young Cal Chandler / "The Fix" (AU) / Bar

[mm_catslash]

There's a seventeen year old boy in a chair near the fire, curled up as best as a tall frame he still hasn't quite finished growing into will allow. He has a Coke, in one of the old-fashioned glass bottles, and he's running his fingers idly over the shape of the glass as he watches the fish swim through the flames

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[waysthingsare]

There's a boy around his age feeling his way to a couch with a seeing cane, which could possibly be a distraction.

A better one would be the trembling cocker spaniel puppy tucked into his free arm. Barty lets the little thing pace back and forth in his lap when he sits down, but doesn't seem inclined to let it wander off.

[isaysimplewords]

Cal is accustomed to visible disabilities. His uncle

(not thinking about him)

gets around on crutches after a childhood bout of polio. So he watches mostly to make sure that the other boy gets to the sofa okay, then his attention does turn to the puppy.

"Hi," he says. To the boy, not the puppy, because even in Milliways he hardly expects an animal to answer back.

[waysthingsare]

"Hi," he says in return, turning towards Cal's voice.

The puppy decides he would like to examine Cal, and makes a bid for freedom, which Barty immediately blocks.

"It's his first time out of the cage at the shelter, I think. He's a little rambunctious," Barty says by way of apology.

[isaysimplewords]

"It's okay," Cal says. "I like dogs. I can stop him if he tries to wander too far off."

[for_a_chance]

Cam would, normally, not go anywhere near the fireplace.

However, Cal...got things. And though she'd really not rather admit it, she's lonely, and that was kinda...nice.

Still, the Hispanic girl is hovering, torn between fire of fear and the wanting of company.

[isaysimplewords]

Cal has something out a sixth sense for being watched.

That, and Cam is just inside his peripheral vision. He looks up from the fire and smiles a little.

"Hi."

[for_a_chance]

Her solution for not being obvious in either direction of interest is, apparently, to study the floor.

Still, she lifts up her hand and waves.

"Hello."

[isaysimplewords]

Cal tilts his head a little.

"You okay?"

Cam doesn't really strike him as the tentative, avoidant type. Not that he could put quite those words to it, but he notices it all the same.

[facetsofbethan]

Nix Gordon, by contrast, is in her PJs: barefoot, loose blue pyjama bottoms and a thin-strapped pink top.

(She may or may not have surreptitiously - and hurriedly - kicked off the pink fluffy slippers immediately she realised that this wasn't her bathroom.)

She's bleary-eyed, and the thin layer of yellow stubble on her head shows she hasn't shaved her head in a few days and probably should. Her earrings aren't even in.

When she sees where she is, Nix makes a sleepy 'meh' sort of noise, heading to the bar to demand tea and receive both what she requested and a surprise chocolate muffin. Bringing her treasures over to the fire, she spots a familiar face; or rather, a familiar curl, and drops into a nearby squishy chair.

"Boo."

[isaysimplewords]

Cal brightens a little. Well. A lot. A familiar, friendly face is a very good thing to see.

"Hi."

[facetsofbethan]

"Morning." She smiles at him ruefully, rubbing at her face. "Gimme a second? It's 5am my time. Not awake properly yet."

Especially given she finally slept at 3.

"Hate mornings."

[isaysimplewords]

"Yeah, you look tired," says Cal, displaying his cunning expertise on playing to a woman's ego. "'Sokay, take your time." He's perfectly happy to sit quietly for a while, anyway.

[defies_time]

[OOC: Yep, it's the same mun and pup. I just felt like using this PB for once in a while.]

Huh. The kid angsting in Sam's favourite chair is oddly familiar. Sam chooses the nearest sofa instead to curl up in with his meal: chips and coffee are both old standbys.

[isaysimplewords]

[OOC: Man, I'm starting to feel like the only loser without an alternate journal for her pup. ;) ]

It's oddly quiet by the fireplace today. There are usually more people in this spot. A few have come and gone, but it's not nearly as popular as it tends to be.

So when the other guy sits down, Cal glances over, idly curious.

[defies_time]

[OOC: Hee. *pets* This one's for old_school_ties, so I totally have a valid reason for it. Honest. *shifty*]

Sam glances back, and offers a smile when he catches Cal's eye. He doesn't look all that much older than Cal: maybe twenty-five, tops.

"Hey."

[isaysimplewords]

"Hi," Cal answers, resisting the reflex to glance away because hey, he wasn't actually staring this time. He tends to end up staring in Milliways more often than he'd like - he hates when people stare, so he tries not to do it, but he's much more successful at it home than he is here. There's so much more in Milliways to stare at.

[mm_vivien]

Ingress walks over to the fire, rubbing her hands together. They are freezing, and she wasn't out all that long. Every year it seems to get colder by the lake. Or maybe every year, she gets older and notices the cold more.

She shifts off her woolen cape and throws it down on the sofa across from Cal's chair, revealing her gray uniform underneath. She's only got a little while to stop by Milliways and the House of Arch before she must return to her classes on Valdemar.

"Hi," she says, and then holds her hands out to warm up. "Haven, but it's cold out there."

[isaysimplewords]

"Hi," Cal says, looking up at her. Uniform and blue hair. Neat. Maybe she's an alien. "It is? I haven't been out much."

[mm_vivien]

"Looks like you could use some fresh air," she says, flopping down on the sofa. She's a tall girl, and she's not done growing quite yet, so her every day movements are slightly awkward. When she fights, there is nothing awkward at all about Ingress, but when she flops, she flops.

"There's plenty to see out there. A family of giant squids, demon rabbits, dragons sometimes, pirate ships..."

In other words, one of Ingress' favorite places ever.

[isaysimplewords]

Cal can identify with that. It's been almost a year since he he hit that major growth spurt he had, and he still has trouble getting coordinated every now and then.

"Yeah, it's neat," he says. "Friend of mine taught me how to shoot a gun over at the targets."