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Post by hadleyfraser on Apr 10, 2012 20:16:34 GMT -5
   It was Sunday, and it was Hadley's day off from the Blue Scallop. She had been tutoring junior high students all day, preparing most of them for the same exam the next day, and she was tired of algebra. What she wanted was a good cocktail, but alas, no one made them like she did. She had found a flyer tucked under the windshield wiper of her car advertising the Jack Kit, and since she'd never been, she decided to check it out and have a beer.
It was about nine o' clock when she entered the Jack Kit, in a pair of distressed levi's and a light pink button-down shirt, sleeves rolled to her elbows and a pair of worn Laredo's on her feet. She loved those boots- perhaps a little too much, seeing as they were about ten years old- and wore them every chance she got. It was a nice switch from her skirt-and-pantyhose ensemble that she wore to tutor, and from the black on black outfit she wore at the Scallop. All in all, Hadley looked very feminine tonight, but very relaxed at the same time.
With her dark hair pulled back into a long, gently curling ponytail high on her head, she slid onto a barstool and ordered a Lite. She was impressed when she didn't have to specify "Miller Lite" to the bar tender. Usually when she said "Lite" the tender would respond with "what kind?" That annoyed her.
The bar tender slid the ice cold bottle across the bar to Hadley without a word and went back to drying pilsners. Hadley rolled her eyes. So much for good service. If she had been bar tending, she at least would have inquired about the nature of her patron's day. Not this guy- he was about as talkative as a mop, only with less personality.
Determined to shake off her bad mood, Hadley took a long pull on her beer and closed her eyes, savoring the flavor. She longed for a cigarette, but she'd quit smoking three months ago and hadn't fallen off the wagon yet, amazingly enough.
With a satisfied sigh, Hadley took another swig from her beer and flicked her gaze toward the TV above the bar.
 [/color]:[/b] Kit and possibly Gavin? Words?![/color]:[/b] some words. Notes?![/color]:[/b] nope. Lyrics?![/color]:[/b] What's This ~ The Nightmare Before Christmas Credit?![/color]:[/b] Le Twix ! @ Caution 2.0[/sub][/size] |
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Post by GAVIN BROOKS on Apr 11, 2012 0:13:10 GMT -5
WHY! Why on EARTH would anyone want to wipe their shit all over a bathroom wall? What would posses someone to ever do that?! Gavin wanted to barf and had actually gagged several times while cleaning the wall in the men's room. He silently hated his boss in that moment. Why did Kit need to pick him to clean it? Jason was a walking mop with no personality and couldn't mix drinks worth a shit. Why wouldn't he send him back there to clean the poo?
Because you were there when he found it He answered in his mind, which made him more angry. He needed to quit hanging around his boss at work. What he needed to do was stay as far the hell away from him as possible.
Gavin practically bathed in the sink, using no less than fifteen pumps of soap to wash himself down. He could practically feel it on him even though he'd worn gloves. It had taken thirty minutes to get the bathroom looking semi presentable, not that the men's room was ever truly presentable. There were crude drawings everywhere, and it had the distinct smell of bathroom and old beer. No amount of disinfectant would rid it of that.
When he was certain he was clean, he returned to the bar with a chip on his shoulder. He needed to calm down. He needed to get laid. He shot a text over to Nicole, wondering what she was up to later. Maybe they could save water and shower together. But then he wondered if he was being too clingy by asking to hang with her again. Since when was he a single girl kinda guy again? Been there, done that, didn't wanna do it again. Not yet, anyway. He was enjoying playing the field maybe a tad too much.
When he got back to the bar he moved over towards where the TV was since he had missed the game. His team was behind now?! This was shaping up to be a real great night! He felt his mood dampening with every second hat ticked by.
"What I miss?" He asked the girl closest to him who was sipping on a beer. "I walk away for thirty minutes and now this? C'mon!" He was talking more to the TV than to the girl. A fine night indeed!
