2019.04.22: Fresh Meat

2019.04.22: Fresh Meat
Devon and Turbo are judged by Dawson.
IC Date	April 22, 2019
IC Time	Early Evening
Players	Dawson, Alice, Nathan Berkley, Devon
Location	Styx and Stones
Spheres	Mortal+

“

"You can't put him in here. He's gonna get killed. You got a strip club in back?"

”

- Devon

Styx and Stones - Pool Hall

Early evening at the Styx and the crowd is pretty light. The regulars are scattered around the room either having somewhat secret meetings, playing some pool or both. A white-haired man stands behind the bar and is manning the station while one of the crew hauls beer up from the front.

Nathan steps inside, looking around with practiced caution before he heads over to an empty table. Dumping his bag on the floor in front of a chair he sits down, wrapping a leg around one strap while he waits for someone to come by.

The tall Englishwoman once again makes her way inside the biker bar, taking a seat at the barstool that had come to be her usual spot the past few nights. "Evening, Dawson." she greets, "A beer?" Her tattooed hand slips into a jacket pocket, retrieving a small wad of cash and peeling a couple of bills off and onto the counter.

A skinny blonde guy who desperately wants to be called 'Turbo' walks up to Nathan's table wearing a t-shirt with the words 'Fresh Meat' written in big, sloppy, black marker. "Whatcha want kid?" he asks the black-haired guy at one of the booths by the door. Dawson, behind the bar, spots Alice walking in and smiles to the woman in greeting. "Back again?" he asks and takes her money and reaches into an icebox behind the bar to fetch her a fresh, cold bottle. "Here ya go...any thing out there in the world worth talkin about?"

Alice takes the cold bottle with an appreciative nod, bringing it to her lips and allowing the liquid to fill her mouth and throat. "Nothing worth bringing up." she replies, "Anything on your end?"

"Had an audition the other night. New hitter in town - or at least in my doors." Dawson explains and continues to wipe down the bar with a spray bottle and a towel. "I didn't think much of him at first but he took on about a dozen bikers and kicked their asses to the curb. That shit don' happen all the time - at least not in -my- world."

The woman laughs, "The girls on the street are talking about some guy roughing up a few of their Johns." she says, "I didn't realise it was here!" Turning herself on the barstool, she glances at the sort that frequent this place. He must have been an impressive man, to say the least.

"Actually he just looked like every other Asian guy. I didn't pick up on anything weird from him. Must have been channeling his inner Bruce Lee or something." Dawson gives a brief description of Ken and then watches 'Turbo' one of the pieces of Fresh Meat working the floor. The guy is trying to haul arm-loads of bags garbage through the room and out the front door. "No, no no...you stupid dick." he yells and starts pointing to the back of the hall as the young, blonde twink seems confused as to where he should be taking the bags.

"What happened to the girl?" Alice asks, as she watches the newbie almost fall over himself as he tries to change direction while attempting to balance multiple large bags. "But yeah, unfortunately led to a lot of bruised girls afterwards. When you hurt egos, they're bound to lash out at something else to retain that self-identity." The woman seems to talk with a matter-of-fact tone, as she swirls the bottle of beer around in her fingers.

Devon steps inside, hand holding a beat up bag on her shoulder as she heads towards the bar. She doesn't go behind it, rather plops onto a seat at it.

"What girl?" Dawson asks, apparently not making the connection for a few moments until he seems to get it as Alice then asked about the guy taking out the trash. "Oh...the other Fresh Meat. She's..." he pauses as the person in question just walked in as if on queue. "Newbies are sort of up in the air for the first week..." As Devon takes a seat at the bar he smiles and asks what she might like to drink or eat. "Heard some good things about at least one of them."

Alice raises her beer bottle in greeting as Devon enters and sits at a barstool only a couple removed from herself. "Damn, I'm good." she says, as she takes another swig from the bottle.

Devon nods to Dawson and Alice, resting her arms on the bar. "Beer me." She smirks a little and shrugs. "But mostly came in to see if I'm coming back tomorrow. You said first night free, and that's been and gone. So, do I have the job or not?" Dawson nods to Devon and reaches below the bar to pull out an weighty envelope - handing it over to the woman. "I think you're a good fit. So if you want it - it's yours. Turbo, however...well, that's a different matter. If you want his help then I'll let you whip him into shape."

Devon arches an eyebrow, reaching for the envelope to look inside. "What's this for?" She doesn't thumb through it, just making sure it is what she thinks it is before putting it back down on the bar. She squints a little. "I can try, but I'm not calling him Turbo. Unless it has amusing and insulting connotations. Then maybe."

