Who: Dan and Liv What: Playing pool, learning new things, singing a song When: Mid September (before the Great Destroyers plot) Where: Random bar Rating/Warnings: Low Status: Complete!
Once wasn’t the only musical Liv had seen lately. There had been many more, including Hamilton. While she was still in the mood to enjoy a good show, she was finally satisfied enough to finally play pool with Dan as promised. She was even dressed for it this time in jeans and a maroon halter top. As usual she wasn’t wearing much make-up although it looked like she, her hair was the same as always too, loose with a bit of a wave.
So far Liv was enjoying the evening. They hadn’t been at the bar long, just long enough to get their drinks and grab a pool table. As usual, Liv’s drink of choice was a jalapeño margarita, heavy on the jalapeño. “So,” Liv began letting Dan rack the balls. “I may have exaggerated my pool skills a bit.” Sure she had them when she first brought up the idea of pool. But when she switched brains, the old personality went away and so did all the inherited skills.
“Didja now?” Dan smirked across the table at her as he removed the rack, leaving the balls in a tight little triangle. “Ah, that be alright, darlin’. This ‘ere be a simple game ‘tween friends.” No nine-ball or snooker or “screw your neighbor” (which really only could be played with three people). Just a simple game of eight-ball and Dan didn’t care if it took them all night.
He was enjoying spending time with Liv. It was always something new, though she continued to drink her unique form of margaritas. Dan had started making sure he always had a jar of jalapenos stocked and ready under his bar for when Liv came by. Tonight since he didn’t feel the need to get hammered, he had opted for just beer, whatever the bar had on tap so long as it wasn’t pisswater. Becoming a bar owner himself had made him a little snobbish about what other’s had on tap.
He was wearing his usual number: a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbow and a pair of slacks to match. It was amazing how versatile the combination was. He could go to relaxed to business with a simple roll or unroll of his sleeves.
Since Dan had racked, Liv had the honors of breaking. Dan selected them each a cue from the stand attached to the wall rolling them across the other end of the table to check for balance. Cues owned by pool halls or bars were notorious for being unbalanced, but these two seemed in fairly good condition. He handed Liv her’s and went about chalking his end. “The last time I played was against me wife. She said somethin’ about practicin’ so she could beat the guy she sleeps with. Apparently he be some kind o’ shark. Or ‘e was until ‘e went blind.”
Liv knew enough about pool to know you were supposed to use the white (cue?) ball to hit the other balls. You either wanted to get the stripes or the solids and save the eight ball for last. And you didn't want to get the white ball in the pockets. The rules she knew. At least to basic pool. If Dan tried to get her to play any of those other games she would be lost.
“Sounds good,” Liv grinned accepting the cue stick from him. “And you have to promise not to laugh too much,” she added following suit to chalk her own cue.
She was just lining up her shot when she heard the word wife. Liv shot back up raising a brow at him. “I’m sorry, did you just say wife?” Granted he also mentioned his wife was sleeping with someone else. So perhaps it was an ex wife type situation. Plus Liv and Dan were just friends. He didn't have to tell her. But still it was shocking to hear.
“Aye, darlin’,” Dan said over the rim of his beer glass. “I ‘ave a wife. Her name’s Carolina. Met an’ married ‘er in Vegas this February last. Take me advice, Liv, should ye ever find yerself up that way in the future. Donnea git yerself so drunk that the idea of getting’ hitched so ye kin enjoy a honeymoon suite at a discount and comped spa visits a good idea. ‘Cause it’s not. Not so easy t’ get a marriage annulled after the fact.”
After another draught of beer he set his glass down and leaned against the table, arms lightly folded across his chest. “We were gonna get a divorce, got the paper work all filed an’ everythin’ was set for an amicable partin’ o’ ways in August. Then good ol’ Uncle Sam decided ‘e wanted Carolina back in ‘is services. She’s a marine, ye see. That changed a few things.” As had Carolina’s discovery of how Dan really made his living, but he left that part out for now. “Never been part o’ the military, so I ‘ave no idea what she’s gone through, but I understand ‘ow important it can be t’ have someone waitin’ fer you at ‘ome. ‘Specialy since they deployed’er almost immediately. She also wanted her benefits t’ go t’ someone in the event she couldn’t make it back. She’s got a brother ‘ere an’ fer some reason even though he be family, her benies wouldn’t go t’ him. So I promised her if – God forbid – anything did happen, I’d make sure her brother got what she wanted’im t’ have. Only sure fire way fer that t’ happen was if we stayed married. At least fer as long as the marines ‘ave her on beck an’ call.”