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Post by hadleyfraser on Apr 11, 2012 13:01:13 GMT -5
Hadley had never been much of a sports kind of girl, but she did have a soft spot in her heart for the Willamette Bearcats baseball team. Maybe it was the tight pants, or maybe it was the fact that it was a local team, but Hadley was pretty intent on watching this game. It was a close one, too.
She almost didn't notice when a guy came over and sat down on the stool next to hers, and barely registered that he had spoken until several seconds later.
"Oh, um, the Bearcats just made a complete run and are headed into the field. Eighth Inning is about to start. That's about it," she said without looking at the gentleman. She took another sip of her beer and shrugged. "It's been kind of a slow game. Then again, it is Baseball."
Hadley checked her phone; it was only nine thirty... and she didn't have anything to do in the morning, so why was she already craving her warm bed? It's not like she'd had an exhausting day. She was just crazy sleepy for some reason.
At that moment the hitter for the opposing team hit one out of the park, making an easy homer for the opponent. Hadley called out at the screen in annoyance, something about how stupid it was to throw a ball right to the hitter. She was actually getting pretty into the game.
The mute bar tender behind the stick slid her another Miller Lite, which she accepted without even looking up and took a long swig from the bottle. It was only now that she glanced toward the man sitting beside her, and she noticed casually that he wasn't bad looking. Taller than her, by the looks of him, and well muscled. She thought for a brief moment of introducing herself, but then remembered that she had imposed a "no dating" policy for a while. She wanted to stick to it!
[/color]:[/b] Kit and possibly Gavin? Words?![/color]:[/b] some words. Notes?![/color]:[/b] nope. Lyrics?![/color]:[/b] What's This ~ The Nightmare Before Christmas Credit?![/color]:[/b] Le Twix ! @ Caution 2.0[/sub][/size] |
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Post by GAVIN BROOKS on Apr 11, 2012 13:27:24 GMT -5
"It's been kind of a slow game. Then again, it is Baseball." He snorted. She would think that. Typical girl. Gavin wasn't a womanizer by any stretch of the imagination. Sure, he did use women sort of from time to time but often it was mutual, or he liked to believe it was. They always seemed just as interested in playing with him as he was with them. He respected women. They had to deal with more crap then men did, and he was fine by it. He would sit and play the good guy during their periods, a time he tried to stay away from women, but most girls, he found, just couldn't truly appreciate the simple game of baseball.
Plus, this particular girl seemed interested in those stupid bearcats. Everyone liked them! What even was a bearcat?! Was it a bear? Was it a cat? Was it some creepy combination or maybe it was an animal he just wasn't aware of. If it was, it must be a stupid animal to not get its own name, but rather a combination of two other animals. It wasn't special, and neither was this team.
But then the Pacific Boxers stepped back up and hit one clear out of the park. "Woo!" He called out as the girl beside him seemed annoyed by his teams success. They were rivals! He chuckled softly and gloated in her direction. "Not so slow now, is it?" He mocked a little arrogantly, though there was an underlying playfulness to his words. He slid off the stool and went around the bar. He stopped in front of her, the bar relatively slow at the moment.
"A bearcat fan and a Miller Lite drinker." He tsked and shook his head, teasing her. "You're such a girl." He wrinkled his nose, obviously playing with her, a chuckle rumbling in the back of his throat as if those two things were feminine, which they weren't. He only wanted to tease. It put him in better spirits anyway, and after cleaning shit off the wall, he needed to be in better spirits!
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Post by hadleyfraser on Apr 11, 2012 13:39:22 GMT -5
Just as Hadley expressed her annoyance at the Boxer's success, the guy beside her let out a resounding cheer. She looked over at him with an incredulous stare, as though to say "where is your loyalty?!" But then he crossed behind the bar and leaned toward her over the bar.
"A Bearcat fan and a Miller Lite drinker," the man said with a boyish grin. "You're such a girl."
Hadley snorted. "Well spotted," she said with a grin. "Although I think if it's the beer that rats me out as a woman, I must be lacking in some very important areas. But at least I don't have shit on my shirt," she said, nodding to a brown spot on the collar of his shirt. In this particular battle of wits, Hadley felt that she was the better armed opponent.
