Thread Roulette: Sean, Stephan, and Leila

[Event !]

A telepath, a puppeteer, and an aerokinetic walk into a bar. Or, Poor Leila, all the nice guys are gay, all the straight guys are evil. Or taken.

[Leila Gold]

Leila didn't normally go out and drink. She didn't even normally go out. Generally she was busy working on extra paperwork. When she wasn't piled with paperwork, she often tried to just catch up on sleep. Some nights she would get some reading done before bed, but she still tended to crash early whenever she got the chance. And then, of course, there was the memorable time when she decided to throw a party....

Plus, Leila liked drinking at home. If she was going to have a drink, she liked to be in the safety of her own home while she was doing it, just in case. Who knew what was going to happen if you went out to a public place.

But tonight, she was making an exception. She hadn't gone out in a long while, and she was ready to go to a bar, play darts, have a drink or two, and head home after flirting with a few cute guys. If she got really lucky, she might even meet someone.

She'd gotten all ready for the evening. She straightened her hair and put in a big, purple flower clip. She was wearing a purple blouse with short, lacy sleeves that hung off the shoulder. Some nice jeans and a pair of black boots finished the outfit. She debated taking her bike the mile and a half to the club district, but decided she didn't want to muss her hair. She also wasn't sure exactly what kind of condition she'd be in that evening, and she'd rather not have to worry about keeping her balance on a bike. So she just walked down.

As she headed down, she thought about some of the recent events. The whole town felt a bit tense, like it was waiting for something to blow. She didn't know what exactly was up, but it left her feeling strange. Even Cobalt had caught the bug, and had taken extra time to make sure that she promised to stay safe and take care of herself. Maybe she shouldn't be walking on her own at night in town, but then again, how bad could Pilot Ridge be, anyway?

To prove her point, she made it all the way downtown without even speaking to anyone. She smiled wide and stepped into the bar. She went up to the counter, pulling out her ID as she went. She held it out to the bartender.

"I'll take a coke and rum, please," she ordered, sitting down on a stool at the bar. When the drink came she turned around and leaned against the counter, looking out at all the people with a smile.

"This should be fun," she said, taking a sip.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had been a mentor to Stephen. From his relationship with his own mentor, the telepath enjoyed that moment when one turned from a pupil to a friend, and he and Stephen had long since made that transition. Although their work schedules made hanging out all the time impossible, they tried to set time aside to enjoy one another’s company and to shoot the breeze in a setting removed from work.

Tonight was bar night. There weren’t too many bars in Pilot Ridge, although there were several in the surrounding area, and Sean spent a fair amount of time at all of them, over the years. After work, he’d dressed down for the evening: donning a pair of black jeans, a longer shirt, and then his leather jacket because it was a night to blend in and pretend that he didn’t carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.

He’d picked Stephen up at his house and then given him a ride to the bar, excited for the night and the opportunity to spend time with the younger man and to talk. Most of the car conversation was unimportant, as it tended to be, simple discussions about work: people Stephen had seen and Sean’s never-ending battle against the students betting Vincent that he couldn’t survive one dangerously stupid stunt after another.

After reaching the bar and parking, Sean walked through the doors and right up to the bartender. “I’ll have a scotch and soda.” He looked over at Stephen, encouraging him to order whatever he liked; Sean had the tab for the first few rounds at least.

[Stephen Gage]

Bar night, Stephen's favorite night of... well, whenever. Clubs were not the man's idea of a good time, too noisy and hardly the place to have a nice and relaxed conversation. Bars, however, fit the bill perfectly, and whenever he was in town, the recruiter made it a habit to go to a bar and simply enjoy it. Pilot Ridge was small, as were the towns around, and so while Stephen rarely got an opportunity to make new friends on these excursions, it was just as well to reconnect with old ones. After all, there are few things better in life than reminiscing with old friends. And drinking. One must never forget that last bit.

Sean Neville was one such old friend. They'd hardly started out as such, as the psychiatrist was several years Stephen's senior. Stephen had started as a foreigner, transitioned to student, then to an enthusiastic student, and after a few years at Hammel and one rather humdrum graduation ceremony, to friend, and eventually coworker. The two rarely met during the workday, if at all. Sean was a busy man with a very complex job, and Stephen spent a fair portion of the year flying around the country bringing in new fledglings. So on these rare occasions when the two could meet for a drink, or several, Stephen became rather excited. And perhaps a bit more chatty than usual.

The ride over to the bar had barely contained a moment of silence. Nor had it been full of meaningful revelations. It was friendly banter, discussions of whatever powers Stephen had come across in his time and the latest death-defying (as usual) stunts of Vincent. There was a casual bet pool among some employees of Hammel as to if and when Vincent's power would finally call it quits and the guy would finally die. Macabre, to be sure, but after seventeen attempts at suicide, people start to become rather casual about it.

