Raven knows that light will lead the way (rippedasunder) wrote in pathways_log, @ 2021-05-19 18:48:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | dc comics: dick grayson, dc comics: raven |
Who: Dick and Raven and NPC!Drunk
What: ‘First’ meetings and telekinesis awakening
When: April 30th
Where: Speakeasy Raven works at
Ratings/Warnings: PGish
Status: Log | Complete
One of the good things about working in her father’s speakeasy was the fact that it was reservation only and you only got one if you knew the phone number to text to get the password. Add in the size and it wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as other bars might be, crowded to the brim with people. Which after a month long migraine and realizing that she was picking up on the feelings and emotions and energies of others? Definitely a good thing for Raven.
Of course that didn’t mean that when the place was at capacity that Raven didn’t find herself feeling slightly overwhelmed. It just wasn’t as bad as it could be.
The atmosphere was as it always was, a hidden location within some unassuming location where one needed to speak the password to be granted entry. The smaller size thanks to being a hidden room. A place that shouldn’t be able to stay in business but word of mouth and people wanting the experience and so the place remained.
And right now? Right now was one of the busy hours where they were at capacity. After two and a half years, Raven was used to the balancing act. How to pay attention to each customer. The dreaded small talk. There were so many people who came through, and there were also the regulars. Right now she was facing a new fact yet she couldn’t shake a feeling that she should know this person.
Right. Not important.
“What can I get for you?”
Being back in Vegas wasn’t exactly something Dick imagined he’d be doing any time soon, and so there he was. Exploring the late night crowd, getting acclimated yet again with the second city known to never sleep. The place he stumbled on was another little hole in the wall and he was intrigued. The place had changed so much since he’d lived there as a kid, but of course it had. As a child he wasn’t exactly looking toward the night life and the red districts. It made sense, and yet he couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed himself.
The city was made for tourism, made to block sensible people from sensible things. Dick felt like he’d stepped inside a time capsule into one of those blockers and raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at the young woman asking him his order.
He eyed the top shelf for a minute and shrugged. “Satori Whiskey on the rocks.” He wasn’t there to get faced, but he might as well have a drink to at least fit the crowd of suspicious faces and not stand out like a sore thumb.
For someone who worked in a bar, a speakeasy at that, Raven didn’t quite understand the whole appeal of it all. It was why she was thankful that - despite the family business which she didn’t have too much involvement with - the speakeasy only allowed a limited amount of people at a time so she wasn’t completely overwhelmed.
Still, she would much prefer being in a library or at a museum or somewhere decidedly not around people. Especially since the previous month. Oh, she knew the cause of her month long migraine now and she would prefer it stop but that wasn’t a thing and so she just had to find a way to deal with it.
Hearing the order, Raven gave a nod and turned to make the drink. Simple. She liked simple.
“Here you go.”
Dick didn’t enjoy complicated things. Too many flavors. If the drink was good it would stand on his own. Complicated didn’t belong at a place like this. “Thanks.” He looked her over for a minute, not in a creepy barfly stalker kind of way just a curious newbie way since he was entirely.
“Doesn’t look like your type of crowd.” She didn’t offer the usual drink server type of banter, just straight to the point and drink-which he didn’t mind. But it was a bit unusual. “Most people who give me drinks also end up spilling their life story.” He grinned a little over the glass.
“Pretty sure it’s supposed to be the other way around. Or it usually is anyway. I get all sorts of stories while I just listen and serve the drinks.” Which was fine by her. Even with being able to go to school and go to temple to see her grandfather, Raven was otherwise fairly isolated so she enjoyed at least hearing the stories. Or, well, the interesting ones.
Well she did. Now it was hard to say with the ability to feel people’s emotions now.
“It’s much better than being at one of the actual bars that are always crowded. It’s a lot more manageable here.”
“You would think. Apparently they tell me I have one of those faces. Whatever that means.” The listening type, that type that would actually care if they complained. Usually he did, but sometimes he was just tired and wanted a drink. He never said so, but it was nice to not have that for once. “I can imagine, this place is a little...different than most.” He could already tell just by the little things he observed. There were a few businessmen making underhanded deals at one table, city officials that he recognized, but said nothing of.
“Fair enough. Not a fan of those myself. End up in too much trouble.” Usually of the removal sort involving other people when they got too drunk. He observed the other patrons for a moment. Another was getting loud in a corner, and he made a face since the man seemed to be arguing with a wall. For the time being he let it be. It was just one guy, nobody else was getting in his way. But he did pay attention to him out of the corner of his eye.
There were times Raven wished she could tell those who came to the speakeasy to stop. That they were just setting themselves up. That this wasn’t that kind of establishment. Yes, they had to know the number to get the password of the day. Yes they had to go the secret way in. But it was all because of the atmosphere. Yet it was that same atmosphere that made them feel immune to the realities of the situation. It didn’t happen often but it did still happen and it was frustrating every time that it did.
“I hear that a lot, I’ve yet to figure out what it means.”
