It's a sunken bar at 3 am! The place was... Lit. Therefore open. The bartender... Well, Ula was sleeping behind the bar. Or dead. The man may very well be dead because his face was half underwater, and save for the occasional snore to signify he was alive, it was easy to guess otherwise.
Tabby was holding down her bar-stool... It's not really holding down a stool when she's nearly rib deep in water. From Tabby's expression, she wasn't getting the proper island vibe that she was supposed to be getting. The drink in front of her was a fish bowl sort of thing filled with a sea breeze blue frozen daiquiri with chucks of pineapple, coconut, and a littering a straws and umbrellas. The Latina was dressed in a violent pink bikini with yellow hibiscus prints all over it, and her hair was drying in place as she had rang it out in a loose ponytail. She lazily tongued at the end of one of straws to get in back into her mouth.
Felix was... not drunk. Which was apparently a good part of the problem and why he'd found his way to the Pig. Whether or not he'd specifically come here hoping it would be open or if he'd just been on the beach before hand, he was sporting a pair of green and black long trunks and a blue university shirt that he clearly didn't mind getting wet. Holding his wallet above his head he swam down into the bar, moving quickly through the water. He paused, treading away, at the sight of the passed out bartender and Tabby nursing her giant drink at the bar. "So... not open after all?"
Wren, having secured some sort of deal upon promise of a first born or something (presumably) managed to have himself a night out and at least half a day off to recover from that night, and so, was out. After whatever adventures he'd elected to have within downtown Oahu for the earlier part of the evening, he made his way via the winding trail and rocky path down to the Fallen Pig, coming in the side entrance and slowly submerging his rather impressive height into the water, hardly managing to look swayed by it even at waist deep as he approached the bar. There was a slowly built, happy smile on his face as he spotted Ulah laid out in repose and shook his head. "Looks like Ulah's found himself a nice place to take a long needed nap tonight." Wren's voice was warm and filled with good humor, along with a fair amount of friendliness in the direction of the unconscious, nearly water-logged, bartender. Turning his head, he offered Tabby and Felix both nods hello and a smile, his bright blue eyes glimmering with amusement in the lights that burned steadily against the darkness of the cavern. "Aloha ahiahi, though it might be more like kakahiaka, at this point."
As for clothing, Wren had left behind whatever he'd elected not to get wet, and had shown up at the Fallen Pig looking like he was truly meant to be there. Nothing but a pair of above the knee board shorts in pale, soft, lavender with bright blue stripes up the side and a bright blue drawstring tied at the front. His shirt had been left behind, which meant that the broad, fairly slabbed musculature of his upper body was fully revealed, along with the variegated tan-lines between where he usually wore a Tshirt on the farm and went topless just enough to have a tan everywhere that wasn't his neck or arms. His longish, dark blond, hair was down, loose in almost curls that looked freshly cleaned, and even his feet were bare, despite some of the rockier areas he'd had to walk through to get here.
Rick has come with Wren, though he comes through the entrance a little bit behind him, looking around as though a little distracted by the scenery. He pulls himself out once he gets to the edge near the bar, revealing board shorts, too. He isn't small, but next to the other man he may look it, though he has navigated the water without mishap. His chest is bare, and there's a handprint on his chest that looks as though it may have been burned in somehow. Well, not somehow. By burning.
He shakes some water off, running a hand back over his head as he gives a nod to Felix. "Hey, man," he says, lifting a hand, before Tabby gets a bit of a longer look, as though he's trying to place her. It isn't long before he does, though. "Oh, hey," he says. "Howzit?"
The extra splashing of person, people really caused Tabby to raise her eyebrows to look towards Felix, her mouth pulling more of her beverage from the cauldron. Her glare fell on Ulah as she yelled, "Despierta, bastardo perezoso!" To which, Ulah didn't readily reply with more than a groan and a singular splash. Tabby shook her head with an expression of disapproval. "I don't know how you'd lock this place down enough to close it. And him? He was mumbling how majestic sharks are, such gentle creatures... Made this up." Tabs gestured to her fishbowl drink. "I didn't even order it, and then he just slumped over, probably pissed himself back there, which is like... A requirement of mine to even drink at a place." She flipped her hand in greeting to Wren, "I guessing both of you want cosmopolitans? Good, because it's the only drink I know how to make anyway." Sliding her drink aside, Tabby crawled onto the bar top, reaching for several shot glasses and a bottle of tequila before oozing back into the water. "Two..." She glanced at Rick, "Three cosmopolitans it is." She filled each of the shot glasses up and slid them over, taking hers and knocking it back.
Felix turned as Wren came in, hard to miss anyone at a time and place like this. He grinned and gave the man a nod. "Aloha. Yeah looks like..." He glanced over at the bartender only briefly before Rick came in, giving the man a wave. "Hey Rick! Good to see you again. I'm not sure what we're going to do about drinks tho Oh!" He chuckled and shrugged, nodding at Tabby. "Never had one, so sure." His attention fully that way, he got his first really good look at Ulah asleep on the bar and quailed. His hand shot up as he pointed at the guy and he hissed. "Holy shit! It's this dude! I know this guy! He did some crazy shit in my head!"
Wren set his hand solidly onto Rick's back and gave him a squeeze at the shoulder. "I was going to introduce you to Ulah, but I think tonight's more a night I should get the guy into a hammock." He chuckled and shook his head. "Still, this is the place. The one and only around here, really, where you've got the chance to look more at the rules you need to worry about now." Wren looked over at Tabby and flashed her a wide, winsome smile as she served up shots of tequila. "Why mahalo, miss, I've never felt so very cosmopolitan." He lifted the shot and took it without a hiss, swallowing it away before he set the glass that looked nearly more like a thimble to him down onto the bar. "I'll just go back and tuck Ulah in, and I can probably fix you guys something else unless you're all in the mood for nothing but a straight up shot or something easy you can make yourselves. Just be sure not to leave without paying. That sort of thing gets remembered." Wren winked to Tabby, then moved to open up the bar, obviously making his way over to the snoring man laying in the water back there. Glancing over at Felix, Wren raised his brows. "Ulah here did strange things in your head? I'm kind of surprised, he's more the hug it out kind."