"And I'm walking down the hallway of the hospital, trying to find room... whatever it was. It was a labyrinth, I'm telling you. Thought it was going to take a week to find the kid's room." Stephen spoke casually as he held the bar's door open for Sean, his foot keeping the thing from swinging shut as his hands moved about with his words. A thin bracelet, black leather and titanium, hung from his wrist and glinted in the light as his hands accentuated his words. The cold was kept away from his skin by the defenses of a black jacket he'd donned for the night, beneath which was a rather simple brown, button-up shirt. Planning for the worst (a.k.a sloppy) situation, Stephen had kept his attire rather plain, rounding out the outfit with a fairly nice pair of jeans. Spills could occur, and they could be bitches to get out. "Nurse finds me, and without a word, pulls me by the arm down another hall and into some out-of-the-way room. Inside, there's a little girl on a bed and what must have been an 8-foot-tall teddy bear standing behind her, just smiling. Nurse looked at me - you should have seen the expression - and just says 'Take her. Now.'"

His best attempts to mimic the sheer sobriety of the nurse's face failed, the stern expression dissolving into a smile and a chuckle. The gigantic teddy bear, it turned out, was some part of the girl's ability: animation. How it got that big, however, Stephen would never know. Whatever the cause, it was unnerving. Hilarious, but creepy. Stephen followed the older man into the bar, still suffering a minor case of the giggles. They persisted until he got to the bar, where, with his smile still present, he followed Sean's order with his own. "Jameson straight, please. And don't listen to this guy, the next ones are on me."

The bartender set to work, and Stephen leaned against the bar itself, his eyes roving for an empty seat. There were plenty to choose from, and that itself was a shade problematic. He nudged Sean in the arm, one eyebrow cocked. "And I'll even pay for the taxi if the night comes to it." he said with a grin. "Where would you like to have a seat?"

[Leila Gold]

Leila was lounging against the bar, gazing around the room to see if there was anyone she recognized. None of the faces seemed familiar.

The door opened and two guys walked in. She was about to turn away, but one of them seemed...Yes! It was Sean. She almost waved him down right then, but paused.

Who is he with? she thought to herself. She decided to wait for a bit to see what was up. The other guy was a bit younger, closer to her age, really. She couldn't hear what they were saying from where she was sitting at the bar, but the two seemed to be on really good terms. Not a business call, then.

Who is he and should I know him? Then they turned around and the younger man asked where they should sit. He spoke with a bit of an accent, Leila caught. He was actually kind of cute. And if Sean knew him, well, then, he must be good. Right?

Leila stood and went over to them. "Hey, Sean," she said. "I haven't seen you in a while." Not since the dinner party at Blue's....perhaps it would be best to keep his mind off that. "So how have you been? Do you mind if I sit and talk with you for a while, since we haven't really had much of an opportunity before?" Then she pretended to have just noticed the other person. "Hello," she said, turning to him. "My name is Leila. I'm new in town."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

((OOC: I didn’t mention this earlier, but I’m assuming that this all takes place before “The Wild Woods” because otherwise this creates a bunch of timeline and motivation problems. If this is a problem for you, please PM me so we can adjust.))
It wasn’t the worst story that the psychiatrist had heard – either in the line of duty or from Stephen himself – however an eight-foot tall teddy bear was one of those events that tended to frighten baseline humans, those who had little to no interaction with meta-humans generally and with illusions or animators specifically. “Did you tell the nurse that the bear was a pooka? Or did you just take the girl and run?” If Stephen admitted that he didn’t get the reference, then Sean could just pack it in there and then; he was getting old.

The telepath then rolled his eyes at Stephen’s insistence on paying the next round; he could afford to treat the younger man to a few drinks tonight, but they’d cross that bridge when they reached it. For the moment, he could concentrate on sipping his scotch, taking a look around the room, and searching for an available seat. It was crowded tonight.

And people he recognized were here; although his shields were up there were always the detections of familiar minds. Turning, he saw Leila Gold of all people, and he immediately looked around for Cobalt. Considering how introverted, misanthropic, and downright unpleasant her partner could be, he supposed that he shouldn’t be surprised that he wasn’t at a bar. Sean was grateful for that, because he didn’t want to get into another argument about Hammel.

Before he could wave her over, she pounced on her own. The telepath gave her a genuine smile and offered his hand for a shake. “You’re welcome to sit a spell with us; we were just looking for a table.” And then, not wanting to forget his manners, he turned to Stephen, “This is Leila, a former student and a bright young attorney. Leila, this is Stephen, he’s a top-notch recruiter for Hammel.”

[Stephen Gage]

"I didn't say anything to her. Just got the fuck out of Dodge. She was happier that way." Stephen's attention, occasionally a rather fleeting thing, was caught momentarily by the bartender, who had been humming a tune that the recruiter only scarcely remembered. But that faint shred of a memory was enough to earn his attention, and his eyes rested on the ceiling, trying with impressive fervor to remember the words. The middle of his back pressed against the bar as he sought out the musical secrets of the universe in the roof. He muttered potential words quietly to himself, never entirely sure whether they were a perfect fit or some curious invention of his mind. "Doo wop, ...something someting, doo wop?" No, that wasn't it.

