Always the Good Guy (OTA, Tag Ranger)

[agentriley_finn]

"What did you call me?" A burly, raven-haired man grabbed the collar of a thin, red-headed man and pulled him forward. They had been playing pool and it looked like the burly man in leather had lost. He didn't look pleased. The red-head smirked, "I said, 'What a tool'." The burly man gave a grunt before swinging his arm back and clocking the

Comments

[range_wizard]

Ranger had watched the whole encounter passively from his corner. He wasn't the type to break up bar fights, unless they edged too close to his personal space so he had been content to let the other man wrangle the two drunks apart. It was impressive, too. Here, clearly, was another person with military training. Ranger was beginning to wonder if that was some sort of requirement, but then he remembered Stephanie and changed his mind.

He lifted his own beer to his lips and took a long draw as Riley turned from the pool table and went to order his own drink. He'd been waiting patiently for some sign from the village as to whether or not this RangeMan idea was going to work. He'd been told facilities just showed up when they were required, so he was biding his time. Still, he could always use an extra man on board for when the time did come. He was going to bet this man would have what he was looking for.

"Army?" he asked as the bartender set Riley's beer on the bartop, "Navy? Or something else."

[agentriley_finn]

Riley palmed the cool beer bottle and turned to face the guy who had asked the question. He looked like the kind of guy who was cool and collective, kind of like Graham, but different. Darker, maybe.

"Something else." He offered a small smile as he took a sip from the bottle. "Secret division of the U.S. Military." He glanced back at the pool table and winced slightly, "Kind of made a spectacle, didn't I?"

[range_wizard]

"No, I think you averted the spectacle," Ranger replied with a shake of his head. He felt his mental eyebrows shoot up at the words "Secret Division of the U.S. Military." Like what, Men in Black? Ranger had come in contact with some agencies that were strictly off the books, but it wasn't common. And Riley, who, to be honest, looked military, but not secret agency.

[agentriley_finn]

"I wasn't exactly planning on averting anything tonight." And yet, things like that always happened to him and he couldn't help it. "I guess you can take the man out of the uniform, but not the uniform out of the man, huh?" He tipped his bottle for another sip.

[range_wizard]

"Depends on the man," Ranger said, watching Riley carefully, sizing him up. "Depends on the uniform," he continued after a moment with an understated grin. Ranger had varying degrees of respect for the different branches of the military. Technically he was Army, so there was a natural competition with the Navy, but he was almost a SEAL. Both the Navy and the Army sneered at the Air force.

[agentriley_finn]

Riley caught the grin. Again it reminded him of someone back home - this time Forrest. Forrest had that kind of expression when he talked about civilians and the other military branches. "I guess you could say I'm Army born and raised. But I'm much better trained." Much better. "Used to work for a division called The Initiative in a small town in California."

He had already assessed Ranger, but his latest comments verified it. "Sounds like you've seen similar action."

[range_wizard]

"Special Forces," Ranger said with a nod. "Venezuela, mostly." He finished his beer and gestured to the bartender for another. "I'd ask what a secret division was doing in small town California if I thought you'd tell me." He arched one eyebrow at the other man as he received his second beer. He was more willing to tell people in Haurvatat about his past on the assumption that if they ever left the place, they would more than likely not be in a world where it would matter if they knew anything about him. It had been his experience that the other villagers (for lack of a better term) felt the same.

[agentriley_finn]

He let out a casual laugh, taking another swig from the bottle with a nod. "I'd tell you if you wouldn't think I was a complete nut." Riley was still smiling though and he shook his head, "The Initiative's goal was to capture and negate the threat hostile sub-terrestrials to the human population."

[range_wizard]

"I understood everything but the middle part." Ranger shifted one chair closer to Riley and leaned forward on the bar, head turned to look at him. "Sub terrestrials?" He was pretty nothing could shock him anymore, even if he didn't quite understand it. After all, Kyra was from another planet and Carlos practiced magic.

[agentriley_finn]

Riley swallowed another mouthful of beer. "It basically means monsters. Demons, vampires, werewolves." Other things he didn't know the name of, but that was where Buffy and her friends came in. Giles was especially helpful.

[range_wizard]

"More magic," Ranger said with a nod and a short sigh. Alright, werewolves. He could handle werewolves. He'd already heard about the vampires. The demons were new, but he took it all in stride, downing half the beer and straightening.

"I'm Ranger, by the way." He extended his hand to the man.

[agentriley_finn]

"Riley." He took his hand in a firm, decisive shake. "You took that a lot better than most people. Have experience or just that kind of person?

[range_wizard]

His expression was really all Riley needed to see to know the answer. Ranger was exactly that kind of person. It had been a long time since he'd reacted with true shock to anything. It was interesting that the time he'd spent in Special Forces had actually prepared him to believe in just about anything. He had seen what one human being could do to another. He figured if the kind of violence he'd witnessed was possible, anything was. "I'm just that kind of person."

[agentriley_finn]

That got another light laugh from Riley as he finished off the beer and ordered another one. "Spoken like a man who's seen a lot." Which was all very relative. Riley had thought he'd seen a lot before he met Buffy. Then he saw more things, like an almost apocolypse. "Which is good. For here, I mean. There's a lot of people from very different places." He shook his head, "Some of them right out of the movies."

[range_wizard]

"Or stranger," Ranger agreed, thinking of Kyra. What she'd said about prison planets, Crematoria, where the sun melted the flesh off your bones, had stuck in his mind. He was quiet for a long minute, nursing his beer, "but it doesn't much matter here, does it. We're all in the same boat."

[agentriley_finn]

Riley looked thoughtful and he dipped his head in agreement, "I suppose so. Though some people I'd say are better off than others." He took another sip. "I came here and found out the girl I'm dating is here too. Only she's from the future and for some reason I broke up with her." Which didn't make a lick of sense to Riley and it showed on his expression. He inclined his head, "Try to figure that one out."