Dick wasn’t the only person who had noticed the guy. When there were only twelve customers - the maximum amount of customers allowed - it was hard not to notice. Especially with her not so fun new ability to pick up on the emotions and feelings of others and it was clear this was going to get worse.
“Excuse me a moment.”
Given she was fairly certain Dick would prefer going back to his drink anyway, Raven made her way out from behind the bar and went to see what the problem was and de-escalate the situation.
Only to get grabbed by the belligerent man who definitely was towering over her. Feeling an onslaught of his anger, she gasped in pain from that and the grip.
“You need to leave.”
“I don’t need to do anything.”
Vaguely through the haze of anger, Raven was aware that….something...was happening. She was still present in her body. But it seemed as though some glasses broke, things falling and flying without aid as she felt herself getting overwhelmed from the spike in anger at her daring to try and tell someone to leave as if she wasn’t the one behind the bar.
Dick watched her go toward the ranting drunk and raised an eyebrow. Sure she worked in an environment where it might happen, but he didn’t expect her to have to go deal with a raging drunk herself. Usually that would be the bouncer or whatever other hired muscle they had going on there.
When he saw no one standing up to do anything as she was grabbed at, Dick stood without a moment of hesitance. He stepped toward the altercation instead of moving away like a few patrons had done, and intervened.
“You’re gonna have to leave now.” The second those hands went for Raven, he reached under the wrists to pull them effortlessly away and placed himself between the two.
“Think you’ve caused enough of a scene, don’t you?” He asked the irritated drunk while he busied himself with pinning the guys hands behind his body. “Got a back door or is he going out the way he came in?” He asked curiously. Not paying much mind to the man's ridiculous slurs.
And that was the rub. Because of how few people were ever there, even at capacity, there had never been a need for a bouncer or hired muscle. At least for that reason and certainly not when it was regular business as it currently was. So whoever was working the bar would have to be the one to remove someone if it became necessary.
Nor was Raven expecting any help. She rarely got it. So when Dick intervened? All she could do was blink. Briefly it was as if he were him but….not. As if he should be wearing...what was it, red and yellow and green almost a circus outfit before it was replaced by a black kevlar suit with a blue...bird? She wasn’t sure because as quickly as her mind had seemed to transpose those outfits over Dick, they were gone and it was just normal…
Or as normal as it could be given what she had inadvertently caused to happen with things breaking and flying. She was used to feeling like she was alone and then catching whispers of conversations she couldn’t make out but felt familiar. But that had been the strongest memory yet. If it could even be that and not her just wanting to latch onto...whomever it was she could almost recall but were out of focus.
Hearing the question, Raven shook her head, “The way he came in…” There were other exits of course, but for customers? One way in and one way out.
They probably could call the cops, but if it was a one time incident as she said it would be more trouble on the speakeasy than it was worth when he could literally just throw the man out. “Out with the garbage where he belongs then, got it.” He barely seemed to disturb the other patrons there. Most had already gone back to their drinks and company since the incident was so swiftly handled.
Once he stepped outside with the man he stared at him for a moment. “If you come back, you’ll find out just how easy it is to disappear in Vegas.” A partially empty threat, he wasn’t really going to kill him or anything like that. But if it put a little fear in the drunk, so be it.
He took the man a couple blocks away before finally setting him free and returning to the speakeasy to check on Raven. When he entered, he looked around for her.
The one good thing about the way the speakeasy was run was that it was easy to put the man on a banned list. After all, reservations meant she had to put a face to a name and number, and once that was done? Well. That man wasn’t going to be allowed to come back. Her arm still burned where he had touched her, as if his energy lingered, the onslaught of emotions a memory seared into her mind.
Making sure the door was unlocked so Dick could come back in without having to go through the knock password process to get in again, Raven then looked around the small room that was the speakeasy. As much as she wanted to say she didn’t know what had happened, why there were shattered glasses and things askance, but deep down, she knew but she didn’t know what to make of it. Because feeling the emotions of others, the sudden multilingualism, the astral projection? Those were all strange enough to deal with. This?
Rubbing her forehead where the chakra jewel had shown up (that seemed invisible to anyone not affected by the tattoos apparently), it was as if she felt...a jolt.
Right.
“Sorry about the disturbance. Everyone will have a free drink.”
Recalling what each of the remaining ten people in the speakeasy had ordered, Raven made her way back to the bar to get to work on the drinks, her gaze flickering to the small kinder sized toys she’d found in an egg. The one in the black with a blue bird kevlar suit next to the one in red and yellow and green as if the same but different. Similar to the one in a black star unitard next to the one in red with a lasso. So why had she sworn she had seen both the red and yellow and green outfit before it was replaced by the black with a blue bird one?
No time to think about that, or what it could mean. There were drinks to deliver for the disturbance and then to clean up the mess. So once the drinks were delivered, Raven grabbed a broom and began to sweep up the shattered glass on the floor while everything went back to how it had been before the outburst from the now banned drunk.
Most people weren’t expecting a drunk, but at least it wasn’t like your normal bar. People didn’t seem to be itching to jump in and help. It was only one guy he’d had to remove, and that was easy enough.