His attempts at scrounging up the memory was interrupted by the sudden, and perky, voice of what sounded like a woman. Stephen's head snapped to attention, and his suspicions were correct: it was a woman. A perky one. A chipper gentleman on his own accord, Stephen was far more pleased than he was annoyed at the intrusion, and moved to introduce himself. Sean, however, beat him to the punch. Leila. Pretty name. And an attorney? Fancy. Sean introduced Stephen, and the recruiter chuckled. "Oh Sean, stop. You're making me blush." The recruiter held out a firm hand to the woman, smiling. "Stephen, like he said. Always a pleasure, Leila."

A solid thunk, followed by the light clinking of ice, alerted Stephen to the fact that his drink had arrived. And the gruff "drink's up" courtesy of the bartender certainly helped as well. As he awaited her reciprocation of the shake, Stephen turned his upper half a bit, reaching back to grab his drink. As happy as a kid in a candy store, Stephen turned back around, sipping a bit of his drink. He was in a good mood, had been for days. Sean had gingerly invited this young woman to join them in their night of fun. It would only be courteous of Stephen to assure her that she had his blessing as well.

If perhaps a bit more effusively than his aged friend. The hand that held the glass extended its pointer finger to Leila, firm and sternly like a sergeant issuing orders. "Nevermind his manners. We are here to have a night of fun, and you," he said, waggling his finger for emphasis,"are going to join us. At least until Sean starts telling stories of my student years. I've heard them far too many times." The finger retreated, and Stephen took a sip, turning his eyes to Sean. "Your choice, Sean. Pick a seat for us."

[Leila Gold]

Leila stood politely, smiling broadly at the two gentlemen. "Top-notch recruiter, huh?" she said. "I bet you must have some great stories about all that. Me, I could describe to you some of my stories about law, but it always seems that no one ever gets my lawyer jokes. I mean, I always think it's funny when I talk about the case on Foster that we had, since it was all about..." She saw she was losing her audience and shut up. "Never mind. Good to meet you, Stephen."

When they stopped shaking, Leila took another sip of her drink. "Well, I'm glad you're ready to have fun. I've been sitting around in a stuffy office all day, and I am ready to have a little bit of free time. Don't worry, though. I'm sure between the two of us youngsters we can make this old fogey," she nodded her head at Sean, "lighten up for the evening." She glanced around the bar for a moment. "Oh, I'm sure Sean wouldn't tell any really embarrassing stories about you. I mean really, what all could you have done that would be that embarrassing?"

As she waited for Sean to pick a place to sit, she placed her hands down in front of her and stood on her tiptoes, looking up at Stephen. "Wow, you're really tall," she said. "I bet it's nice, being able to reach things from the top shelf instead of always having to ask around for someone to help you out." She gave another big smile.

Sean, she half-thought to herself, half-prayed, thank you for introducing me to a young man who is not a jerk and... A glance at Stephen's left hand revealed no ring. And not taken.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing.” Never having had to go on a recruitment mission, Sean rarely gave consideration to how he would handle those situations. He met parents and guardians on his territory, rather than on theirs, which always gave him a degree of control. He rolled his eyes as Stephen began to hum, because the song would invariable get stuck in his head now, but it was too late, since it was already forming. Sod it.

The conversation was a welcome diversion from the musical curse of being a telepath, and he focused on the introductions and then the aftermath.

“You’ll have to learn how to take a compliment sooner or later,” the telepath retorted with a smile. When the drinks arrived, he gave a nod of thanks to the bartender and reached for his glass. Taking a sip, he smiled, pleased with how it had come out; this was the reason he frequented this bar: they knew how to mix drinks. “I’ll keep embarrassing stories to a minimum tonight,” the telepath said with a chuckle. “Or at least focus on someone else. I have more than enough to go around.”

He didn’t quite follow Leila’s opening about the Foster case, although he assumed he fared better than some due to his exposure through Josh, but at the end of the day, the minutia of legal matters didn’t make an impression. “Well, there’s always politics and sports, though I don’t think we’ll run out of conversation topics.”

Then both Leila and Stephen were seemingly ganging up on him to choose a location. The bar was crowded, but he peered around and caught sight of an empty table near the back. Pointing with his free hand, he said, “Let’s reconvene back there.” He started moving through the crowd, albeit slowly as he didn’t want to lose his company or knock anyone over.

And then he heard Leila’s thought. And he frowned to himself. He did hate being the bearer of bad news, particularly crushing hopes in a casual setting, but she deserved to know. He didn’t take any amusement in watching someone try to flirt with a person who wouldn’t be interested in her.

As they settled at the table, he kept his expression neutral so that Stephen wouldn’t realize that there was a telepathic conversation underway. And he told her, You can thank me because he’s a very nice man, but you shouldn’t thank me otherwise. He isn’t interested in women.

[Event !]

Thank you for participating. This event is now closed.