Aaargh Matey {Avery/Open}

[nathaniel arthur smith]

[IT'S THE MERMAID'S BOSOM CAN YOU BLAME ME]

Nate could never understand why islands were so obsessed with maintaining the fantasy, pirate image. It wasn't as if pirates frequented Orange Island, and while there were one or two individuals you could loosely identify as "salty sea dogs", there certainly weren't enough for the term to be credited as valid. And what exactly was a salty sea dog, anyway? It sounded more like food than unsavory charlatan.

Regardless of the cheese factor, Nate didn't really mind working at the Mermaid's Bosom. The pay was pretty crappy, but for some reason he made a lot in tips. He figured it was because drunken people who visited this bar became a lot more liberal with their money and could no longer properly count; it certainly wasn't his sunny disposition.

Thinking about this, Nate wiped down the aging, chipped wooden bar with his dishrag, waiting for Peters down at the end to yell at him for a beer refill. Though Nate knew how to make nearly every mixed drink out there from his time working in New York City, he was rarely called upon to use those skills. Not that he cared.

He heard the ridiculously annoying chime of the bell over the door and didn't even bother looking up. Whatever regular that had just entered would be making their demands soon, they didn't care about a welcome.

[avery carina dawson]

outfit!

It was true--Avery didn't care about a welcome. She might pretend to care about a welcome as soon as she came to the bar, but this would only be because it annoyed Nate and that was always a fun activity. In fact, one of the only reasons she came to this bar was because of Nate. It wasn't like there was ever anyone she was really interested in at the bar, although sometimes her friends decided that this was a better bar to be at than Lucky's and then it was all party party party for poor Nate the bartender.

Today was not one of those days, however, and Avery was alone. She wouldn't have been dressed like she was out to get some, except she'd started out with jeans and then walked out the door and started sweating, so she switched to the skirt. The leather jacket was pretty much killing her, so she had walked to the bar without it and put it on as soon as she walked into the door. Nate didn't look up, which was fine with her because then he wouldn't see it coming when she sat at the bar to make his night more lively.

She could just barely hear her heels clacking on the ground over the general bar sounds. A couple people waved to her and she waved back, but she wasn't going to sit with them because most times, wearing a skirt to a bar around males you only sort of knew on the seedy side of town was not the best idea unless you wanted to get date raped. Intent on not being stopped, Avery made her way to the bar and plunked herself in a stool on the emptier side.

"Heeey, Nate. Jack and Coke." She didn't bother taking out her ID--Nate knew how old she was. He would serve her anyway. "Busy night, eh?"

[nathaniel arthur smith]

Nate briefly looked up while he grabbed a glass, not surprised that Avery was sitting in front of him. He knew she was underage and he could get arrested for serving her, but a) his boss could care less, b) the cops rarely ever showed up at the Mermaid unless there was a fight with weapons, c) he was the only one who would call the cops, and d) it would get Avery to quit pestering him for at least a few seconds at a time. He didn't even blink as he passed her the glass.

"Clearly. Why are you here?" he asked. To most people, that would be an insulting first question and they would be highly offended. Avery, however, knew that Nate was always straight to the point and he never bothered with pleasantries to her. It wasn't as if this was her first time in the bar. It was actually a bit surprising that he was showing interest in someone's activities and reasons.

[avery carina dawson]

Avery wasn't really offended by much and Nate was one of her least offensive friends, so she accepted her glass with a shrug and took a large sip. It was pretty tasty, which probably meant there wasn't enough Jack in it, but that was okay--she didn't need to get shitfaced yet.

"Same reason anyone comes to a bar." She pointed to her drink and took another large sip. "The question is when are you going to offer to play bar dice with me? I'm bored. Bring 'em out." She tapped her hand on the bar twice and looked at him.

[nathaniel arthur smith]

Nate leaned on his hands on the bar, watching Avery with a pretty much blank expression. He didn't answer for a moment, watching as she took more sips of her drink. He figured she knew that he hadn't put a ton of Jack in it, but he didn't really care. If she wanted to bitch at him, fine. He'd just remind her she was underage and he didn't need to give her alcohol anyway.

"When have I ever offered to play bar dice with you?" he asked, beginning to dry off some freshly cleaned mugs. "You're always bored anyway."

[avery carina dawson]

Avery rolled her eyes. Hanging out at a bar with Nate was a sign of extreme boredom, but at least it gave her something to do. Sort of. "I think you definitely should offer to play bar dice with me. What kind of shitty bartender are you?"

She looked around at all of the other bar patrons--they all had something else to entertain themselves, even if it was stupid. Turning back to Nate, she raised an eyebrow expectantly.

[nathaniel arthur smith]

"Bartenders are not your personal entertainment factories," Nate said, still cleaning glasses. "We tend the bar. We serve drinks."

Finally putting his rag down, he leaned on the bar and looked at her again. "Besides, you'd get mad when you lose and stomp off anyway, claiming I cheated."

[avery carina dawson]

Avery pursed her lips. She should text Evander and make him come down and deal with both Nate and her entertainment, but that just seemed like too much work, so she stuck her tongue out at Nate instead, like a mature adult.

"Fine, fine, no bar dice." She waved a hand. "Anyone lonely here tonight?"

[nathaniel arthur smith]

"Just the regulars," he said, nodding at a table in the back. "Though I wouldn't go after them if I were you."

While it was true that Nate didn't really look at making people "feel better" or "boosting" their confidence, he wasn't a total asshat; he wouldn't let someone go into a situation where they would be put in danger. Because that is stupid.

He also knew that Avery liked to do pretty much the opposite of whatever he told her, so the best he could do was tell her, "They're ancient and smelly and I think one of them is secretly gay. He never hits on anyone. He just drinks a lot."

[avery carina dawson]

She reached across the bar and flicked Nate on the shoulder because she couldn't get enough leverage to smack him. "I don't want to hit on anyone, jesus. I don't go to bars to have sex. That's like asking to get roofied."

[nathaniel arthur smith]

"Just making sure you're not that stupid," he said before going to give one of the regulars a refill. Once the man had wobbled back to his seat, Nate tossed his towel over his shoulder and leaned on the bar again.

"Where do you go to have sex then?"

[avery carina dawson]

By the time Nate had returned, Avery had almost finished her drink. She downed the last of it and then pushed it towards him for a refill.

At his question, she raised one eyebrow. "Why, you interested?"

She didn't expect him to say yes, of course--nor did she particularly want him to. But with a question like that, it wasn't like there was any other possible way she could follow up. Forrealz.

[nathaniel arthur smith]

Nate filled her glass, again putting more coke than jack. "Nope. Just asking." He put the bottles away and passed the glass back.

"I don't really believe you go hunting for sex that often anyway," he shrugged.

[avery carina dawson]

Avery didn't mind that there was too much Coke--the more drinks she got, the more she would feel she had accomplished by going out to a bar and the less drunk she got off those drinks, the easier it would be for her to get home.

"You're right, I don't." She pointed at him, taking a long sip of her new drink. "But I do go to bars a lot. I didn't want you to get those two activities confused."

[nathaniel arthur smith]

Nate frowned. "Who would get those two activities confused?" he asked. "That doesn't even make sense. Who would be stupid enough to think that the only reason to go to bars is to go looking for sex?"

Nate knew there were stupid people in the world, but c'mon--going to a bar just looking for sex? "That's what escort services and hookers are for. If you told me you were picking up hookers I'd be more likely to believe it."