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Tweak says, "You always say Goodnight..."

Idris Khalid|| Σήθ (Set/Seth/Sutekh) (counterbalance) wrote in paxletalelogs,
@ 2011-07-31 23:43:00

Entry tags:

nephthys, set

Who: Idris and Vanessa
What: Staying in at night is getting to be far too boring, so Idris decides to check out a local pub...
Where: Muldoon's, downtown Newport Beach
When: 10:17 P.M., July 29th, 2011.
Warnings: Slight foul language, but otherwise nothing else as of yet.
Notes: None as of yet.

Work had been a pain in the ass this past week, to say the least. Idris was more than happy to leave Friday afternoon after he'd gone through a stack of new invoices for what seemed to be the fifth time. It wasn't that he was a slacker--well, all right, he could be, but hadn't he managed his own dealership for how many years? It was only that simply getting out and about was definitely foremost in his frame of mind the entire drive home. Other than taking care of menial activities such as grocery shopping and finally, finally! finishing unpacking, he hadn't had much time for himself since moving to California. Well, that was about to change tonight, even if the only thing that happened was a nice glass of whatever available ASAP in his hand. The sooner, the better.

Idris, in a bad mood? No, certainly not. But you couldn't blame a man for wanting to get out of the confines of the daily grind at least once in awhile.

While Idris wasn't big into surfing the internet (unless he was really, REALLY bored, and then he mostly played Farmville--hey, in his defense, his sheep always stayed fed and the crops...ah, well, they might suffer a little, but he was still proud of his level 30 accomplishment), he'd come across an interesting forum note made by yet another new tenant to the Pax building. The new arrivals seemed to be popping up like daisies in the middle of a particularly warm Spring, but Idris didn't mind. The more people that were around, the more chances he had of finding someone that'd definitely be into moving and shaking it on the weeknights and preferably the weekends as well. Everyone needed a break from their every day lives, it was only a matter of finding the right person. Or people, as it were. Yeah, people sounded a lot better. The more the merrier!

And so he quickly googled the location of the pub the new tenant spoke of, writing down the directions on a handy post-it note. He'd get the hang of this city soon enough, but for now there was no sense in getting lost. Maybe he'd even hail a cab--in fact, that sounded great and 100% more safe than driving home, no matter what his eventual state of intoxication would be.

Having made the necessary ride accommodations (the post-it note now forgotten), Idris quickly dressed for the evening: dark slacks and a simple tan dress shirt. Basics were essential when scoping out a new place, but it didn't hurt to look put together overall. Adjusting his hair and checking for any slight signs of looking definitely not put together in the bathroom mirror, Idris finally deemed himself ready. Checking his watch, he grinned when he saw that he still had ten minutes before his cab would arrive. He left the bathroom and grabbed his billfold from the kitchen counter and slipped it into his back pocket. Making sure he had his keys, Idris gave the main room of his apartment a once-over before nodding to himself and locking the front door behind him. He jingled said keys good-naturedly along his walk to the elevator, making it out of the building with three minutes to spare.

The ride to Muldoon's was quick and painless; Idris cheerfully paid the cab driver and headed inside the establishment, unable to keep the corners of his mouth from turning upwards in a somewhat self-satisfied smile. Nice. For a Friday night, the pub was decently packed, filled with people from all sorts of backgrounds mingling together and sharing drinks, stories, and even spit at the side right corner table. Again, nice. He headed to the bar, taking a seat on one of the bright red stools after casually glancing around the room at what sort of pickings there'd probably be as the evening continued. For a Friday night crowd, the assorted patrons seemed primarily jovial, but in situations such as these there was always the chance for a fight to break out, unsettling the pleasant evening activities. To be perfectly honest with himself, Idris wasn't entirely opposed to such a thing happening, not as long as he had a drink in his hand first and could watch from a safe vantage point.

Tapping his fingers on the bar counter for a moment, Idris then sat forward to take out his billfold, removing one of his credit cards. He motioned to one of the bartenders that seemed to be less busy than the others--she was pretty, with tousled, dark curls pulled half upon her head, the rest of them falling free. A particularly bright green bow adorned her hair, and Idris had to smile, for surely she must be playing along with the Irish theme of the place. And, it was amusing to note, it seemed there was no shortage of curly-haired women in this city, something that Idris had to admit he didn't mind in the least.

