Neena Thurman pours drinks, kicks ass. (fallsinplace) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-11-05 11:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, neal cassidy (baelfire), neena thurman (domino) |
WHO: Neal and Neena
WHEN: Early November
WHERE: Jake, the dive bar where Neena works
WHAT: meeting and chatting
WARNINGS: maybe language? Nothing major
STATUS: Complete
There had been sort of an explosion in Neal’s life lately, multiple things all coming at him from every angle, but for once it wasn’t exactly what he’d call terrible. Sure, Orange County had its flickers of oddness here and there, but in comparison to last Halloween - when he’d turned into the Mad Hatter - everything was surprisingly tame, despite the annoying dancing skeletons in his neighborhood. At least they didn’t sing kooky songs - he had to be thankful for small miracles.
Still, a drink was necessary. Sometimes, after a long, dusty, and dirty day at the ranch he just wanted something of the adult beverage variety to quench his thirst. A cold beer, or even something with gin - margaritas also tasted better while nursing a slight sunburn, he wasn’t sure why, but once he actually got into the bar, he’d figure it out. He hadn’t been to this particular one yet and wanted to see how good it was - meaning, if it was sufficiently laid back and a place where he could just relax after work and not worry about anything else.
Like Emma dreaming of his death. Of him dying in her arms. Not something he needed to be focused on now.
So, into the bar he went, picking a stool to plop his happy ass on (he’d showered first, thanks) and he took in the ambiance - dark, private, not pretentious. All good things.
Neena was in her element. She sits over to Neal with a sweet smile, eying him curiously. More and more strangers were coming in the bar, but she never forgot a face. This one was brand new. “Hey, nice to meet you. What'll it be?”
He looked okay, not like the old drunks around him. She wondered what his story was and what brought him to her bar. It was a dump by all standards, but there were a few touches that showed it was getting better. There were better paying bartender jobs than this place, but Neena liked the relaxed atmosphere and the luxury of getting to know people.
He smiled back, a crooked grin, one that granted a flash of the pearly gates and crinkled his eyes at the corners. Very rarely had a bartender ever greeted him with nice to meet you. Especially in a place like this, where you’d be lucky to see a flicker of life and mirth in dead eyes - slinging drinks wasn’t always the most glamorous job, but Neal knew from experience that it did afford you loads of opportunity to meet tons of people, from all different walks of life. And also hear some juicy gossip.
It was amazing what people let loose to bartenders who were willing to provide a listening ear. This one seemed friendly, maybe she’d be up for chatting. “I think it’s a beer day,” he said, and that’s what he ordered - Stone Pale Ale, cool and refreshing, made right here in California. San Diego, actually. “But it’s good to meet you too. Nice place you’ve got here.”
“I like it,” Neena said with a smile. She drew the beer and set it down in front of Neal, leaning on the counter a little. “You like the local stuff, huh? That’s one of my favorites. I’m Neena,” she pointed to her name tag, because it mattered to her that people knew how to spell her name. It was just one of her little idiosyncrasies. Plus it showed off her chest in a fairly flattering way, and who knew, maybe this guy was single.
“Yep, definitely love the local stuff.” He took the beer with a thanks, enjoying the first swig, down the hatch. “It’s finely handcrafted, and all that. Neal, by the way,” he added, after the bartender introduced herself - Neena, that was a good name. Uniquely spelled too (he understood this, and the importance of getting it right being that his own name was often misspelled Neil).
There was something else about her too, some sense of familiarity. In a place like Orange County, those feelings about people were usually spot on - if you didn’t know them yet, you probably would. “I think I remember you,” he mused. “Valar, right?” Or at least, he remembered an introductory post made by someone who was also a Neena - couldn’t be a coincidence. Nothing here ever was.
“Yeah, did I talk to you there?” Neena couldn’t remember him, but she hadn’t paid much attention to the people who replied to her. She was too busy to really devote herself to an online forum, especially when all she had to do it with was her crappy smartphone. Maybe someday she’d shell out for Internet at her apartment. “I feel like I should get a raise for how many people I brought in with that post. It was nice to see some old regulars, too.”
“Nah,” Neal chuckled, flashing another easygoing grin. “I just remembered the name. Haven’t seen many Neena’s around the forum.” Of course, he tried not to come up with a dumb nickname for her right off the bat - she looked like she’d dropkick him if he jokingly called her Neeners or something. But the ability to dropkick someone was definitely a quality he could respect in a lady.
No, instead he sipped his beer casually, studying her with a certain amount of curiosity. “You should definitely get a raise though. It’s...well, it can be a trainwreck on that forum on occasion but you meet good people. No complaints. I moved here over a year ago with basically nothing and I made my own family. Sounds cheesy as hell, but it was all thanks to that clusterfuck.” Maybe some might think he was crazy for continuing to stay, and maybe he was. Still wouldn’t change it.
Neena smiled at his story. It was a change from the usual litanies of woe and angst she heard. It was nice to hear someone was happy with their life. “Good for you. What brought you here today? Not too many happy stories here.” Herself included, but that was none of his business.