But then he laughed a deep rumbling chuckle, and Hadley had to physically stop herself from shivering a little. His laugh was very sexy, and Hadley was annoyed with herself for even noticingt hat in the first place, let alone for reacting to it. She'd clearly been alone for too long. And would it be such a bad thing if she flirted tonight?
Mmhmm. Yes, it would be a bad thing, because Hadley was well aware of her blossoming desperation for male attention. She'd broken up with her long-time boyfriend, Alex, around Christmas, and had sworn off men as a New Year's resolution. It was April, and so far, so good.
[/color]:[/b] Kit and possibly Gavin? Words?![/color]:[/b] some words. Notes?![/color]:[/b] nope. Lyrics?![/color]:[/b] What's This ~ The Nightmare Before Christmas Credit?![/color]:[/b] Le Twix ! @ Caution 2.0[/sub][/size] |
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Post by GAVIN BROOKS on Apr 11, 2012 18:22:01 GMT -5
"Well spotted, although I think if it's the beer that rats me out as a woman, I must be lacking in some very important areas." He snorted and then realized she hadn't finished speaking. "But at least I don't have shit on my shirt," "What?" He looked down and it took a minute to notice the spot on his collar. "Oh, sick!" He grumbled, unbuttoning his shirt and taking it off. He was wearing a white t-shirt underneath so it wasn't like he was topless, the front tucked into his jeans though the back was not.
Gavin sighed, shoving the plaid shirt under counter. It was one of his favorites, too. White with almost every color running through. It just looked nice on him, maybe because it hugged at his body just the right way. He sort of liked looking a little country; it suited him, but the plain white t-shirt look was fine for now. At least it was clean!
"Occupational hazard." He explained, shaking his head and sighing. "I love my job, but sometimes... man sometimes it's shitty. Literally. I mean, who in the hell wipes their own crap on a wall? Seriously! What sort of damn person does that?" It was a rhetorical question, since he wasn't sure she would have any answer. He was just venting about it again, still in disbelief over it.
"Anyway, it's clean so there's that." He looked at the girl again and then gave a bashful sort of grin. He was supposed to be listening to the patrons problems, not the other way around! "Sorry, sorta hit a nerve there." He commented playfully. "You need anything, or you all set?" He asked her, since he didn't want to be bothering her. He wasn't sure she was really into conversation. He lifted an arm up and rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling bad for bugging her.
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KIT RATHBONE
The Snarling 
"I'm shaking in my space boots, Cowboy."
Posts: 97
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Post by KIT RATHBONE on Apr 11, 2012 20:42:00 GMT -5
There was nothing like a hot, drunken shower. He didn't know why he didn't get better help at the bar but somehow he ended up being the one who had to restock the bar for the night. The shipment truck had come in and to make sure that nothing went flat or got too warm. So he'd managed to hoist the entire load in and restocked the coolers before Gavin had managed to even get to work. At that time he was already in a sour mood and when it came to the crap on the wall he took it out on Gavin, making him clean it up. But now that Kit was clean and in a new outfit, still heavily buzzed from the open bottle of jack daniels he'd been drinking from all afternoon, he felt good and was ready to head back down to the bar.
His little apartment wasn't much. It was small but how much room did one man really need? He lived on top of his bar and it wasn't as if he held a normal schedule. He couldn't sleep at night with all the rowdy occupants, not that he'd ever want to. He'd be right down there serving drinks and drinking them right alongside the patrons and then sleeping off a hangover all the next day just to get up and do it all again. It was the life.
When Kit headed back downstairs and into the bar he saw Gavin pulling off his shirt and he squinted at him with confusion clear on his face. He slowly started to head behind the bar, taking long slow strides towards Gavin. "This isn't Chippendale's, Chuckles. How about keeping your clothes on?" He suggested and looked at the girl who was sitting there who was obviously just as amused with Gavin taking off his shirt.