Rick looks over at the sleeping Ulah and lets out a little huff of laughter. "Next time," he says, before turning back toward the bar as Tabby pours out the shots of tequila. He eyes it for a second or two before he shrugs, and reaches for one of them, knocking it back without much more ceremony than that. At least he doesn't cough. "Damn, harsh," he says with a laugh as he sets down the glass again, his words directed to Tabby -- but whatever else he might have said is stopped by Felix's words, and he turns that way again instead. "Huh?" he asks. "What crazy shit in your head?"
Tabby pouted out her bottom lip as her gaze went back to Ulah, "This guy did some crazy mierda in your head? I'll probably be saying the same thing tomorrow if I finish my drink." Tabby set down her shot glass, pulling herself back onto her stool. She pinched one of her straws and sucked down more of her drink, humming. "I've been in here a couple times before, the man is all sorts of handsy, but manages to be good-natured about it. It's good to know there's a local that knows where to carry him off to..." The edge of her mouth lifted, "I read those rules... And completely read weregild as something else." She shook her head slowly then looked back to Rick, "You don't like how I make a cosmopolitan, you can make your own." A chuckle slipped out of her, and took another drink from her fishbowl.
Felix shook his head, still staring at the passed out Ulah. "No man I'm telling you. Some guys were hashing it out in the middle of the street and he was there. Totally calmed things down yeah. Hugs and everything. But he looked into my eyes and it was like..." He frowned. "It wasn't bad... but it was weird. Really fucking weird..." He ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I'm gonna need a drink more than I thought." He stumble/swam over towards the bar, picking up the drink and taking a slug, screwing up his eyes as the alcohol hit him and letting out a sigh. "Whoafo... thanks Tabby..." He leaned against the bar. "It was... I felt totally naked. Like he was looking at me inside and out. And hey I'm cool with naked, I don't have a lot of body modesty issues but this was... exposed man." He finished the cosmo and breathed. "What's really weird though?" He looked around at the others present. "It worked the other way around too. Me and that bartender?" He held up two twined fingers. "Like this. How's that for goofy?"
The tide is low and ebbing.
Felix blinked and looked to Tabby, eyeing the plaque behind the bar. "What the hell is a weregild?"
Wren glanced at Tabby and nodded. "I'm pretty sure you can't come here off and on for the better part of your life and not figure out where to put Ulah when you find him passed out on the bar. Life lessons and all. Better than him waking up sputtering salt water into your drinks." He chuckled and reached over to take Ulah's arm, pulling the man easily up so that Wren could reach around Ulah's back and start to lift him. As he did so, Wren looked over at Felix and raised his brows. "Ah, yeah. That happens sometimes. There are people that can see everything inside you, not like psychic people, though I guess maybe they could too, maybe. This is more like looking at the soul of someone. It's pretty intense when it happens." Wren nodded his head and jostled Ulah just enough as he started to move him that it wasn't quite as delicate a maneuver as it might have been.
A moment later, Ulah's eyes popped open, one milky white and the other looking like his pupil was blown out and black, like a saucer filled with undoctored coffee. "ALOHA!" He called out in a gruff, albeit oddly friendly voice. "Wha... Oh! Wren!" The man with the half sodden face and hair turned on Wren and wrapped his arms around him, giving a giant, nearly bear-like hug. "You at the bar? You come to the bar to check on the big baddums or are you here to drink, brah? Whatchu all here to drink?" Two massive, resounding claps were given to Wren's back courtesy of the flat plane of Ulah's hand before the much taller man was let go to reel back toward the opening of the bar. "Lookit all the chums that come to Ulah's Pig!" Ulah's smile was broad indeed as he gazed at the people along the bar, then he fixed his eyes on Tabby's drink and shook his head, tsking. "You need to drink more than that if you get the follow up to the fish bowl, wahine!"
The grizzled but still well toned form of Ink swims into view, his head breaching the water as he lets out a gasp for air. "I really, really need to cut down on the fags." Letting out a cough, he swims up to the side of the bar and makes his way to a stool. He's wearing a faded pair of Bermuda shorts that were possibly a bad choice for the water given that they are clinging to him in ways that would be scandalous if it weren't so late. At his waist he has a water-tight pack, it is see through and contains a wallet, a lighter and a battered tobacco tin. He has numerous tattoos all over his arms, chest and back, some of them fading with age but all done with a skilled hand.
Wiping the water from his eyes, he offers a quick wave to those present before taking a seat and looking to Wren. "Barkeep! A pint of beer when you have a moment." He speaks with a Welsh accent that is oddly tinged with American. Craning his neck, he looks over the bar and grins. "Lock in? Brutal!" He looks back and watches as Ulah gets to his feet, doing his best not to stare at his eye.
Rick looks back at Tabby, shaking his head with a grin. "Not the drink," he says. "The burn." He jerks a thumb toward Ulah then, who is now no longer sleeping, it seems. "Se desperto la bella durmiente," he comments as an aside to Tabby as Ulah starts to speak, and he sits down on a stool as well, returning Ink's nod.
Ulah beamed at Ink and nodded to him. "Aloha Brah! Welcome to my Pig! Beer you say? Light or dark? Or you more a catch as catch can kinda guy? Like those boys out there on the sets that no one else'll ride?" Ulah chortled slightly, then cleared his throat, moving over to get a nice, clean glass for Ink's beer. He waited to fill it, of course, until Ink might mention what sort of beer he actually wanted.
Tabby grinned as she shook her head slowly, "What happens with the bartender, stays with the bartender. You can't go ahead saying it out loud and not expect someone to give you shit about it." Tabby took another drink out of her straw as she glanced at Felix, "So Gato... Would you feel safer describing what happened next if you could point to a doll?" She started giggling, holding a hand up to Felix. The Latina snickered even as Ulah resurrected, gesturing to her drink. "This is my third time in here, Ulah. I've been too embarrassed to ask where the ladies' room is, and you want me to drink anything after this? I'd have to clear out your establishment." Tabby shook her head, grabbing a couple of her straws to drink from them. "And to answer your question, Gato... I assume a goat or sheep... Maybe a basket of fish or something." She nodded in response to Rick, "I'm not drunk enough to call him that."
A faint sheen touches the clouds in the sapphire night sky to the east.
