The carnival foods, rides, and games have been gone for a few days, but that fact hasn't deterred Harvey in the slightest. Each day he has gone out searching, just in case the items suddenly appeared elsewhere on the island.
Harvey is out on the hunt again, and so Elwood finds himself at the Hub by himself. Alone, not lonely. There are people around, beer in his mug, and a slight breeze ruffling his hair. And so, Elwood is enjoying himself.
Two seats down sits a good-looking fellow, a man who has not been at the bar as long as Elwood, though he seems to be drinking at a faster pace.
One of Elwood's favorite past-times is listening to people, and he and Harvey have heard their fair share of stories at bars. People tell them their troubles, their hopes and dreams, and usually they leave the bar much happier than they were before they came in.
Perhaps, Elwood thinks, this man has a story to tell.
"Hello, there," Elwood says, lifting his glass in greeting. "A fine evening, if I do say so myself."
Jeff, for the most part, had ignored the rest of the denizens of the Hub since his arrival. It'd been working out fine until he realized someone was talking to him. It'd be a lie to say he wasn't tempted to pretend he didn't hear the stranger for a second. Still, after taking a small swig of whatever he'd been given, he shrugged a shoulder.
"Not much different than most nights," he pointed out. The weather was usually one of the better things about this place, but even that consistency annoyed him right now. For such a picturesque place, it sure knew how to give him endless amounts of headaches.
The man has a point, but Elwood can always see the other side of any tale. "And while most nights are fine, none are ever so much so as the present, and tomorrow shall be the same," Elwood says.
The corners of his mouth pull up in a lazy yet amiable smile. After a long pull of his drink, he places the glass down carefully upon the bar. "Permit me to say so...you do not appear to be in a celebratory mood, my dear man. Were currency accepted here, I would buy you another round."
Elwood cannot determine what the man's mood is exactly, but he isn't loud and boisterous like some patrons Elwood and Harvey have encountered in the past.
Jeff sipped his drink, wondering why the complete stranger was asking after him. Though it was probably a bad sign his bad mood was noticeable to even someone who didn't know him. He'd care less about that once he got a couple more drinks in.
"You always buy random strangers in bars rounds back home?" he asked, avoiding the unasked question in his observation. His tone wasn't hostile - though maybe it ought to have been, considering the fact he wasn't in much of a sharing mood - but something closer to the usual kind of bored curiosity he usually would display.
There were times, admittedly, when Meredith started to feel a little hypocritical for coming to the Hub. It wasn't as if she hadn't done so regularly enough since arriving over three years ago, but when she was on Sean's case for drinking so much, it didn't seem quite right to go out drinking herself. The difference was, she did it much less often than he'd been doing before the fight and she tended to drink less when she went.
Besides, she liked favoring the Hub. Even if there was no money being made, it felt like a particular gesture of loyalty to the proprietor, who was making her wedding gown - without recompense, for that matter, just because she'd asked and he wanted to help. What she didn't like was nearly spilling as she drew back from the bar with a glass in hand, her cocktail narrowly missing the man beside her, some of it splashing onto the floor instead. "Crap, I didn't get you, did I? Sorry."
Jeff was aware enough of his surroundings to spot it as it was happening. He moved his leg a little away from it, narrowly avoiding getting it down his pant leg. If it wasn't a pretty face doing the spilling - one he'd never met before, now that he thought about it - he might've taken the bad mood that'd been brewing out on her (and wouldn't be completely out of left field for doing so - he only had a couple of pairs of good pants, after all).
Instead, he just shook his head in response.
"Looks like you lost most of your drink, though," he commented, managing a half-grin,
"Yeah," Meredith said, wincing. "That is a real shame. Well, at least I didn't get it on you and the drinks around here are free." It was definitely one of the benefits of island life, so far as she was concerned, that the alcohol was both good and freely available. It hadn't been bad when she'd arrived, but the last several years had either accustomed her to the taste or just improved the maker's skills even more.
She didn't know the man in question, but she couldn't pretend that was a surprise. She spent so much time either at home, in the classroom or in the clinic that she really wasn't the best at recognizing faces, and could never really tell who was or wasn't new. With a sigh, she pulled up a seat and waved the bartender down to ask for another.
"Best part of the island, if you ask me," he replied. He had a feeling the bartender didn't just let everyone drink beyond their limit all the time, though - supplies couldn't be endless - so he was glad he saved his for now. Any time he thought about the year thing, he just got more annoyed. Glancing at the woman again, he added, "Jeff Winger. Don't think I've seen you around before."
Although it might have surprised some people, it wasn't attachments Lily was opposed to. She liked people, she liked being around them and having friends, so while she wasn't looking for a monogamous relationship, that didn't mean she hadn't grown to care about the people she'd met on the island. Jeff counted among that number. And something was wrong, Lily knew that much as she slid into the seat beside him and ordered her own beer.
"Getting drunk?" she asked when her mug arrived and she wrapped both hands around it before she turned toward Jeff. "Want some company?"
Most night she had a drink or two, but avoided getting drunk. If Jeff wanted the company, though, for whatever reason, she'd help him out.
When he'd gone in earlier, he hadn't noticed anyone familiar lurking about. He hadn't necessarily been disappointed, but he had no complaints when Lily's appearance changed that.
"That's the plan," he replied, glancing over at her. He nodded toward the stool beside him, hint of a smirk lifting - mostly for her benefit. He had a feeling he probably had been looking at least pretty annoyed a few seconds earlier. "Your company? Always."
Lifting her glass a little, Lily said, "Well, then, to getting drunk," before she took a drink of her beer and set the mug back down on the bar again. Though she tended to frequent the Hub and had no problem with the alcohol, getting drunk was something she usually reserved for a night out. If Jeff wanted to get drunk, though, she'd get drunk with him.