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Post by hadleyfraser on Apr 12, 2012 13:33:01 GMT -5
Hadley had just taken a big swig of her beer when the blond guy, who appeared to be the boss man, made his comment about Chip-n-Dale's. It took her by surprise, and she laughed so hard that she snorted and nearly sprayed beer everywhere. That would have been less than ladylike. She grabbed a beverage napkin and dabbed at her lips, suppressing another wave of giggles.
"Sorry," she said. "Sorry. But that was hilarious." Hadley realized she was probably blushing, be it from trying to stifle her laughter or from embarrassment that she'd snorted into her beer, she wasn't really sure. Either way, she new her cheeks were flushed.
Hadley went back to watching the game, but she kept glancing over at the two men behind the bar. They were both very handsome, but in startlingly different ways. They didn't look all that different physically, but the way the newcomer carried himself, witha jaunty, devil-may-care kind of gait, caught Hadley's eye in a way that the first man's demeanor had not. However, the first one did seem more friendly. After all, he'd been the one to talk to her, whereas New Guy had completely ignored her. But why shouldn't he? He had hundreds of patrons, she was certain, and there was no reason for him to pay attention to her at all.
So why was she annoyed?
[/color]:[/b] Kit and possibly Gavin? Words?![/color]:[/b] some words. Notes?![/color]:[/b] nope. Lyrics?![/color]:[/b] What's This ~ The Nightmare Before Christmas Credit?![/color]:[/b] Le Twix ! @ Caution 2.0[/sub][/size] |
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Post by GAVIN BROOKS on Apr 12, 2012 19:12:31 GMT -5
"This isn't Chippendale's, Chuckles. How about keeping your clothes on?" Of course Kit would choose that moment to enter back into the real world. He narrowed his eyes playfully at his boss, not moving to get his soiled shirt.
"Well, bossman, if you must know, it got a little dirty while I cleaned the bathroom. I'm pretty darn sure no one wants a bartender serving them with shit on his shirt, eh?" He nudged the other boy who was clearly drunk, though in great control of himself. Gavin knew the boss was an alcoholic. He drank far too much, and he often smelled of booze before Gavin even got there. But if those signs weren't enough, Jo certainly was.
Every so often Kit's mousey little ex would saunter in and hassle him. It never started that way. She was usually happy at first, but by the end of the night she was storming out and yelling at him and he was storming off to the back, or downing a bottle of Jack to forget. All in all, out of the half dozen or so times he'd witnessed this little dance between them, it had never, not once, ended on a good note. She claims he'd been an alcoholic for as long as she'd known him, which was apparently since high school.
His gaze moved back to the girl and he raised a brow. "Watch it," He said, pointing playfully at her, "or I'll cut you off." He threw a wink her way and grabbed the bucket under the bar to go get more ice from the back.
"You want me to wear one of your shirts for the night, or is the undershirt good enough, man?" He asked, making it clear he was not putting on a shirt that had crap on it.
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KIT RATHBONE
The Snarling
"I'm shaking in my space boots, Cowboy."
Posts: 97
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Post by KIT RATHBONE on Apr 12, 2012 21:25:09 GMT -5
It wasn't until the girl seated at the bar snorted that he even took notice of her. Not bad he thought to himself and even made a little face of approval and nodded to himself. But then his attention went back to Gavin and he just shook his head and gave him his usual glare. "Well your entire wardrobe is shitty but it doesn't mean you can just strip down to your birthday suit!" Kit definitely was taking it out of proportion but he didn't care. It was his damn bar he could do what he pleased!
His eyes flitted over to the girl once more and eyed her while Gavin headed towards him. "You want me to wear one of your shirts for the night, or is the undershirt good enough, man?"
Kit looked at Gavin and just stared at him for a second as if he was still trying to figure out what he just said. "..what? No you're fine. Just don't leave that crap under the bar. Burn it or something." He shuddered at the thought of it. One of the perks of owning a bar was he didn't have to clean it. Although he pretty much did everything else.
"Hey. Why don't you take a break. This little fox is mine." He said and nudged Gavin with his arm a little bit. Kit didn't hit on everyone that walked in the bar like Gavin did, but every once in a while he liked to talk to some of the ladies.