Felix looked to Wren, entirely incredulous. "That's... just a thing? I mean... pot kettle sure, but what?" When Ulah sprang back to life Felix half splashed off his stool, staring slightly at the reanimated and waterlogged bartender. He raised his hand in a brief greeting. "Uh... hey again. Aloha. When you get a chance could I get something big and alcoholic?" Ink swimming up seemed to snap him out of it, and he looked over to the tattooed fella, looking Ink's ink over with interest. "Wow that's really nice work man." His breathing had returned to normal and he laughed, looking to Tabby. "Actually it's more like I got no phone call. No flowers. A moment like that and not a word? Heartbreaking." He tilted his head. "I think I'd prefer the basket of fish."
Wren managed to recover from the bear hug of Ulah and just shook his head. "Aloha brah, nice ink." Wren greeted Ink with a nod and a smile when he got the breath to again. "I'm sure Ulah'll get you set up just fine for something to drink. Glad to see you're back among the land of the living, Ulah. I'd like a bay-breeze when you get a minute, followed by a Sunsetter on Ice, please." He grinned at the bartender before he passed back across to the other side of the bar and moved to take his seat again, next to Rick. "Oh, and Ulah, this is Rick, he's likely to be around poking at things." Wren motioned to Rick, then to Ulah. "Rick, this is Ulah. Owner, bartender, all around decent human being especially if you can catch him awake and undrowned behind the bar." Glancing down the bar, Wren looked directly at Tabby. "Miss, if you're actually wanting to know where they are, it's just back behind the bend there, through the cavern. They're above water and everything. The women's is the one with the conch shell, men's is the one with the big starfish." Wren grinned at that and shrugged slightly before he nodded. "And she's right... Gato, is it?" Wren looked at Felix with that. "Weregild would be payment for something, usually in this case, though, it's for something really terrible like taking the life of someone. You tend to pay for those with a little more than a basket of fish, but hey, that's ultimately up to the person demanding payment."
The sun rises, painting the eastern clouds with a pink and pale gold glow.
Rick lets out another little laugh at Tabby's words, before he turns to Wren and Ulah when the former speaks. "Hey, brah," he says as he's introduced to Ulah, lifting a hand with a nod of greeting. "You got a nice place." He looks around, as though to punctuate his statement, and it's clear he's interested in the surroundings, at the very least.
Turning, Ink looks from Wren to Ulah as he smiles. "Lets start with a light beer please and then see where the night goes." Looking over he nods to Felix. "Thanks dude. Some of it is my work excepting for the chest and back. My designs but I just don't have the reach." He grins then and reaches for the pack at his waist. Hesitating, he looks to Ulah once more. "Can we smoke here?" He takes out his wallet, tin and his lighter before closing his pack once more. Seeming to relax a little, he nods to Wren. "Some of the locals have much more impressive work but thank you all the same." Reaching up with a hand, he idly scratches at his beard. "Ulah, why a bar here? I mean, with the swimming and all that?"
Ulah grinned at Tabby and winked his milky eye at her. "You gotta clear out the establishment to handle a little girl time, wahine? I'm pretty sure no one's gonna judge, hey you give it the right time and the right crowd, might even make some money. Just don't, though, it brings in the sharks. And they all very friendly around here, but nosy." Ulah smiled at Felix, looked him right in the eyes, and said "I can make you somethin' with flowers in it brah, if you feel bettah for it?" Then he broke out into a cackling, good natured laugh.
When introduced to Rick, Ulah turned his gaze toward the other man, and that cackle roared up into a whooping sort of laughter. "Ooooooh, brah, she gotchu good, neh? Lookit you there. Them summah ladies man, they so tight, like fine little flowers, but they all off on the waves somewhere you can't reach em when it comes down to it." Ulah made a little whistle sound and corkscrewed his fingers up, up, and away, like a rocket ship headed to lunar orbit. "You must like em lolo, but hey, lolo never did no harm to Ulah." Ulah started mixing up Wren's and Felix's drinks so that he could deliver them even as Ink made his preference for his actual drink known. Of course, he delivered Ink's first. "There ya go, brah. Fresh glass of no bothah. And this was the place for the bar, Brah. Was the best place. You try being an idiot in here with some magical lolo, and you see why. Bettah yet, don't, neh? Cause that's not cool. This place is all natural to stop that fool shit here." Ulah tapped the bar with his finger when he spoke, emphasizing the point.
As Ulah was speaking, a woman came swimming into the Fallen Pig, underwater. As she surfaced, somehow she managed to look utterly, undeniably, perfectly, beautiful. The water danced off her body and caught the light to make it shimmer like diamonds, and almost seemed to look like liquid silver as it dripped from her thick, dark, hair. Her big, blue eyes took in the people at the bar and her natural, somewhat pouty lips pulled into a warm, ungodly suggestive smile as she nodded to everyone. "Aloha kakahiaka, everyone. Ulah, I'm sorry I'm late, I ended up having to finish a little late at the other place. I'm surprised to see you still awake!" The woman's voice was a blend of honey and sex, something worth good money on a phone line. When she moved, her hips and breasts in her simple, black, one piece swimsuit managed to take on an alluring sway even underwater. And as she moved up, then took position behind the bar, it was like the lights were there specifically to highlight the tight tuck of her tiny waist, the rich curve of her hips, the lines of her shoulders and neck, and the fullness of her perfectly heaving breasts. She pulled out a name tag and applied it to her swimsuit, just over her chest, and it read in white lettering - Mindy.
Loa dropped Mindy.
The sun ascends in a bright blue sky filled with fluffy fair weather clouds and a few wisps of cirrus.
Tabby squinted her eye, "No puede ser... You only think you want the basket of fish. Goat butter is regalo de Dios to dairy products. It completely spoils you for everything else." She spread her arms wide as she looked at Wren, "Gracias! Now that makes so much more sense, and it's so much quicker than saying, payment for something, blah blah blah. Phfft..." Her hands clapped together, "Weregild." Her dark eyes moved to Ulah for a second, "If you're going to have rules, you going to have to put up a chingado glossary." She nodded and thumbed over her shoulder to the bend, "And now I can confidently drink without anyone having to swim through a warm spot. Thank whole bar thanks you." Pinching her straws, she took a couple more swallows of her drink, glancing at Ink as he explain his tattoo. Her lips parted from the straws, "You're braver than I am. Half the things I buy look great when I try them on. When I put them on before heading out for a night on the town, I swear they are hideous, and straight back into the closet they go." A growl came out of her, mostly aimed at her own frustrations. A laugh came from her as she looked back at Ulah, "No one wants to wallow in my piss, likely not even the sharks."