"Say, you got a minute?"

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counterbalance
2011-08-02 05:59 am UTC (link)

Hands down, Idris loved listening to other people talk about themselves. Everyone had their own tale to tell, their own set of ambitions, dreams, and woes. It was almost always a fascinating experience and he had heard so many stories in his time, not all of them collected merely from his various clientele. It was always good to take note of what other people told him, in the chance that the information might come in handy later on--truly, he felt, a person never quite knew when they might need a bargaining chip in the future.

And so he listened attentively as Vanessa spoke, making sure she knew that he was in no way bored with what she was telling him, nor would he rudely interrupt. Her laugh was cheerful and for the second time that night Idris decided it wasn't a bad thing in the least that she happened to be working while he was here. Good company indeed, and only a floor away outside of this environment? Well, well. Best to not get ahead of himself.

"California seems to feel right for a lot of people. Have to say, I'm in that club, too. I'm a proud Arizona native but there's something about this place."

Idris didn't stifle a chuckle at her flirtatious comment. "You'd be right about that," he replied, half-jokingly. If he allowed himself a small act of basic ego, Idris had to agree with what she'd said. Business duty called and Vanessa went to tend to it, leaving Idris with his Guinness. Taking another drink of it, he decided he would have to make another trip here sometime again in the future, if this was the kind of service that was given.

Before too long, Vanessa made her way back over to him, and Idris watched as she approached, smiling in greeting.

"Back so soon?" He rested an arm on the bar counter, shifting his beer stein with his hand a little before he spoke. "Work, to be honest, but I always enjoy a change of scenery." Pointedly he met her eyes as he said this last bit. All right, perhaps that was a bit too direct, but he certainly wasn't being lewd. Lewdness never had gotten him very far in life and he wasn't about to lower himself to that level now, not when he had such pleasant company. Again, that strange feeling of familiarity washed over him, but he ignored it a second time. Perhaps the brew at Muldoon's was stronger than what he had drank in the past.

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obscurityfalls
2011-08-02 06:24 am UTC (link)

To say that Vanessa had a past of dating the wrong guy was the understatement of the century, but usually the men she was drawn to seemed to be perfect, or at least until you started to dig a little deeper. Idris was clearly an exception, in that it was fairly obvious to her immediately that he wasn’t exactly the kind of man that she would be bringing home to meet her mother. There was something about him that made her brain shout ‘don’t, just ignore him and don’t ever talk to him again, do yourself a favor Vanessa’. Naturally, she pushed the warnings right out of her mind and smiled as she pulled the cherry stem out of her mouth and threw it away. Something about Idris just screamed right and wrong at the same time.

“Back so soon, it’s busy, but I am the extra bartender tonight, so luckily you can have most of my attention.” She grabbed an empty glass and filled it with diet coke from the soda gun, squeezing and dropping in a lemon. She grabbed a little bar straw to drink with, only because her purple lipstick was miraculously still on and she didn’t want to have to reapply it. Vanessa wasn’t one to shy away from anyone being direct, in fact this was unusual for her, for once someone else was being direct before she was, and for once, she didn’t know exactly what to say. “It seems that I’ve hit the jackpot in the scenery department as well.”

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counterbalance
2011-08-02 07:47 am UTC (link)

"Seems it's a pretty lucky night for me all around," Idris said with a smirk accompanied by a mischievous spark to his eyes--lewdness, wasn't it, that he'd just warned himself against? Banish any such thought as that for a few seconds.

Sure, it was highly likely that the only reason Vanessa was paying him any attention at all was due to her job's requirement to make conversation with the customers (in their various states of intoxication or otherwise). But Idris thought he might as well give himself a little credit. True to her word, this woman wasn't overly busy despite the growing crowd--however, she did keep coming back to talk to him and him alone. Was that a bit of favoritism, then? The idea in itself was amusing; Idris was definitely enjoying himself and it showed upon his countenance.