"How's it goin' sweet cheeks?" He called toward the girl and stuck his hand in the air like he was going to wave and grinned at her.
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Post by hadleyfraser on Apr 12, 2012 21:35:02 GMT -5
Hadley just stared at the bar owner with a look that plainly said "you're kidding, right?" She blinked twice before cracking shocked smile and saying, "oh my gawd, you're serious, aren't you?" Wow. This guy really had just called her sweet cheeks, and he wasn't just being an ass. He actually thought he was using a decent line. Hadley decided to throw the guy a bone. He was drunk anyway- what could happen?
"It's going," she finally said. "Doesn't seem like you're having your best night ever, though," she observed, nodding toward the other guy, whom she'd mentally nicknamed Shit-head, for no reason other than his shirt.
Hadley took a mental picture of the tall, rangy cowboy before speaking again. "Is it safe to assume this is your rodeo?" She inquired, trying to make polite conversation, just for the hell of it. After all, why not? The guy was hot. Just because she didn't date didn't mean she couldn't flirt, right? Right.
She did feel a little bit guilty for talking more to Cowboy than to Shithead, but hey, it's not like it was going to go anywhere. Harmless chatter. With a hot guy. No harm, no foul. Or so she tried to convince herself as images of Cowboy without his shirt on started dancing like the proverbial sugarplums in her head. Oh... yes, that was a pretty picture indeed. It was only when she realized she might actually start drooling that Hadley snapped back to reality.
[/color]:[/b] Kit and possibly Gavin? Words?![/color]:[/b] some words. Notes?![/color]:[/b] nope. Lyrics?![/color]:[/b] What's This ~ The Nightmare Before Christmas Credit?![/color]:[/b] Le Twix ! @ Caution 2.0[/sub][/size] |
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Post by GAVIN BROOKS on Apr 12, 2012 22:15:23 GMT -5
Gavin grabbed his shirt as commanded by his boss, a guy he had thought was a friend at some point, but Kit could be a real asshole once you started working for him. He still liked the guy, though. He was funny and as far as bosses went, he was usually lenient. By the end of the night he was passing out free drinks if you could get him drunk enough first.
"Hey. Why don't you take a break. This little fox is mine." Gavin had little desire to hit on the girl. She was definitely cute, and there was something delicate about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe it was because she was so thin and short. There was a cuteness to her, and she looked a little too young to be there, though she held herself with an air of confidence only an adult could. But somehow kit's words rang as a challenge in his mind.
Challenge accepted.
"A break sounds awesome." He told Kit as he dropped the rag on the bar top, his boss making a right fool of himself in front of the girl. He made his way to the back room, dropped his shirt off there, and then swaggered back out, planting himself beside the girl that Kit was attempting to kit on just in time to hear her last question.
"Is it safe to assume this is your rodeo?" Gavin smirked and laughed. "Don't flatter him." He insisted. "This ain't no rodeo. It's a dive bar, but truth be told, Kit, you really ought to put one of those mechanical bulls in here." The gleam in his eyes meant one thing. You want her? Come get her! "That would make it a little more rodeo-esque. don'tha think?"
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KIT RATHBONE
The Snarling
"I'm shaking in my space boots, Cowboy."
Posts: 97
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Post by KIT RATHBONE on Apr 12, 2012 22:33:40 GMT -5
Kit called every girl who walked into his bar sweet cheeks at one point or another. The only ones he didn't were probably the McLeester sisters. Because Cheyenne was too much of a damn local and he knew she was anything but a sweet cheeks kind of girl. She was just too much to handle! Then there was Claire and she was just too innocent for him to call that. He had different nicknames for that duo.
"Is it safe to assume this is your rodeo?"
Kit was getting ready to open his mouth and tell her that it was in fact his bar until Gavin decided to sit his ass down beside the girl and spoke up before he got a chance. "This ain't no rodeo. It's a dive bar, but truth be told, Kit, you really ought to put one of those mechanical bulls in here."