Felix nodded slowly at the explanation from Wren. "Right. That's a sort of... faerie thing? But that doesn't explain why exactly does a bar have specific rules about not killing people. Or... what to do if it happens? I'm also a little nervous about the "ok to drug a group" exemption there..." He grinned at Ink. "If you did have the reach I gotta be honest that would probably be the cooler part of that." He was confused but clearly relaxing, flinching slightly as Ulah looked him in the eyes again, but unable to help but join in laughing. "Sure. Something bigger than my head." Talk of lolos and summer ladies flew clean over his head, and he nodding his gratitude as his drink was offered. When Mindy came in he couldn't help but stare a bit as the Woman In Red came in wearing a bikini, though whatever lust he might have felt was quickly over-driven by the confusion of the last time he saw her. He looked away, focusing on his drink and Tabby's comment about tattoos. He laughed and shook his head. "That is kind of a problem with tattoos. And getting them is crazy addicting."
Wren nodded to Tabby and grinned. "Of course. Where would the world be if the beautiful women in it weren't comfortable and seen to?" He accepted the drink from Ulah and grinned over at Rick, nudging him softly. "See? Word gets around, when you know what those ladies are like. You wild man, you." Wren chuckled and looked over at Ink then, nodding his head. "I've seen some pretty impressive ink, you're right. Never went for any of my own, but maybe because I was a little hyper-aware of the fact that being only a kama-aina, not a maoli, I can't really get the truly amazing stuff. I don't have the right heritage." Wren grinned and lifted his first drink, taking a pull off of what might well be breakfast today. When he looked at Felix it was with an understanding smile. "If you had to worry about the Accords, you'd have been told, it's part of some groups. Or some individuals, but only if they've entered into them. I mean, this is still Ulah's place and I'd honestly pity the fool that started any real crap in here, but if you aren't part of the accords, well... the laws aren't quite going to bite you so hard." When Mindy walked in, Wren flashed her a wide, dashing smile. "Aloha kakahiaka, gorgeous. You look like someone just decided to drop by with Christmas Morning and surprise us all." Despite his words being flirtatious, Wren looked at her face while he talked, and managed to avoid a more lascivious tone to his words, instead he sounded more playful than anything.
Rick's eyebrows raise when Ulah says this, and a flush of color comes into his face as he reaches up to rub at where the hand print is on his chest. He glances away, but his smile does widen a little bit. "Guess so," he admits. "Hard to resist, though." That hand drops while the other lifts to rub his face, as though this could will the blush away. It doesn't really work like that, though, of course. In fact, quite the opposite. He looks over at Wren then with a little bit of a wryer laugh. It fades as Mindy comes in, though. This time, he stares for a second or two, before his eyes narrow just slightly. Not suspiciously, exactly...or, well, maybe a little bit. For a moment he looks like he might say something else, but ultimately he just keeps quiet instead.
"So... no magic in here." Ink nods slowly as he says this, squinting as he tries to see if Ulah is taking the piss. "Okay, well that is very good to know. So it's all safe? Excellent and thank you for the beer!" Reaching for his pint, he glances at the contents for all of a second before taking a hearty swallow. "Oh yeah, that's the stuff." Turning on his stool, he looks over to Tabby and grins. "I'm not as happy with some of the stuff on my back but then... I don't see it all the time so it's less of a bother." He shrugs his rather impressive shoulders and then looks over to Felix. "It's more about getting them done than the end result in some cases, people get addicted to the endorphin rush." He shrugs again, suggesting perhaps that he may or may not be one of those people. The talks moves on to Fae and Weregilds then and Ink mostly ignores it.
The arrival of Mindy does get his attention, the way she slinks to the bar and with just how much she's not wearing. Taking a sip from his drink he sighs. "I love this island." Not having had an answer from Ulah, Ink opens his tobacco tin and goes about rolling a cigarette, working quickly and efficiently and then holding the item up and pointing to it while trying to get Ulah's attention. Glancing at Wren, Ink grins. "You're better off without the tats anyhoo, wouldn't want to spoil the Idaho look you got going on."
Ulah walked up to wrap his arms around Mindy and give her a huge hug that lifted the smaller woman up off of her feet, then set her down, patting her shoulders. "S'ok Mindy-girl, you just do your thing now, Ulah's gonna go get some sleep cause big Wren woke him up." Ulah glanced sideways at Wren, giving him a momentary stink eye, though it was lightened tremendously by the shit eating grin Ulah broke into. Turning toward Ink he nodded. "Yeah, though you need to make sure that shit doesn't float around after you done with it, neh, brah? Ashtray only!" The massive drink that Ulah had been making Felix, complete with actual flowers in it, pretty, fragrant, Hawaiian flowers, was delivered, and it looked to be 3 parts alcohol to one part juice and one part floating, edible, flora. "There ya go, Gato! I'm gonna leave you guys here with da kine wahine on the island, bar none of 'em. Be nice to her, or I hear it, and I come help you hug that lolo outta you brain and the next brain." He lifted his arms and did a double wave as he moved back to the little cave behind the bar and called out "Aloha, be living next time I see ya!"
After getting hugged, Mindy turned and looked at everyone at the bar, not even blushing, but the water droplets left on her skin seemed to create arcs and highlights that caught all of the right curves and hollows of her. "Alright, anyone need a refill just yet?" She moved over to situate herself at the best place to serve everyone, then pulled up a chemise to wipe down the bar a little, after setting out an ashtray for Ink to use.
The tide is low and slack.