Unfortunately, before he could say anything further, there was the screech of several chairs being pushed back far too harshly upon the floor, and then an immediate chorus of angry voices made themselves heard over the rest of the patrons. Turning from Vanessa, Idris spotted the source of the confusion. Two rather tall men were yelling at one another--something to do with the preservation of trees in contrast to deficit bill spending, and a third, possibly a friend of both, was trying in vain to get them to stop. Idris' eyebrows raised in amusement and then he grinned, laughing at the trouble and shaking his head slightly. He turned back to Vanessa to see her take on the situation.

"This sort of thing happen a lot around here?"

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obscurityfalls
2011-08-05 04:42 am UTC (link)

The bar she had worked at in New York had been a complete dive, the kind of bar that serious alcoholics go to, not the touristy kind of bar she worked at now. She had done her fair share of calming down patrons, breaking up fights, and kicking people out. It surprised her, because it wasn’t exactly the type of thing she expected to have to deal with here, the people around here seemed so much more laid back. “Not around here, no.”

Vanessa briefly looked at Idris, who seemed to be very much enjoying the whole scuffle, and really there was something amusing about it. She paused and listened for a second as they continued to yell and argue. There was something hilarious about the preservation of trees leading to such a heated debate in any way. Her eyes moved from the fight back to Idris again. Someone who grinned and laughed over a fight was definitely trouble, but also someone very interesting.
The fight grew even louder, and it suddenly became obvious that at any second, a fight was going to break out between the three people. Vanessa didn’t exactly want to intervene considering she had only worked at Muldoons for a little while, but they were getting louder and louder, and people were definitely getting annoyed. She excused herself from Idris and stepped out from behind the counter, slowly approaching the trio of men. “Gentleman is this really something worth getting you cut off for? If you continue to argue I have to refuse to serve you any more drinks, and furthermore, word travels fast from bar to bar downtown, and you probably will have a hard time getting served anywhere else. You seem like rational men, so please, do us all a favor and save the conversation about trees for when you’re sober okay?”

The men, completely humiliated nodded to Vanessa and quieted down, for the most part. Vanessa on the other hand went back behind the bar and grabbed her big black lace purse, shoving her apron inside of it. After she clocked out at the cash register, she sat down at the bar stool next to Idris, ordering a double Jameson.

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counterbalance
2011-08-05 06:06 am UTC (link)

He couldn't say he minded the way Vanessa decided to take charge and handle the situation, things being as they were. Idris would probably have been content to kick back while she did some form of extreme Jiu Jitsu; it certainly would make things incredibly interesting. Besides, anyone that chose to yell about the Arbor Day Foundation in the middle of a place like this (on a Friday night nonetheless) definitely had chosen the wrong weekend form of entertainment.

Well, either that or whatever they were drinking was extremely strong. Idris vaguely wondered if he should ask what exactly it was those men had ordered, just out of simple curiosity. He had no interest in getting shit-faced, especially not when he was currently entertaining a rather interesting battle of flirtatious comments with the new bartender, but the information could be useful one day.

Deciding against this course of action, he instead took another drink of his beer while Vanessa was handling things, though he did glance back at the other bartenders. Neither of them were overly-stressed about the matter so it might not have been that big of a deal--couldn't have been, really, could it? Idris decided to not waste any more time wondering about the whats and whys, instead focusing on the woman that had chosen to come back and continue their conversation, settling her self down right next to him. He gave her an appreciative smile which only broadened when she ordered her personal choice of poison.

"That was very assertive of you." Grinning completely by now, Idris decided for the third time tonight that this was a wonderful decision on his part. "I hope I haven't given you any reason to want to escort me out like that. Not sure if I'd be able to handle the pressure." He was lightly teasing, simply to see if she'd continue to be as congenial as she was on the serving side of the bar.

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obscurityfalls
2011-08-05 06:21 am UTC (link)

Vanessa smiled as one of her favorite Flogging Molly songs started to play over the entertainment system. There was something about a good upbeat song while she was drinking that just made her want to tap her toes or get up and dance. She thanked Connor, the bartender that served her the Jameson and took a long drink from the glass.