Oh, right, coming into this shady bar? Yeah, that was probably because of other mini-clusterfucks related to life in the OC. Long story - he tried to figure out where to start. “It was a long day at work?” Neal offered, rubbing the back of his neck. “I run a ranch for at-risk youth, so, kids who have been in juvie a few times and all that. It can be....a lot. But i love it since, you know, I was that kid. Once upon a time, back in ye olde days of yore.” And he’d managed to straighten up, get his GED, pull himself together - god, it was a long road though. Up until recently he still bore the stains of his past criminal life - and really, those stains would probably never fully wash away.
“There’s always a lot of dreamer drama too. You’ll get more into that, the longer you stick around.”
Neena nodded, thinking back to her own misspent youth. It looked a lot like her misspent present, really. At least now she knew what she was missing. “Sounds like where I was about five years ago. I was living in Pasadena and doing what it took to survive with no strings attached. Then I got attached hard to a theoretical physicist.” Then she’d had a real life, and a good one at that.
Not that it mattered now. She sighed and shrugged. “Hope it ends better for you.” She’d lost everything about that life that mattered when Milo died. In some ways she never wanted to live like that again, because it would be dishonoring his memory.
Delving into her personal life was a big no, though, so she perked herself up and changed the subject. “That’s not the first time I’ve heard about dreaming. What’s the deal? Do you have weird dreams and they come true?”
A theoretical physicist? That sounded intense. But the heart wanted what it wanted - it was obvious that the attachment ran deep, and Neal could sympathize. “Same,” he was all too happy to commiserate about misspent youth - seemed like they had that in common. “Well, minus the physicist part. But survival, yeah, I’m really good at that too - felt like I was doing more surviving than actually living, whatever it took to get by.” Not all of it legal - that was implied. “It’s hard, yeah? Really runs you down after awhile.”
Though he picked up on the change in subject, and wouldn’t press for more info, even if he did feel kind of a kinship about the hard-knock life. “The dreams are...” Shit, how to explain those damn things? “Glimpses of another universe. Another version of yourself, if you believe in that theory of multiple realities. My son is all into it, he’s twelve and reads a lot of comic books. Though here...a lot of it is valid,” he admitted, taking another swig of beer.
“Living just to survive is pretty rough, but it’s all some people have.” Sometimes it felt like all she wanted, because then she didn’t have time to think about her life.
The dreams were something she was increasingly curious about. “Milo would have said that there’s a lot more to understand than we know about. You make it sound so. . . tame I guess. One girl said she could heal back limbs after they got lopped off. That’s some crazy shit.”
“Do I make them sound tame?” Neal had to chuckle a little at that too. They were anything but tame, but hey, why piss on someone’s parade. “I’m just...trying not to look like a crazy person. Don’t want to ruin the moment,” he amended, and he sounded somewhat amused by the declaration. He also liked to think that he maintained a relatively calm head when shit hit the fan - as it tended to do around here.
As far as superpowers and magic went, he also felt like he’d seen the full spectrum of that and yet people still kept popping up with all these unique abilities. Really kind of amazing. “It’s all a lotta crazy shit, yeah,” he agreed, granted, good thing for Neena she seemed to be taking a lot of it in stride. “You might join the superpowers club too, who knows,” Neal saluted her with his bottle.
Neena snorted. “Sure, but my power will probably be more trouble than it’s worth. You get anything special out of it?” She was willing to believe, but she wanted to know. You could only go so far with belief.
“You never know....” Neal trailed off, but yeah, he could see that. His own dreamworld hammered the concept of magic (power, in any sense) always coming with a price. Most things did, right? “But no, I didn’t get anything. Not in terms of superpowers. A few dream gifts with more sentimental value than anything else. Uh, I got shot once, and it carried over?” That had been a great trip to the hospital.
He’d also been possessed by a liquid darkness form of his father, and then Neal died briefly when they were separated, but that was a whole different discussion for a different day. “I’ve experienced the gamut, let’s just say. Been here awhile. Still can’t see myself living anywhere else.”
In Neena’s experience everything had a price, and often she was in no mood or position to pay it. “Must be someone really special keeping you here.” The dreams sounded like more trouble than they were worth. She didn’t intend to have any if she could help it. “Why don’t we talk about that instead? I don’t want you thinking I’m just pumping you for information.”
“Multiple someone’s,” Neal admitted, finishing off the beer. Ahhh, that really hit the spot. He folded his arms on the bartop, casual, as he chatted. “My son is here. And my girlfriend. And other good friends too, kind of more like a family. I didn’t have much of one growing up, but now...”
Yep, he’d built this one from scratch and with no shortage of hard work and effort, not to mention shit hitting the fan more than a few times. He’d been kidnapped with Lina, tortured, rescued, he’d been there for his best friend when his own then-girlfriend was kidnapped too, then stood by that very same friend’s side when he got married in space. But where he was now was all worth it.
“Anyway, I won’t keep yakking your ear off, Neena. I’ll let you get back to work, yeah? But if you’re ever off one night and need a drink not from your own bar, I’m around.”
Neena gave him a smile, collecting his empty glass. “that sounds like a plan. Have a good evening.”