Tabby was a bit slow on the pickup, mostly due to cascading water falling down a statue. She blinked about, and her jaw tightened as she realized who the statue was. Her straw crackled as she chewed on it, and she offered the slightest nod to Mindy. Closing her eyes, she reopened them as she looked at Felix. "Most bars have rules about killing people." Tabby listened as Wren explained farther about the 'rules' as she kept sucking down her drink, gestured to the man as she gave Felix a side-glance, "Accords or not, you have no sense of self-preservation to try to kill someone in a bar. There's a reason, Take it outside is universal. If it doesn't happen inside, management isn't expected to act on it." She raised her wave from the bar top as Ulah headed out, chuckling when she looked at Felix's drink. "Now, you have a drink and a meal, beats peanuts."
Felix nodded, mulling that over while he watched the drink get made. "Huh. Well... if I don't have to worry about it I guess I won't. I don't do magic and I don't..." He glanced briefly at Mindy. "Usually try to start fights or anything, so no worries." Grinning, he took another drink and nodded to Ink. "Yeah. I got all mine done and haven't come up with anything else so I haven't bothered. Pretty happy with what I have." When the huge drink was set down in front of him he laughed. "Good lord. I know where I'm going to be sleeping tonight..." He took a pull, moving floating fruit out of the way. "Wow that's awesome... wow. What is this thing thanks!" He grinned as Ulah made his farewells. "Thanks man. Enjoy the sleep." He looked a bit abashed at Mindy and gave her a nod. "Sorry about the other day." When Ink pulled out a cigarette and got approval he eyed his still dry wallet. "I don't suppose that includes weed does it?" He looked about, checking for argument. He nodded at Tabby. "Yeah that's pretty much the way of it in any place isn't it? I mean... in a bar management is probably going to kick some ass. At Best Buy they just call the cops." He grinned and nodded, fishing out a piece of pineapple and chewing happily. "This thing's awesome."
Wren looked over at Ink and offered him a grin. "Mahalo for saying so, brah. Though I've never set foot in Idaho, born and raised here. Still, I've got the farm. Cows, horses, even goats. And I suppose I should vouch for your lovely friend there, Gato, what she says about goat's milk butter is the honest truth. Having them around and getting fresh milk, cheese, and butter will turn you into a totally different type of butter fanatic than anything you've ever read about." Wren nodded to Felix and Tabby as he said the latter. Reaching over to clap his hand onto Rick's shoulder, Wren smiled at the man, amused at the blush, likely, even as it faded. "You want something to drink, other than the cosmo our lovely friend here made us earlier? I'm buying." When Mindy offered more to drink, Wren shook his head and motioned to the two drinks Ulah had already made him. Breakfast had already been served!
Rick lifts a hand to Ulah as he goes, and replies, "Aloha," watching the man for a second or two before he looks back to Wren. He tips his head to the side, before replying, "I'd take a beer. Thanks, man." He leans back a little bit, crossing one ankle over the other knee and looking among the people speaking, but he doesn't add anything else for the moment. He does shift just a little bit on the stool, though, maybe not quite comfortable for whatever reason -- it could probably be any number of things. That ought to wear off after the alcohol sinks in, though.
"I'll be a proper gentleman mate." Ink says, grinning widely as he nods to Ulah. Taking his rollup, he places it between his lips and lights it, takes a drag and then exhales with a glorious sigh. He coughs and covers his mouth with a hand, leaning back on his stool to look at Tabby. "Most bars? What sort of bars do you frequent?" Grinning, he shakes his head and reaches over the bar for an ashtray. Hearing Felix, he looks over his shoulder. "What am I, a walking stereotype? Of course it contains weed." Grinning toothily, he rolls his eyes at Felix and then stops. "Wait. You do magic?" He narrows his eyes then and turns back on his stool without saying anything. Smiling once more, he nods to Wren. "Ah, well close enough I guess and you're not wrong about goats, tenacious buggers and the milk is great. Never been a fan of the cheese though." He shrugs then, looking a little confused. "Never been a fan of lamb either but there you go." He glances at Rick as he sits on the stool and then he looks to Mindy and a chuckle escapes his throat. "I won't say no to a refill if that's possible?" He raises his glass and drains the rest, taking a few seconds but still managing all the same. "Perhaps a shot to go with, something spicy?"
Mindy nodded to Felix and gave him a smile that could have melted an iceberg from 3 miles off. "It's alright, tense times bring out the worst or best in people. Sometimes both at the same time. And sometimes we never know which one is gonna be there standing up in the end of it. And no pot, please. That's actually illegal." She patted the bar near Felix and gave him a wink before she looked over at Rick and flashed him a similarly dazzling smile. "What kind of beer would you like? I've got lights, darks, some honeys, and a few wheat based. Ale? I've got a few different ones. Just tell me what you're in the mood for and I'm sure I can find something to satisfy you." Her words were friendly, but when delivered with that silken, honeyed, purr to her voice, Mindy might as well have been reading porn. She looked over at Ink and gave him a nod. "I'll be happy to fill you up." Reaching over, Mindy gave Ink a winning, broad, smile and took his glass to set it under the bar lip. She then got him a new, freshly frosty glass, and proceeded to fill it from the same tap Ulah had used for him, before setting it ahead of him, filled near enough to the brim it almost could have shivered over the side.
Tabby shook her head at Felix. "Best Buy usually has some form of security. Bars, in particular, are places where people drink alcohol. Alcohol goes hand in hand with stupid decisions. Best Buy has things that some people think is worth stealing. Where this place is, response time for the local PD must be twenty to thirty minutes. If anything happens here, it's just blood and glass leftover. The cops are just coming to take statements and provide first aid until the EMTs show. If you think that Ulah doesn't have a bat or shotgun back in his cave, you've mistaken." Tabby rolled out her hand towards Wren again, "The butter has a tanginess that you don't get in most butters at the supermarket. My papa only eats butter from Ireland, or goat butter. The man considers vegetable spreads to be the work of el Diablo." Tabs stuck her tongue out at the thought. Her gaze carried to Ink, "Only the ones that maintain a valid liquor license. That's sort of what cops do. We'd go in, mostly just for drinks. If the place was a trouble spot, we check all the paperwork to make sure everything was updated proper." Her eyes never left Ink, "If the place had contraband, we'd make seizures, arrest the assholes... It's just how that mierda goes."