"I'll throw this out there, just in case," she said. "If you want to talk about what's bugging you, I'm game. If you don't, I'm game, too." That was all up to him. She wouldn't push, but she wasn't going to shut him down if he needed to vent.
Jeff lifted his mug in a similar way, briefly. The question was enough to give him a hint at just how bad off he probably looked. Then again, drinking alone was pretty much always a sign something was off, too.
"Nothing really," he replied, though that was a lie he'd been telling himself as well, recently. After a pause to drink some more of the alcohol he'd ordered, he added, "You know, it's been a year today since I showed up here."
Layla wasn't good at making friends, largely because she didn't like people, with the added roadblock that most of the time, she knew exactly how it was going to go and therefor felt very little impetus to make an effort. She had no problem being solitary, and the result of that was that she was, most of the time.
She had swung by the Hub to grab a drink and people watch, because while she didn't like them, she did like to keep tabs on them, when she noticed the particular focus with which the angular blond man with the impressive forehead was pursuing his booze. She watched him walk up to the bar, then ventured, "Preparing yourself the coming apocalypse?"
Jeff had been wrapped up in his own thoughts enough that the sudden presence of someone else surprised him. Glancing over at the woman with the interesting marking on her face (he knew he'd never met her just by that - it was hard not to notice), he lifted a brow.
"I didn't realize the apocalypse date was set," he replied, dryly. Though with this place? Somehow he wouldn't be surprised.
"The way you're filling that glass, I figured you might know," Layla returned with a slight shrug. She looked, as ever, generally uninterested- or at least uninvested- in the goings on around her, but he was there and she was bored out of her skull, so she was asking.
"I think I'd be doing other things if I knew the end of the world was coming," he mused, swirling the liquid a little in his mug as he spoke. Especially drinking alone in a bar, having that be his last moments were spent alone and probably a little pathetic looking in a bar. "Or end of the island. Whatever."
Comments 39
Harvey is out on the hunt again, and so Elwood finds himself at the Hub by himself. Alone, not lonely. There are people around, beer in his mug, and a slight breeze ruffling his hair. And so, Elwood is enjoying himself.
Two seats down sits a good-looking fellow, a man who has not been at the bar as long as Elwood, though he seems to be drinking at a faster pace.
One of Elwood's favorite past-times is listening to people, and he and Harvey have heard their fair share of stories at bars. People tell them their troubles, their hopes and dreams, and usually they leave the bar much happier than they were before they came in.
Perhaps, Elwood thinks, this man has a story to tell.
"Hello, there," Elwood says, lifting his glass in greeting. "A fine evening, if I do say so myself."
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"Not much different than most nights," he pointed out. The weather was usually one of the better things about this place, but even that consistency annoyed him right now. For such a picturesque place, it sure knew how to give him endless amounts of headaches.
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The corners of his mouth pull up in a lazy yet amiable smile. After a long pull of his drink, he places the glass down carefully upon the bar. "Permit me to say so...you do not appear to be in a celebratory mood, my dear man. Were currency accepted here, I would buy you another round."
Elwood cannot determine what the man's mood is exactly, but he isn't loud and boisterous like some patrons Elwood and Harvey have encountered in the past.
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"You always buy random strangers in bars rounds back home?" he asked, avoiding the unasked question in his observation. His tone wasn't hostile - though maybe it ought to have been, considering the fact he wasn't in much of a sharing mood - but something closer to the usual kind of bored curiosity he usually would display.
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Besides, she liked favoring the Hub. Even if there was no money being made, it felt like a particular gesture of loyalty to the proprietor, who was making her wedding gown - without recompense, for that matter, just because she'd asked and he wanted to help. What she didn't like was nearly spilling as she drew back from the bar with a glass in hand, her cocktail narrowly missing the man beside her, some of it splashing onto the floor instead. "Crap, I didn't get you, did I? Sorry."
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Instead, he just shook his head in response.
"Looks like you lost most of your drink, though," he commented, managing a half-grin,
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She didn't know the man in question, but she couldn't pretend that was a surprise. She spent so much time either at home, in the classroom or in the clinic that she really wasn't the best at recognizing faces, and could never really tell who was or wasn't new. With a sigh, she pulled up a seat and waved the bartender down to ask for another.
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"Getting drunk?" she asked when her mug arrived and she wrapped both hands around it before she turned toward Jeff. "Want some company?"
Most night she had a drink or two, but avoided getting drunk. If Jeff wanted the company, though, for whatever reason, she'd help him out.
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"That's the plan," he replied, glancing over at her. He nodded toward the stool beside him, hint of a smirk lifting - mostly for her benefit. He had a feeling he probably had been looking at least pretty annoyed a few seconds earlier. "Your company? Always."
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"I'll throw this out there, just in case," she said. "If you want to talk about what's bugging you, I'm game. If you don't, I'm game, too." That was all up to him. She wouldn't push, but she wasn't going to shut him down if he needed to vent.
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"Nothing really," he replied, though that was a lie he'd been telling himself as well, recently. After a pause to drink some more of the alcohol he'd ordered, he added, "You know, it's been a year today since I showed up here."
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She had swung by the Hub to grab a drink and people watch, because while she didn't like them, she did like to keep tabs on them, when she noticed the particular focus with which the angular blond man with the impressive forehead was pursuing his booze. She watched him walk up to the bar, then ventured, "Preparing yourself the coming apocalypse?"
Reply
"I didn't realize the apocalypse date was set," he replied, dryly. Though with this place? Somehow he wouldn't be surprised.
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