Friends in Low Places (TAG)

[Deleted]

The bar was, frankly, a dive. A nice dive, but a dive. And you know what? That was fine by Cassie. Not much reason to fear getting mugged or whatever when you turned into a ripped demon if the wind so much as blew too strong. The drinks were cheap here and the bartender, Teddy, was friendly. He’d listened to her recount her whole whirlwind of a relationship with Luca over the past half an hour, asked questions, done all the right noises of affirmation at all the right times. But she knew that despite the fact he seemed genuine… it was his job to listen. Bartender wasn’t far off a therapist as far as duties went.

She wanted a friend to talk to, or someone to go home with so she could forget the whole mess, but, well, she was shit out of luck on both counts. Cassie had not gotten out much or met many people in the short time since moving here; with Luca never wanting to see her again, she only had Jaina (a minor with her own problems, so she wasn’t going to burden her about her breakup), and Bell, who… she loved and trusted as a friend, but he was dating Luca despite the fact the man was a nutcase. She supposed it was because of their long, long history together, but still.

A tall black guy sat down a few stools away, but she paid him no mind, continuing with her story. “Anyway, Luca turns into his fuckin’ werewolf form, snarls at me ‘I'd better not see you again,’ like he's trying to threaten me that it's on sight if I ever run into him. In response, I punched him directly in the dick.” She knocked the rest of her gin and tonic back and laughed. “What a grade-A douche he turned out to be. Shoulda suspected from the fact he’s a cop.” Cassie said the last part with obvious distaste, spitting the word like it was poison. She laid more money down on the counter, and Teddy refreshed her glass with more G&T.

God damn was she not looking forward to going back to her empty-ass apartment alone. Again.

Damian Osprey

[Damian Osprey]

Damian wasn't the kind of guy to go out and hit the bars on the regular. He liked his privacy. He hadn't found anyone that he could really relate with. The bartenders listened because they were hoping seeming relatable would get them good tips.

But the situation was kind of unavoidable. He needed to drop off the suits to the Craftsman for repairs and some new features, and he always made a point to stop somewhere else in the area so nobody could definitively connect him to the Craftsman. And it just so happens that he was out of booze at the shop. So, bar it was. He was going to take home a growler or two to restock.

Normally he was bored when he did these. The news was full of superpower worship and other social disasters. Sports failed to hold his interest. All the good TV was streaming anymore. He usually studied the wood on the countertop, picked out flaws, decided how he would have done it differently or better, or if it was a really good bartop, admired the craftsmanship. But tonight, there was a woman. A good looking one. And one that felt slighted.

He listened to her entire tale of romance and woe while he nursed a scotch. He couldn't help but laugh out loud at the end of it. He was gonna shoot his shot, see what happened. Maybe he'd finally find a kindred spirit of some kind. "There's your problem right there. Never fuck around with powers or cops. Haven't met a one that wasn't a douche of some kind."

He waved at the bartender. "Her next one's on me, Damian. Damian Osprey, like the bird. I promise it's better than a dog. Who am I buying a drink for, miss?"

@mayhem

[Deleted]

Cassie looked over at the loud laugh that came out of the tall black guy, chuckling again at what he said, fist to her mouth. “I really am starting to think that, oh my God!”

She smiled warmly, golden brown eyes dancing with mirth as she looked at him. Whoa, the guy was handsome. “Cassandra Stormchapel, but everyone just calls me Cassie. Pleasure to meet you, Damian.” She took another sip of her drink. “I’m from DC. Dunno if you know this, but almost no people with powers there. Moved here a couple weeks ago for work - I restore paintings, and a friend of mine offered me a place at his studio. Haven’t met many people yet other than him. Apartment’s still empty, mostly because when I tried to go to IKEA some asshole with telekinesis rocked up and tried to rob us all and destroy the place.”

Cassie sighed, ran a hand down her face in exasperation. “Not that DC was a paradise, hell no, but man. I miss being able to do things without some crazy asshole with powers getting up in my business.” She shook her head, laughing again. “I really have no idea how people who’ve lived here all their lives deal with this.”

Cassie took another few sips. "Shit, sorry for complaining. It's just... gonna be an adjustment." She chuckles again. "What about you? You been here long? What do you do?"

Damian Osprey

[Damian Osprey]

Damain moved over to sit next to her at the bar. He got a nice vibe from her, and she was very attractive. Maybe tonight wouldn't completely be a boring loss.

