WHO:Eliot Spencer & Veronica Mars WHEN: Late Feb WHERE: A bar WHAT: Blowing off some steam, dealing with douches and drinks. RATING/WARNINGS: Low/None STATUS: Complete
Veronica had worked later than usual and she wasn’t quite ready to head back to her apartment just yet. It was feeling a little small lately. She loved Sharon and her mom and the baby, but it was a lot of people in a small space. So stopping for a drink first it was. Just one beer and then she’d head home.
Once she finished off her drink Veronica she left some money on the bar, getting ready to head out. When she was approached by some dochey looking dude who had clearly already had a few drinks already.
“Where are you going Blondie? Let me buy you a drink,” douchebag said.
What was it with her and getting hit on by assholes in bars? Seriously. Well it had been awhile but the last time she ended up punching the guy and getting kicked out. Not an experience she’d like to revisit. “Thanks, but no thanks.” She barely glanced at the guy as she made her way for the door.
Of course douchebag followed her out. “Taking me home already? Forward, aren’t you Blondie?” Veronica rolled her eyes in annoyance continuing on her way, keeping up the same pace although her hand did reach into her purse, securing her taser. Hopefully if she ignored him he’d go away. Of course that wasn’t the case. Douche placed a hand on her arm, gripping it just a little too tightly for Veronica’s liking.
“You really don’t want to try that,” she said as she pulled the taser out of her bag, without hesitation she twirled around shocking the guy right in his stomach.
Eliot had a real dislike for idiots that came on really strong. Sure, he hit on women just the same as anyone else, but a straight no was usually a pretty firm indication that they weren’t interested, so why pursue it?
And he wasn’t looking to put his nose in, because it wasn’t his business. But he was leaving at the same time, and he would rather be sure than read later that something had gone down. There was a special kind of guy that just ignored that shit. And it wasn’t his sort of guy.
But clearly any concern was unfounded, since he just caught the tail end of the encounter which happened to include a tasing to the torso that had the guy doubling over. “Impressive.”
Almost as soon as douchebag was taken care of she heard another guy speaking to her. Veronica turned around taser still in hand to face him. “I don’t have time to put up with bull shit.”
“You’re crazy,” douchebag said causing Veronica to whip back around.
“Do you want me to tase you again?” Veronica warned, pressing down on the trigger lightly just enough to make the taser light up with electricity. That caused the asshole to hurry off. Then her attention was back on the other man. “What?” she asked blatantly. “You want to get tased too?” Veronica knew that this guy probably wasn’t out to hurt her, or even hit on her. Especially if he witnessed what she would do in response. But she was still a little defensive from her encounter.
Holding his hands up with a slight shake of his head, still not really wiping that smirk off his face, Eliot didn’t bother moving any closer, she was clearly still amped up. “Woah, easy. I was just gonna make sure douchebag didn’t try getting fresh. But clearly, you have this all under control.”
There were certain things that Eliot found unconscionable. And he wasn’t about to walk away until he knew the woman could handle herself, but he also wasn’t going to make her any more uncomfortable himself.
Right, not every guy was a total tool. Veronica had to remind herself of that sometimes. And while the sentiment was nice of whoever this guy was it obviously wasn’t needed. Still Veronica didn’t have to be a bitch to him. Lowering her taser she even dropped it back it back in her purse.
“Sorry,” Veronica said with a shrug of her shoulders. At least she hadn’t actually tased the guy. “Force of habit,” she added not to mention she had been caught up in the heat of the moment. Surely this guy could understand that given what he witnessed.
Eliot was used to rough areas, and rough women, most of the women he knew professionally would’ve broken the guy in half, never mind just tase him. So he wasn’t overly surprised. It was probably a good thing she was so prepared and thankfully it wasn’t mace, since that stuff could really linger.
“This place that much of a shit show that you gotta tase folks regularly?” A hint of surprise there, but then it didn’t really seem that impossible -they were pretty close to LA, and that was just a swamp of douchebags.
She honestly didn’t tase people on a regular basis. There had been a few occasions. She had even tased her cop friend once when she was under some sort of be a bitch to the people you cared about spell thanks to Orange County. Usually she just punched assholes that hit on her but tasing was quicker.
“I guess that depends on your definition of regular,” Veronica replied with a smirk. Though she had a feeling it was a lot more than the few occasions that she had. And the blonde was usually right about these sorts of things, she tended to be good at reading people.
“More than twice a week.” Of course from Eliot’s experience it was better to have that option. Then again, people like him tended to work up immunities to things like that. It wasn’t that it didn’t hurt, it was just that he could compartmentalise the pain. “I think more than twice a week is regular.”
Veronica had been right in her assumption. But then she usually was right about these sorts of things. Okay she was usually just right in general. “Then no, not regularly. Most guys aren’t stupid enough to try me,” she gave him another smirk. “You often tase people twice a week? Or do you just hit them?” Again she had a feeling it was the latter. He seemed like the type of guy that preferred his fists to other weapons.
“I find hitting them is much more satisfying.” Really he did, there were just a lot of people that got Eliot to the brink of violence purely by talking or just existing sometimes. It probably wasn’t healthy, but it was how his life had been for years. He was a patient man, when he needed to be, but he had always had a hair trigger temper. Which usually resulted in violence.
“Unfortunately for most people, if I hit them, they’re not usually getting up and running away.” He had a terrible habit of knocking someone out and really knocking them out.
His words might scare some people but Veronica wasn’t deterred. She knew they weren’t meant as a threat but merely as information, to a question she had asked no less. And the guy had said he had come to make sure douchebag wasn’t going to try anything on her, not that Veronica needed it but still. She could tell this guy wasn’t some douche looking to get laid, at least she didn’t think so and she had been right with her assumptions of him so far.
“And do you knock people out on a regular basis?” she raised a brow. “Come on you can tell me about it over a drink,” she nodded back to the bar. Sure she had been planning on leaving, but that was in large part due to douchebag and not wanting to get kicked out of a bar again. “My treat. Least I could do for the guy that tried to be my knight in shin gin armor.”
He could readily admit to knocking people out a lot, more than just ‘regular’ by those standards. It wasn’t just the same as admitting he did a lot worse just as regularly. And clearly she was a little more at ease than when douchebag decided to try and get fresh with her too. So why not have another drink and talk if it was available.
Grabbing the door, Eliot nodded his head for the blond with a small smirk. “On a semi-regular basis I’d say. Sometimes it’s a slow week.” Which usually meant that he had a little more than just knocking someone out on his plate.
There was definitely more to this guy’s story. Veronica could tell that already. And she had to admit she wanted to know more. Damn her curiosity. Drinks seemed like a good way to start. The only way at the moment.
“I’d hate to see a fast week for you,” Veronica replied as she walked through the door. “Name’s Veronica by the way,” another good place to start. No need to give out the last name like her usual way of introduction. She didn’t trust this guy that much. “What’s your poison?” she asked as they reached the bar, the bartender almost doing a double take since she had just walked out with an asshole following her moments ago.
“Eliot,” first names tended to do fine with these types of meetings (some of the time when Eliot met a girl in a bar, names weren’t even remembered) so he wasn’t too fussed about that. “Just a beer is fine.”
Either way, company for a little while wasn’t much of a hassle. A few hours out for something relaxing did good sometimes, and Eliot figured it would give the douchebag plenty of time to get lost and cool down. He could walk Veronica out later just to be sure the asshole didn’t come back with some friends, even if the blond could handle herself. But grabbing a table and sharing a drink before then, even if it took a little avoidance on some subjects, Eliot didn’t mind the conversation for the night.