"Oh, I'd call him gone, but if you want the help - or whatever it is that he might do for you - that's up to you. We don't have any more Fresh Meat to pick up the work." Dawson's tone seems just like he's stating a fact. The young, blonde twink of a guy hasn't impressed him. He'd probably throw the kid to the sharks if he could make a few bucks off of it.

The envelope has the wages that Devon would have earned in her past nights of work - including her first night free. She stuck through it, succeeded and is being paid well for it.

Devon nods, sliding the money into the inside pocket of her coat, tucking it out of sight. "Then it's better if he goes. I don't really feel like having to rescue a damsel in distress. I'll be fine until someone else comes along." Her arms fold on the bar, "So what's the deal with the 80's Sonny Chiba film extra? He came in my first night asking stuff about the place."

Upon Devon's decision, Dawson yells out for the twink to appear. "Turbo!?" The blonde guy shows up after having taken out the trash and dabs the sweat on his forehead on the sleeve of his official uniform, a t-shirt seriously not made five minutes before he started working on his first night. "Yes boss?" he asks with a faint hint of indicision and fear in his voice. "I got no more need for you to be Fresh Meat." He lets that sit in for a second and then adds, "Unless you got something else to give me you're out." With another second's pause to let the man try and think of a solution he asks, "You strip?" "Yes..." the guy answers timidly. "Good, you're hired." Confusion? Fear? Dawson doesn't elaborate further.

A dark-haired, young man in riding leathers approaches Alice at the bar and they talk quietly. Despite the light crowd, the ambient volume is loud enough to drown out their conversation. They seem to come to some sort of an agreement, and the man exits the bar. "Thanks for the beer, Dawson. Another time." She says as she stands from the barstool -- offering a playful wink while doing so, and exiting the bar behind the man. The beer she left remains over half full. She really never does drink much.

Devon watches 'Turbo' come on out, a faint smirk as he gets canned right then and there. Then the second proposition comes out and she turns her head as she laughs, then looks back to Daws after the kid answers yes. "You can't put him in here. He's gonna get killed. You got a strip club in back?" Watching as Alice gets up she nods to her. "Sorry, didn't mean to kill the conversation and cockblock you there." when she turns back to the boss.

"He's no longer your problem." Dawson smiles wickedly at the woman and then tells Turbo to make sure that Danny gets his phone number so that they can talk later. "Less hours, more money...but you gotta work for it." The blonde guy just nods, somewhat mixed between thankful for the new job and fearful for what it means. "Sure Boss." He finally stammers out and slowly turns to head to the back. The white-haired guy continues to work the bar and offers Alice a parting wave as she heads out.

Devon shrugs, doesn't really seem to care either way. "Alright, so long as I don't have to mop the blood." Really feely, this one. She picks up her own beer for a long draw, downing about half of it before she puts it down again.

"The guy is a new hitter. Don't know who he is but you should stay clear. He's here to make a name for himself as best I can tell." He adds, explaining his understanding of what Ken was looking for. "He's channeling some Bruce Lee shit or something. Which usually means that he's trouble - cause he doesn't need weapons." He looks back towards the door at the mention of Alice and then flicks his attention back to Devon, "Oh...nah. She's in here ...past few nights. Not sure if she's just trying to keep an ear on the street or likes the beer. It sure as hell ain't for the company." He can't help but snicker a bit.

Devon nods, tapping a finger on her bottle before responding. "I was down in TJ the other day, just checking things out since it's so close. He was in a pool hall down there too when I stopped to get a beer. Place was crawling with those who I would feel comfortable speculating being some sort of Asian mafia group. So...I dunno. If he comes around a lot I'd keep an eye on him."

Dawson nods, "Oh yeah, it would not surprise me if he was a kite for one of the Tongs or the Jade Court," He shrugs a bit and gives Devon a curious look as to why she 'just happened' to be in a place crawling with the Chinese mob. "Definitely keep an eye on him. If anything jumps out at you as a problem for us let me know, ok? I don't care if he punches the tickets of a bus full of nuns - so long as they aint in here when he does it."

Devon lifts her eyebrows, giving him an amused look back. "What? I'm adventurous." a smirk follows and she shrugs. "Okay, if something else happens I'll let you know. Anything else you want me to know before you're officially stuck with me?" Dawson nods, "Yeah...now that you're no longer Fresh Meat - you gotta find us a new one." He smiles at her across the bar and looks around the place as people start filing in for the usual night's fun. "There's always more work than we got hands for and I know you don't want to do it all yourself."

Devon chuckles, "Eh, shouldn't be too hard. The Uni seems to be overflowing folks desperate for extra funds." She finishes off her beer before getting up, tossing the empty in the container herself. "I'll see what I can scrounge up."