"Damn, actually sounds really nice. I've never been very far from this city. It's full of shit, but it's my city, you feel me? You're right though it's rough. From what I can tell this is like the power capitol of the world. I blame Aegis dropping their headquarters here after the Vietnam war. Everybody and their super pup came down here to either try to join up or make a point."

He knocked back the rest of his scotch and waved for a refill. "Well it just so happens I might be able to help with your furniture issue. I have a wood shop that I run and do all sorts of carving. Mostly custom commission stuff, but I have a few standard furniture items and knick-knacks that I keep on hand. You could come by and see what I've got, and I could swing you a deal on some stuff that would be a lot nicer than IKEA crap. That's mostly what I do. I'll go see a movie every once in a while when it's not one of the five million superhero schlock films that come out, walk in the forest looking for woods. Read books."

He chuckled to himself. "Sorry, I'm not a very interesting kinda guy. I usually keep to myself. Enough about me and my boring ass, what kind of paintings do you restore? How does that work, exactly? If they're half as gorgeous as you, they've got to be absolutely stunning."

He wasn't about to tell her about his activities with his mechanical suit. Most people tended to frown on him robbing banks and trying to kill any powered people that got in his way. It was usually a turn off, and he was kinda sort of hoping that maybe he might get lucky tonight.

@mayhem

[Deleted]

Cassie smiled when he switched seats. Promising. “Oh, I feel that. DC’s got plenty of problems, but it’s still my city.” She hadn’t known that this was the power capital of the world, but that made sense with Aegis being here… she’d probably been told that in history class at some point, but she always had zoned out when it came to modern history.

Her eyebrows raised when he mentioned he was a woodworker. “Really? Wow, yeah, that would be nice. I’ll have to stop by and take a look. It’d be funny if you knew my business partner, actually, come to think of it. Firouz Abbasi. He does the furniture and sculpture restoration, I do the paintings.”

Cassie sipped on her drink, shook her head a little. “Nah, you’re perfectly interesting, handsome. Having quiet interests ain’t a bad thing. Other than going out dancing on occasion for old times’ sake, it’s the same for me. I like hiking and reading too, baking, and I’ve been looking for a tegu lizard to get that isn’t like, 4 states away since I can’t drive. I had to leave my snake Frank back on the east coast with my cousin Tony ‘cause she gets really stressed out traveling, and I’ve been wanting another pet.”

Cassie pulled out her phone at him asking about her work, blushing a little at his compliment. “Pretty much any kind of painting, from modern artwork to stuff that’s old as dirt. Anything a museum or a private collector wants me to mend, I’ll do.” She showed off a couple different pictures of her in various stages of the restoration process: peeling the painting off an old crumbling backing, patching a hole in the canvas, retouching with special paint. In one picture, she was suspended sideways over a large Jackson Pollock in a harness that squeezed her ass, the next, she was suspended upside down with her legs on the ropes like she was climbing a dance pole, tongue out, clearly messing around. “I like to have fun at work.”

Damian Osprey

[Damian Osprey]

Firouz was a name he recognized. Known him for a few years, and he was nice to talk to even when they weren't interacting in a professional manner. "You mean Bell? Ah, girl, you work with ol' Ding-dong? It's a small world. I do some custom work for him every so often. Had to recreate the arm of a rocking chair from scratch for him. Nice walnut piece, very detailed scroll work, but I pulled it off beautifully, if I do say so myself."

He pulled out his own phone and pulled up a picture of the piece, one that happened to have himself working on it with hand carving tools. With his shirt off, his muscular back on display. It got hot in the workshop during the summer, and he wasn't above having a picture or two ready to tease someone he might be interested it. Besides, she started it.

He slid his phone over and picked up hers, admiring everything the pictures offered. "Oh, beautiful. And the paintings aren't bad either," he grinned, giving her a wink as he did so.

"I'm not sure if I can find you a lizard but I could find you a hiking buddy. Mind if I slip my digits in here for later?" he offered, waving her phone back and forth a bit. "And if you wanted, I live above the shop and it's not far from here, I could show you a few pieces I'm working on, get you something to eat a bit better than bar peanuts--ah, no offense, Teddy, they're great, for bar peanuts. What do you say?"

Shot taken, he figured, now to see if she was interested enough.