He waited for her to finish serving the new drinks so he didn’t startle her further in case her nerves were on edge and got a clap on the back by a friendly looking older guy who seemed grateful for the job done. “Don’t worry about it.” He responded, waving it off politely. He didn’t need praise, it was just the right thing to do.
Nerves on edge? Definitely. Admittedly that had been more common as of late thanks to the empathy thing but it was definitely heightened at the moment thanks to the guy grabbing her and the onslaught of his emotions she’d dealt with. Which probably explained the mess she now had to clean up. At least that was her theory. With everything that was going on in Las Vegas these days? Well. Strange was becoming normal.
Once the glass was cleaned up and there were no hazards for the customers, Raven walked over to Dick with a faint smile.
“Thank you again. It’s not usually like this.”
One drunk guy causing a scene was obviously the worst of things to happen in a speakeasy. Clearly. But it was still not all that common.
He probably should have helped with the clean up or something, but he didn't actually work there. Dick instead waited for the young woman to return. He figured he probably had stuck his nose in enough.
"No problem. You okay? Creep didn't hurt you did he?" he had tried to make sure that didn't happen, but it was all so quick. Dick was always ready to help someone who needed it though, just a reflex of his.
Ask Raven and the world needed more people like that. Or just….people willing to help, even if it was just to make someone’s day just a bit better. Not necessarily getting involved in situations like that one that had just occurred.
Instead she shook her head.
“I’m fine, he didn’t hurt me. It startled me more than anything.” Well. There had been some pain but she had been so caught up in the onslaught of the angry emotions and then whatever had happened around her that she knew had to tie into whatever was going on with the tattoos and the network, that any momentary pain from being grabbed that harshly was long since forgotten.
Just what was going on with her? And why did she feel like she had the answer just locked away in the back of her mind?
“Good.” Raven was probably more than capable of taking care of herself, but he didn’t like the idea of someone being attacked and doing nothing about it. He expected nothing in return, just that she was okay.
“You have anyone else around in case that guy comes back?” She worked at a place that served alcohol, they had to have someone right? But it was also quite small. He chewed at his lower lip as he looked over at the other customers briefly. None of them seemed as agitated as the previous man had been. They all seemed to understand how to act at a place like that.
With nothing left to do as everyone was content with their drinks and everything was back into place, Raven had a bit more room to breathe. Even with what had happened. At the question though, she blinked before shrugging.
“Not really. There’s never been a real need for it given the nature of this place with the need to get a reservation, have the password, and the small size...I mean, there’s always a risk I guess but…”
Not sure what else to say, Raven just shrugged.
“I can stop in from time to time. Just to check on things if you want.” He didn’t mind coming by honestly, the place was a little interesting to him. Besides if it meant keeping someone safe it was only that much better. “Make sure the trash stays thrown out.” He offered. It was just second nature for him, that want to make sure that people were okay. Even those he didn’t know.
Blinking some, Raven momentarily was startled because well, she wasn’t used to people really caring on the rare occasions similar events happened. She also couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew the man before her. The snippets of conversations she would remember. The feeling of...she wasn’t sure. But it was enough to give her pause.
“....I wouldn’t mind that. I’d have to check with management if it were to be a more...job sort of thing but...I wouldn’t be opposed.”
It was rare she found someone she felt calm around. Especially since all the weird things had started. Even if she also worried about pulling someone into this world.
Dick didn’t like the idea of her being alone. Even if it was normally a fairly safe place. Not everyone appeared to be there for the right reasons. “I’m open to a second job, but I already have one so if it’s just to help out now and then I’m open to that too.” He gave her a friendly wink as he pulled on his jacket that he’d left at the bar.
“I just think this city has seen enough of this, and someone needs to do something. I’m not against being that someone.” He looked back at her with a small smile, but he was completely serious. Nobody seemed to step up and just help where necessary, they’d rather keep their nose in the dirt, Dick wasn’t the type.
Oh, Dick had no idea on how not everyone was there for the right reasons. That night, despite some of the more shady things going on that usually didn’t, it wasn’t the worst of things. And she knew that even if he did come in occasionally, her father would ensure nothing untoward was happening then.
At the same time, because she couldn’t shake the feeling of connection that she had with him, Raven wasn’t opposed to the idea either. So instead she just nodded.
“Try to be the change you want to see.”
Or that was what she tried to do anyway. To find a way to pass along small acts of kindness when so many seemed apathetic or cruel.
“I’ll pass along the suggestion and offer then and see what’s said.”
Dick didn’t realize what this city was about, he only knew what he knew and that was people needed help sometimes. He was willing to give it and didn’t expect anything in return.
“Exactly.” And with that he nodded and headed for the door. “I’ll be around next week, sameish time maybe.” Emphasis on the next week part, not so much the maybe. He’d be checking in to make sure things were okay. It was just what he did.
“Well, I’ll see you then.” After all, the reservation requirement meant she would know when that would be beforehand. And if her father actually agreed to the idea, after a background check of course, well. It would be nice having someone around occasionally.