She turned on the red stool to face Idris, stirring her drink with a tiny black straw. Vanessa couldn’t help but laugh at his comment, inwardly completing adoring his smile, it seemed to light up the room. To think that she hadn’t intervened at least partially to impress Idris would’ve been a lie. However, it was also who she was, she certainly wasn’t a quiet wallflower, and better that he know that sooner rather than later. “Oh that’s me, I have quite the temper, you better watch out, never know what I may do.” Part of her wanted to just chug her drink right down, but she didn’t want to appear to be an alcoholic, especially since he was still on his first beer, so she took another sip. “Oh I don’t know, something tells me you handle pressure very well.”

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counterbalance
2011-08-05 07:05 am UTC (link)

Idris turned in his seat as well to face his companion, resting an arm upon the bar counter. From the equally light tone that Vanessa used, Idris decided that it was perfectly safe to keep up with the banter. He laughed at her remark about her temper, feigning a look of horror.

"Remind me to never find a cause to anger you, then. I prefer my floors to stay silent, and something tells me you're pretty good with a broom." He finished his beer and waved at the bartender for another, informing the man on duty of what he'd had. Another would be wonderful, though he hardly had to stay intoxicated--even the slightest--in order to enjoy himself.

His stein refilled, Idris chuckled at Vanessa's remark, unable to keep the amusement from his face. Feigning indifference, he shrugged, though there was a serious look to his eyes.

"Oh, I don't know. Depends on the type of pressure, I suppose. But don't you think that makes things a little more fun?"

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obscurityfalls
2011-08-05 07:19 am UTC (link)

“Oh I’m very good with a broom, it has an extra long handle for proper ceiling reach-age and everything.” When Idris ordered his second beer, Vanessa took that as an okay to completely finish her drink. To slow it down a bit, this time she ordered a jack and ginger-ale, which somehow, someway tasted exactly like cream soda. Mixes were very interesting to her, and she often wondered how it was possible that a drink that held no cream soda tasted just like it, or how a long island iced tea, which was almost straight alcohol, tasted like an non-alcoholic iced tea.

At Idris’s last comment, Vanessa couldn’t help it, she started to laugh beyond a typical flirty laugh. Their flirting had gotten so ridiculous that she just couldn’t take it anymore and broke out into laughter. “You are absolutely horrible, you know that right?” She shook her head and rested a hand on Idris’ leg, taking the flirting to a completely different level, but casually, not aggressively so. "I have a feeling that I am never going to be bored with you in the same apartment building, am I?"

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counterbalance
2011-08-05 07:49 am UTC (link)

"And yet you don't seem to mind in the least." With an almost wry smile, Idris turned his attention to his refilled drink, taking a hearty swig. Vanessa's laughter was pleasant and Idris remained pleased that his new neighbor, and dare he say acquaintance, was clearly enjoying herself. With time, it was possible she might officially become something akin to a friend, which Idris wouldn't mind in the least. With only a floor separating the two of them there was no doubt they'd run into one another outside of Muldoon's.

And more importantly, though he wasn't going to waste much time thinking of it right now, Idris couldn't deny the perplexing feeling of ease he felt around this woman. It was normal for him to feel self-assured, to not be overly self-conscious when pursuing someone, even if it was only for a short period of time. Suffice to say that for Idris, such a part of life was a form of ease within itself, though he never could settle down for long enough to satisfy any serious commitment wanting partners. Perhaps then it was simply the action of roving, of playing the field, that allowed him to feel peaceful.

As peaceful as someone like Idris could ever feel, that is. And this odd ease he felt when speaking with this woman was different in a way he couldn't quite put his finger on; it was merely enhanced by her hand upon his leg, a forward action, just another way of her asserting her presence. He made no outward motion of noticing what she had done save for a direct look at her, his smile smaller now but still clearly, though faintly, amused.

"Well, I'd hope that's true. I don't think I could stand living at a place with nothing but one boring tenant after another. And you," he said, "don't fit that description, if tonight is anything to go by." He glanced downwards, noting the striped socks she wore that showed just barely from within her boots. "I'd say it's going to be plenty of fun living near you."

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