Felix drank happily, eyebrows going up. "Oh wow cool! You have a farm? I love animals! I do pretty well around them most times. Horses are awesome. And I think I've had goat cheese. They use it in Indian cooking don't they?" He took another drink while he thought about that, grinning at Ink and shaking his head. "No no. I DON'T do magic. Got my own gig man." He laughed at the man's admission of a spliff and nodded to Mindy. "Yeah... mostly I'm just super confused." He smiled and shrugged, taking another pineapple chunk and chewing. Looking to Rick, he raised a flower to the man in salute before slipping it behind his ear. "So how've you been man? Look like you're still trying to figure things out a bit." He looked to Tabby, blinking for a few moments at the explanation and finally nodding. "Best Buy was a bad example... but I take your point. And now I really want to try some damn goat butter. I never thought I'd say those words."
The tide is low and rising.
Wren grinned at Tabby and lifted his drink to her a touch. "Your papa has excellent taste, though I can't say I get butter from Ireland when I have the goats and cows right there. Still, you can't blame a man for knowing what he likes and going after it." He took a long swallow of his drink and gave Felix a grin after he'd done so. "Horses are pretty good if they were raised right, fine around most people. Even the cows are. The goats, well, they make up their mind to behave as they will, any given moment of the day." He motioned toward Ink as he said it, as if Ink had already explained some about the goat's temperaments. Wren grinned over at Rick when he asked for a beer and nodded, then glanced over between Felix and Mindy, then back to Rick, raising his brows with a little curiosity in his eyes, but instead went back to killing off his first drink of the morning.
Rick is caught for a moment by that smile like a deer in the headlights, and it takes him a second before he shakes his head a couple of times, as though to clear it. Hopefully she's used to it. "Nothing too heavy," he says after he's gotten past that. "I still gotta try and do some stuff today." He smiles, before his gaze shifts to Felix at the other man's question, and he shrugs. "Been good," he says. "Nothing crazy. Just looking around. Wren was nice enough to bring me over here with him. It's definitely interesting." Which may be putting it mildly, but he's never been one for overstatements.
"I wouldn't dream of it." Ink says, flashing Mindy a winning smile. Grin still fixed on his face, he turns and looks to Tabby. "Medicinal use on account of being old." He coughs then and slumps a little in his seat. "So old..." He says, a croak in his voice now. Seeming to relax a little, he takes another drag from his cigarette and picks up his drink with his spare hand, offering a toast to Mindy before taking a swig. Turning on his stool, he glances at Felix once more. "Not your gig but you worry about Accords and stuff? Okay then, what is your gig, happy pills? You seem awfully chipper." He grins with this to take the edge off his words. Lifting his pint towards Felix, he then brings it to his mouth and drains it before setting it on the counter. "Could I have another please Miss?" He says with another winning smile towards Mindy, trying to ignore the urge to belch while talking to someone so pretty. Turning to the others gathered there, he pause. "So what are you folks all doing here in the wee hours? My excuse is I got lost."
Mindy grinned at Rick and nodded to him. "Sure thing honey, I'll get you something that's good without feeling too heavy at all." Filling up a frosted glass with a honey colored beer, Mindy set it down ahead of Rick with a wink. "And since it's on Wren's tab, don't you worry about a thing." Looking over at Ink, Mindy chuckled and gave him a gracious nod, the sound of her laughter melodious and rather indicative of the chiming of subtle bells and slowly shimmering stringed instruments. "Coming right up." She'd started filling him a new, fresh, glass of his chosen beer while she was still chuckling, and she put it down in front of Ink before she took his old glass away. Of course, the old glass was still pretty frosty, but the new one was more so. "I imagine everyone's confused once in a while, or more so." Mindy looked at Felix as she said this, her smile having gone understanding and sweet, even as she leaned forward a bit on the bar and somehow, a couple droplets of water sparkled like diamonds on the mound of her breast as she did so, while another shimmer sparkled gently along her eyelashes. "Like I said, it was stressful. Strange things often are. No harm done, really."
Tabby laughed as she looked at Wren, "Papa has terrible taste. I absolutely adore him, but if the man hadn't been a cop, he would have needed another occupation that picked out his clothes for him. That man insists complementary colors are faltering for the complexion. The man has worn suits in public that Cesar Romero would have only worn on TV." Tabby visibly shivered at the thought, "His taste in butter, good." When she looked back at Ink, there was a bit more cheer in her brown eyes, "I wasn't aware that was a particular medical condition, but this state?" The Latina could only shake her head in distaste. Her focus moved back to Mindy behind the bar. "So we're going to pretend that thing in the place never happened? I think I'm mostly good with that save one question. Do you work with the Man in White, or are you one of his... Contractees?" The woman shrugged a shoulder, "Frankly, I think I'd prefer you'd say yes to the latter, so I have something to blame when I set fire to my entire wardrobe."
Felix drank, eyeing the the liquid level of his beverage as it had gone down a little further than he'd thought. Taking a bit of a break, he looked to Wren. "I'd love to come see them sometime. I used to do some riding as a kid but it was always a follow the leader kind of thing getting somewhere where cars wouldn't go." Rick's response got a nod, and he grinned."Sounds good. Nothing crazy has pretty much become the best thing ever since I got here." He laughed, shaking his head a little ruefully. Ink's surprise interrogation caught him a little off guard, and he shook his head, pointing to the plaque on the wall. "I've just never seen those words in a bar before. That whole thing..." He waved to it. "Kind of new to me. I know my gig." He grinned at the nickname. "I'm chipper because I'm twenty one and drinking in a bar at three am. And my gig is..." He laughed. "A lot of fun. Trust me, I've got tons of reasons to be in a good mood all the time.
By the time Tabby bit the bullet and brought up Mindy and the events of the other day, Felix had maybe managed about five words, caught in the gravity well of Mindy's bikini clad cleavage. Something along the lines of "yeah... stress is confusing." He snapped out of it at the question though, blinking and looking curiously for an answer. Then he looked to Tabby. "Wait a minute. What are the colors complementing then? Why's that bad?" Focus child!
