin into his hand, leaning over the bar to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Have a good night, Guy.”
Guy turned his head, the smile fading on a little because of his surprise from the kiss she placed on his cheek, “You too, Tora. I’ll text you so you have my number. If you need anything, let me know.” He clutched the napkin in his hand and quickly placed it in his pocket for safekeeping, not wanting one of his employees to use it to clean up a mess. There was hope in a phone number after all, since he worried briefly from her talking about her schedule if she was putting him off.
“See you around,” he added, the smile returning only a little crooked, but still a smile. Guy was going to possibly do a victory dance once Tora had walked out. Doing it in front of her was a tad immature, even for him.