Kit caught the look in Gavin's eye and he could tell that he was going to make him work at this one. His inner animal growled in his head but he didn't let it show on his face. He was too smashed to truly let Gavin get to him. This was clearly going to be a game, one that happened way too often in the Jack Kit but he was willing to play.
The bar owner reached under the counter, his eyes on Gavin as if he were some sort of prey that he couldn't let out of his sight for even a split second as he pulled up a shot glass and set it in front of the woman. "You know there are better things to drink here than that watered down thing you're drinking." He turned and grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the back counter and untwisted the cap and let it drop to the ground behind the bar. He poured a shot for the girl and then held up the bottle as if to toast. "Cheers."
Kit grabbed another shot glass and poured himself some of the strong liquid and tipped it back to his lips and drank it all. He'd been drinking since noon that day so it barely phased him. He drank just to drink most of the time these days. "And this isn't a dive bar. It's a respectable business where we happen to get wasted and blow our paychecks every Friday." Not that Kit had to worry about that. He wrote his own damn checks and he didn't pay for drinks! Because that was just stupid. "And the minute we get a mechanical bull we'll start getting the tourists. I hate tourists."
"So we have a name or we just going to have to keep callin' you other pretty little nicknames?"
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Post by hadleyfraser on Apr 12, 2012 22:38:17 GMT -5
Hadley was just settling into her banter with the owner of the bar when the other guy came back out and slid smoothly onto the stool next to her.
"This ain't no rodeo. It's a dive bar, but truth be told, Kit, you really ought to put one of those mechanical bulls in here."
Kit. So that was Cowboy's name. It was old fashioned and didn't seem to suit him at all, but the more Hadley thought about it, the better she liked the name.
"You have a point," Hadley said, grinning at the man beside her. "At least if there was a mechanical bull, one of you might get a free ride from time to time." She knew the joke was a little below the belt, and it invigorated her. Her eyes gleamed with a wicked wit, and she had a naughty little smile on her face to match it.
Clearly these two were going to battle for her attention, and frankly, she liked the idea of that. It made her feel powerful, like she had some form of control over them. It was probably a dangerous feeling, but she wasn't quite ready to let it go just yet.
Hadley took a swig of her beer, finishing it off. "So who's buying the next round, gentlemen?" She winked at Kit before turning and flashing a smile at his employee.
[/color]:[/b] Kit and possibly Gavin? Words?![/color]:[/b] some words. Notes?![/color]:[/b] nope. Lyrics?![/color]:[/b] What's This ~ The Nightmare Before Christmas Credit?![/color]:[/b] Le Twix ! @ Caution 2.0[/sub][/size] |
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Post by GAVIN BROOKS on Apr 12, 2012 23:00:20 GMT -5
Gavin snorted when Kit called his bar respectable. "So respectable, the're shit on the walls of the bathroom." He grumbled, a sly smirk on his lips, unsure Kit heard him, and sort of hoping he didn't.
Kit had, essentially, saved his life. He had been going down a path he wasn't ready to; marriage, career, house, kids... he didn't want that. Not yet. Not with the beautiful, but obnoxiously controlling stepford-wannabee fiance he had. It was Kit who pulled him from that life and gave him a chance to start fresh. As a bartender instead of the successful civil engineer he was. It truly only made sense to him.
"At least if there was a mechanical bull, one of you might get a free ride from time to time." Gavin winced and laughed. "Ooohh... that one stings a little." He joked, meeting the same wicked grin and looking over at Kit, who was clearly uninterested in offering him a free shot.
"Sowho'sbuying the next round, gentlemen?" Gavin looked over at Kit and raised a brow, knowing his boss would throw the shots out for this one for free if she played her cards right, but damnit this was a competition, and Gavin didn't like to lose!
The boy fished his wallet from his back pocket and threw a $20 down. "Two Miller Lites, and two snake bites." He asked their server. Good thing he was on that break. Otherwise Kit would have him off doing some side work away from the pretty little lady he was trying to get his paws on.
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