Wren couldn't help the wide smile he gave Tabby, it would seem, and his bright blue eyes lit a bit with the good humor. "Sounds like he did more than one thing right, if you're the daughter he brought into the world. I can't imagine that you're the product of good butter, alone. And it could be worse than bad taste in clothes. He had the good taste in women to be with your Mom, right?" He winked to Tabby. "Not all bad at all." Wren looked over at Felix then and nodded. "Sure, people like to come by. We do all sorts of riding lessons, handling lessons. It's a little harder during the wet time of year like this, but come springtime and summer when we dry up a little on the Central Valley area, lots of good riding weather. We'll have nice, full, beautiful days to get out and enjoy the saddle, or just to enjoy the other activities on the farm." Wren glanced over at Rick and grinned. "Figured you'd want to know where neutral ground was in case you ever needed it. It's also a good place to come where everyone knows your name, really. Especially considering who's got their love tap on you."
Rick takes the beer with a nod of thanks, and his smile is a little bit wider than before, too. Maybe the alcohol from the shot is hitting him a little bit -- though not too much. He hasn't had //that// much, after all. He takes a sip, holding it in his mouth for a second, before he swallows with a little sigh of contentment. Good choice, Mindy. His eyes move to Ink at the man's words, and he lets out a laugh, saying, "Yeah, he's a ray of sunshine all right." Of course, he doesn't say that like it's a bad thing. He takes another sip from his beer as he turns toward Wren, and he continues, "Yeah, probably a good idea. Plus, who doesn't love a swim-up bar, right?"
Doing his best to follow the conversation, Ink looks from Mindy to Felix and then back again, clearly confused but enjoying his new drink all the same. Sipping rather than gulping he listens carefully as people talk, grinning to Tabby and then looking to Wren when Tabby asks her question. "Gandalf?" He asks before turning back, trying to figure out just what is going on, the alcohol charging through his system making it all the more difficult. Hearing Felix, he looks over at him and grins once more, nodding as he mentions his age. "Something happen here the other day." He watches as Felix starts to struggle and turns from Felix to glance at Mindy, offering her a quick smile before looking back. "People here get distracted easy. I mean, I can see why but it's less a thing for me I guess." He takes another drag from his cigarette and leans back on his stool as he exhales. "Get yourself to a few orgies Felix, it gets the whole 'staring' thing right out of your system." Looking over, he calls out to Wren. "You sure you're not from Idaho? You're smoother than a nun's smooth bits." He grins and shakes his head, lifting his drink in a toast to the man before taking a sip. "Right, so this is Cheer but with benefits? I can go with that." Looking to Rick, Ink nods. "The swim up is fine, I'm a wee bit worried about the swim back though."
Mindy raised her brows and looked at Tabby, then took a slow breath, the slimline, black, one-piece swimsuit that she wore managed to somehow catch the light enough to make it so that she was for a moment, almost showered by light rays in soft bars along her body to emphasize it's better assets, not that there were any negative ones to show off. "Asking if I work with Lu is a little complicated. Since the answer's both yes and no, really. Asking if I made a contract with him isn't something I can even answer. That's just not something you talk about, you know? If it makes you feel better about anything at all, though, feel free to think so. Or not, entirely up to you." Mindy smiled softly to Tabby and shrugged her shoulder a bit, the movement doing fantastic things for her stature and curves. "I wouldn't ask about the contracts you've made, or assume I could, even though I can read them on you." This was said directly to Tabby, Mindy's blue eyes meeting hers for a long moment before Mindy looked down at Tabby's throat. She then turned her gaze over to Ink and chuckled brightly, that same, gloriously church-worthy sound. "That's a good plan. Have lots of orgies. It definitely helps with the nerves." She motioned to Ink's glass. "Would you like another?" Mindy then scanned the rest of the bar. "Would anyone else like a refill? I'm here to serve."
Tabby arched a brow, watching Felix out of the corner of her eye as she drank, "Blue and orange, yellow and violet, red and green. No one can wear a red and green suit outside of Halloween and Christmas without looking like a clown." Her eyes drifted back to Wren as she chuckled, though they slowly lost their humor by the time they spoke. "Asking a Latina about their madre is asking for a long conversation that starts with, 'Amo a mi mama, but'..." She paused in that moment, "It is a complicated relationship where I have made every wrong decision and if I had only listened to her, my life would not be absolute shit." Tabby shook her head, "It devolves into me spouting mierda loca, and convinces you to say the absolute wrong thing that compares me to her. Never go there. It is the Abyss." Tabby looked back at Mindy for a long moment as she considered the words and drank from her fish bowl. The woman did say a word in response, rather purposely finished her drink in several long gulps until the straws gurgled. Then Tabby reached in for the hunks of pineapple, "Gag orders are a bitch."
"Cool. Maybe I'll stop by sometime. Do you take seasonal help? I'll probably be looking for a job in summer." Felix shrugged, putting it out there for six months down the line as he took a drink. Talk of neutral ground passed him by a bit, and he snorted. "Pfft. I'm all sorts of angry. You should hear me when I stub my toe." He shrugged, eyeing Ink for a few moments, then to Mindy as she agreed. "Gee I'll bear that in mind. Yellow and violet... no, you're right. I can't imagine those two colors walking around and that making much sense."
Wren grinned at Felix and shrugged softly. "it all depends, really. I mean, I have permanent farm hands I employ, they work the farm all year, but there are definitely days when they just don't show up because the surf is too good. They're out there with our buddy Rick here, storming the beaches, while I'm back at the farm making sure the animals are fed. If you're not a big beach stormer, coming by on days when it's a good surf is always a sure way to get hired on for a day of labor." Wren chuckled and then looked over at Tabby, nodding his head once to her. "Check. The abyss is never good, but I think maybe just suggesting that you at least came from good stock, and at the very least came from stock that should be proud to have had you can maybe be the last I mention about your mother." He lifted his glass to Tabby, then drained the contents before he looked over at Ink, chuckling after he'd swallowed, and traded out for his second drink. "I didn't know that was a big thing in Idaho. Mahalo, though, brah. I'm Wren, by the way. In case you all want to refer to me as something other than Non-Idaho." He tried his second drink, something bright orange with ice in it, that smelled mango-y. Looking back to Rick, Wren nodded his head. "Swim-up bars are the best. You don't worry about tripping on your way out, you just float."