@mayhem

[Deleted]

Cassie giggled when he called Bell ‘ol’ Ding-dong.’ That sure was a nickname, good Lord, but definitely one she could see someone giving Bell with the way he acted. Her eyes widened a little and she chewed her lip when Damian showed her the picture of him working on the replacement rocking chair arm. She gave him a sidelong look as he slid her his phone and complimented her and her work. “It is beautiful, really good work on the details.” She pinched her fingers on the screen to zoom in. Dude was cut. “Heh, the carving isn’t the only fine art in the picture.”

She put her number in his phone, and brushed her fingertips on his hand as she returned it to him and took her phone back. “I’d love to hike with you sometime, and oh my God, yes, that sounds amazing. I’m a terrible cook and have been on deadline with this piece for the Astaria Museum of Art, so all I’ve had this week is eggs with toast and takeout."

At some point while they’d been sitting there, Teddy had refreshed her drink on Damian’s tab, and she toasted him with it before taking a long drink. Here's to not being alone tonight in my depressing-ass apartment, she said in her mind. “I'm really glad I ran into you. Looking forward to continuing the night at your place.” Cassie threaded her arm through his, an easy smile on her lips.

Damian Osprey

[Damian Osprey]

Oh he liked her giggle. This was looking like it was going to be a good night. It was nice to meet someone that was also a little fed up with powers and all the bullshit they caused. "Why thank you. I try to put working to carving my body as well as the wood. Gotta try to be half as attractive as the person I'm sitting next to right now," he said with a wink.

"I've got some leftover chicken from dinner the other night, should be nicer than eggs, toast, and takeout." He finished his own drink after toasting her back, and couldn't help but smile wide at her as she wrapped her arm around his. He reached out, took her free hand, and pressed it to his lips. "Right this way, beautiful."

He led her out into the night, and began carefully navigating the streets of Haven. It was definitely the bad part of town, which was why real estate here was so cheap. "Make sure you watch where you step in this part of town, Cass. This is definitely the wrong side of the tracks, unfortunately. The wrong move here and you'll find yourself on the wrong end of some powered psycho's drug fueled rampage. I've seen it happen once, and honestly it was one too many times."

It was honestly not the best thing to keep the mood going, but he felt like he needed to warn her. She'd said she was new to the area, and he wanted to make sure she'd be safe, especially if she was visiting the Drunken Dog. Hopefully she'd be visiting his shop more often too, but that remained to be seen.

He could bring things back a little though. "Walking with you though, in these dark streets, it's like having a little candle of beauty with me. Everything seems a little brighter and nicer with you around."

@mayhem

[Deleted]

Cassie looked sidelong at him when he expressed his concern about her walking through Haven. “That’s very kind of you, but I’ll be fine, I assure you. I can handle myself. Had to learn how to when I used to dance - Cloakroom wasn’t exactly in the best neighborhood. That and some people got handsy. Takes surprisingly little force to break someone’s hand, as it turns out.”

Her eyes danced with mirth at his compliment. “Wow, that’s… really beautiful, Damian. Very poetic. Thank you. I’m uh, I hope you don’t mind that I’m about as unsubtle as they come.” She patted his muscular arm, grinning.

They walked along in pleasant silence for a while, until she looked up at him and said quietly, “I’m gonna climb you like a tree later.” Cassie burst into a fit of quiet giggles. “Oh, shit. I said that out loud, didn’t I. See what I mean?”

Damian Osprey

[Damian Osprey]

Damian grinned as she explained that she could take care of herself. He liked that. "Honestly, that's pretty damn hot, if you ask me. I'm always a fan of a woman who knows how to put assholes in their place."

Damian laughed when she commented about climbing him like a tree. She really was the farthest thing from subtle, but he didn't mind. "Honestly, I was kind of hoping we'd get to climbing each other later tonight. Just in case I was being too subtle..."

He stopped walking, and turned to face her under a street lamp, the warm yellow light making her glow as if she was full of light. He brushed some of her hair out of her face and behind her ear, and let his hand trail along down her cheek and along her jawbone to her chin. He gently tilted her face up, then brought his lips in to meet hers. He felt out the intensity, testing things, seeing if she was receptive to a deep french kiss or not. He was willing to move fast, but he didn't want to go too fast for her.

"That should make my intentions clear. We're almost there, are we thinking chicken before or after tree climbing?" he asked with a smirk.

@mayhem