Well okay then. The explanation made sense, and again Dan didn't owe her anything. But it still made her a bit wary. Marriage for benefits or not Liv had morals. It just solidified the fact that this wouldn't go beyond friendship. Not that it really could anyway given the zombie aspect.
"That's nice of you," Liv replied because really what else was there to say? Part of her wondered if it was for more than just the benefits aspect but it wasn't her place to ask.
"I probably won't be as good as her," Liv smirked bending back down to line up her shot. She hit the cue ball sending it to the triangle of balls with force. Two stripes and one solid made it into the pockets.
Yes, Dan supposed it was nice of him. Of course when he’d agreed to remain Carolina’s husband he hadn’t planned on the possibility of meeting anyone. Anyone potentially special, that is. He and Carolina had decided from the start that they would not hold the other to be faithful. It wouldn’t have been fair. They didn’t love each other. Carolina had her life with her interests in and out of the bedroom and Dan had his. Dan hadn’t given it much thought at the time. At the time he hadn’t banked on meeting anyone special.
He didn’t know if Liv was someone special. Not yet, anyway. She was different -- in all the good ways -- from the types of women Dan usually associated with. He found that he looked forward to spending time with Liv, whether it was going to a show, playing pool, just hanging out at his bar.
“Nah, don’t fret none ‘bout that,” he said. Another brow was raised when Liv broke the set and sank a number of balls out the gate. “Aye then, darlin’,” he grinned at her. “Yer choice. Whatcha wanna be? Stripes or solids?”
“I’ll go with stripes,” Liv said pleased for the subject change. She did have a few questions about the whole marriage thing, but it didn’t feel right to ask. Not to mention she didn’t really want to focus on Dan’s wife.
As she lined up her next shot she began to hum the notes of ‘Ya Got Trouble’ from The Music Man. She did manage to hit one of the striped balls, but it didn’t make it into any pockets. “Damn,” Liv commented but there wasn’t much disappointment on her face. Well not because of the shot anyway. The fact that Dan was married, was still a bit disconcerting. However she was trying her best not to let it show. She just went right on back to humming.
“Good choice,” Dan smiled at her. It was his shot next. She hadn’t left him with anything good on the table, so he took a moment to decide of the shots he potentially had, which would be the best for him to take. He glanced at Liv as she hummed. He didn’t recognize the tune, not that Dan was particularly great at picking out songs just by hearing the corde.
He took his shot, sinking one of his balls. “What’s that yer hummin’?” He asked as he circled around the table to see what shot he should take next. He wasn’t a good enough pool player to be able to take a shot and have the next shot already be lined up. The cue ball had come to rest against the bumper on the opposite side of the table.
If Liv was her real self. Without the influence of any brains, she never would have sang in public. Wouldn’t have had the guts to. But she was under the influence of a brain, and the urge to sing was there. “Ya Got Trouble,” Liv informed him and then before she could even stop herself Liv burst into song. “Ya got trouble, folks, right here in River City. Trouble with a capital T And that rhymes with P and that stands for pool!”
But no, she didn’t stop there. Liv ended up singing the entire song, even getting into enough to use her pool cue as a fake microphone. It wasn’t until she had finished that she had realized what she had just done. Embarrassment took over, Liv looked at the ground sheepishly. If she had the capability of blushing, now would be the time.
Despite the subject matter, the current game was utterly forgotten as Dan watched Liv sing a show tune from (what he assumed anyway) was a musical she must have seen on her own. As she sang, a slow smile pulled across Dan’s face.
The tune was ridiculously catchy and Dan even started humming along. And then he even chimed during the parts the chorus would have sung. And then burst out into laughter when it was over. Yup. Never a dull moment with Liv.
A few of those playing at the nearby tables, had also stopped to watch and listen to Liv’s rendition, with a mixture of amusement and befuddlement, before returning to their own games. Dan, on the other hand, gave Liv a round of applause for her performance. “That was good, darlin’. An’ appropriate song fer the night.” He was grinning at her teasingly, but not meanly. “I enjoyed that. What else y a got?”
Part of her wanted to burst out into another song. But that part wasn’t Liv, it was the brain she had eaten. Liv just wanted to enjoy her evening with Dan. Even if he seemed to be amused by her singing. “That’s it,” Liv replied with a shy smile. “Let’s get back to the game.”
The shy smile came a little unexpected. Shy was not a word Dan would have ever used to describe the eccentric medical examiner. It was kind of cute, though. Actually, it was more endearing. Dan liked Liv’s smile, shy or not. His own teasing grin mellowed into something a little softer. “Aye, darlin’,” he said with a nod. He leaned over to finally take his shot. “If’n ye teach me some o’ those songs, next time we kin sing a duet.” He actually would have liked that.