"Yeah, that's gonna be the problem," Rick agrees easily and with a nod toward Ink, but it certainly doesn't seem to be stopping him from drinking some more. He takes a longer sip this time, before he sets the glass back down again, reaching up to rub his head. He wave away the refill, though, and instead stands up. So far, at least, he's not swaying on his feet, which probably means it's time to go, before he //is//. "That's why I don't try to get a job that takes me too far away from the water," he says to Wren, and to punctuate that statement, he starts making his way toward that very thing. The water, that is. "Thanks for the drink, man. I'll get you next time. See you," he adds, with a wave toward Felix, and a nod of farewell to Tabby and Ink, before he gets back into the water, starting out the way he came in.
Ink nods sagely to Mindy and then looks to Felix. "The lady knows of what she speaks. It does wonders for the nerves." Turning back to her, he glances at his pint and then looks to Mindy. "Can you recommend something stronger?" Lifting his glass, he takes a sip as he watches the interaction between Mindy and the others, raising and eyebrow and mouthing the word 'Loo' to Wren, hoping the other man gets the question. He looks to Tabby then, raising an eyebrow. "My life is absolute shit she says while sipping a cocktail in a bar in Hawaii in the early hours..." He shakes his head and takes another sip of his drink. "Don't mind me, I get lippy when I've had a few." He raises his glass to Tabby and mimes putting a hand to his back. "Comes with age." He says with a wink. Reaching for his wallet, he pulls out a couple of notes and places them on the bar. "Rain check on the other drink Mindy, I'd best be getting back to the home before the orderlies come looking for me." Turning, he offers a wave to those gathered. "Lovely meeting you all." Stubbing out his cigarette, he puts his wallet and his tin back into his pouch and then looks to the pool, hoping for an easier way out from the bar. Pausing as if he's forgotten something, he turns and smiles to the other. "I'm Ink by the way, pleasure to meet you!"
Mindy nodded to Rick and gave him a bright smile before calling to him "Aloha!" To Ink, she took his old glass and inclined her head to him. "Bathroom's that way, Ink. You have a good night, now, and Aloha." When she turned her head back to Tabby and Felix, she was busy with setting the two empty glasses from the two departing gentlemen away. "Gag orders are pretty bad, you're not wrong there. Then again, I have to say I think most standing orders are." She gave a soft chuckle, the sound delicate and ever so gentle, before she looked at the ones left in the bar with a grin, then remembered to take Wren's empty glass as well.
The tide is high and rising.
Tabby bit off pieces from her pineapple, tossing the skinned rim back into the fishbowl as she finished them. A chuckle left her as she looked back at Wren and Rick, "You're one of those men that like to toe the edge because no one else does. Just so I don't have to be all lobo loco, just say I have I fine ass." She chuckled, looking at Rick a bit longer before looking back to Ink, "Aloha... As it seems what they want me to say. You keep that card handy and uptodate? Save yourself and someone some paperwork." She winked at the man and turned her attention to Mindy. "See... I can say I'm a Harbinger. I just don't because it sounds all sorts of bleak and depressing."
Felix nodded at Wren, still slightly flushed from the teasing and the booze, which he was returning to. "Cool. Cool I'll do that. I haven't actually gotten into the whole surfing thing yet. I've got my own ways to get around in the water. A lot easier. And I don't have to worry about sharks." He laughed and took another pull, having made a pretty solid dent in his monster drink. He gave a wave to Rick as the man headed out. "Swim home safely man! I still want to go out and give it a shot sometime." He snorted at Ink, shaking his head. "Alright I'll give it a shot. I'll use two hands tonight. Upstairs, downstairs, I'll be the best I've ever had." Sticking out his tongue he took another drink, giving the man a wave. "Good to meet you Ink. Felix. Or uh... Cat." He grinned at that, taking another drink. He frowned slightly, looking into the remains of his beverage. "What I don't get... what I don't get is..." He looked around. "How the hell do you dance in here?" Felix, drunk as he might be and no native speaker, knew enough spanish for that. He looked to Tabby curiously. "Crazy wolf? Like... super ninja badass like on the beach or..." He held up his hands and barred his teeth. "Rawr?"
Wren patted Rick on the shoulder as he headed out. "You have a good one, Rick, Aloha, brah!" Strangely enough, Wren didn't seem to have any of the white-boy hangups with the local language and spoke it pretty freely. He looked over at Ink then and grinned, nodding in agreement with Mindy. "Back there, behind the bend. The men's has a big starfish on it. And it was nice to meet you, too, Ink. Aloha and be safe out there." Wren chuckled and lifted his glass to take another mouthful of the brighter flavored alcohol, then sighed in a relaxed way as he shifted slightly to face more toward Tabby and Felix at the bar, since Rick was now gone. He looked at Tabby for a long moment, allowing his eyes to stay at Tabby's face, before Wren smiled to her warmly and said, with the most sincerity one could imagine in a voice "You've got an absolutely beautiful ass. But as a man of principles, I'd love to have something to call you other than beautiful or gorgeous. I'm Wren Atworth. I like to be called Wren, but if you don't like things so personable, you can call me Mr Atworth, or Atworth. I promise if you tell me something to call you other than beautiful, I'll still be adding the word beautiful on in my head while I say your name." Wren looked over at Felix and grinned. "Under water like this? You just do the Cha Cha, or a slow dance, real close. Sometimes, though, if you've got a talented partner, you can do the Lambada, or the waltz, depending on just how talented."
Offering a small salute and a grin to Tabby, Ink taps his tin. "Will do!" Looking over to Felix, he nods. "Bugger swimming, I'm hoping for a dry way out." Slowly, he turns and looks over to the way that Mindy mentioned. "Oh yeah, damn it's early." He shakes his head and looks over as Rick heads off. "Nice meeting you and all that!" He stops then and turns to nod at Wren. "Much appreciated dude, see you around!" Before he heads off, he listens as Wren talks to Mindy. Shaking his head he makes his way to the Gents and then presumably home. "Must be Idaho or summit. Damn smooth..." He continues to mutter to himself as he disappears from view.
Mindy chuckled softly as she listened to what was now going on at the bar. She glanced up and did a quick inventory before taking glasses into the back washroom and setting them into the dishwasher. For the rest of the next several hours, she'd be doing just that, working the bar.
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