|
Daire is working tonight at the Eight Ball, just sort of keeping an eye on things on the inside after Mutants and their guests are allowed in by the big guy outside. He has a black t-shirt on that says Staff on it that marks him as a member of the staff of the pool hall and bar. He occasionally talks to some of the regulars, chatting with them, sharing pats on the back, idle conversation, and off he moves between the pool tables. In Mutant Town, he does nothing to hide the horns on his head or the fangs, his too-bright unnaturally colored green eyes sweep the room, making sure everyone is safe and comfortable.
There is nothing to hide about Theresa. She blends in with the regular people in the city, no visible sign of any mutation, but she appears far too comfortable around the more obvious sorts in the pool hall as well. Once she's allowed through the door she begins to make her way towards the bar, ordering herself a whiskey with a beer chaser before starting to look around the room as well.
Daire makes his way over toward the bar and leans up against it, chatting with the bartender a bit between drinks that he is serving, and gets a glass of water for himself. He takes a moment's break to settle there and to drink it. He gives a pleasant smile to those nearby and then turns around to lean back against the bar and look out across the room.
"Thank you, luv." Theresa replies to the bartender when he sets her order down in front of him, a smile offered before she picks up the whiskey, swirling it around slowly in the glass. She then knocks it back in one large swallow before setting the glass back down, glancing towards Daire when she notices him loitering by the bar, "Pool tables popular here?"
"Most nights," Daire says with a grin. "It's part of the draw, being in the name and all." He glances over toward them and says "Though on open mic nights there's a little more watching than playing. Tonight though?" He gestures with his glass of water to the various filled tables. "Do you play?"
"I've been known to play a little billiards…but I think the games are a little different." Theresa confesses, taking a sip off her beer as she glances towards the pool tables thoughtfully before she smiles, "But, yes. I play." Evidently, differences or not, she's decided she's a pool player.
"Howso?" Daire asks when she mentions that the games are different. He's really only familiar with solids and stripes and 9-ball. Any other variations, he probably isn't aware of.
"I think it's just something about the table, or maybe that they are scored differently." Theresa admits with a laugh, leaning towards him to add to her confession, "I don't honestly know, I've just heard that before. Somewhere. Maybe my uncle said it once."
Daire lifts both of his brows and grinsa little bit, "Huh." Then he looks back out toward the tables. "Didn't realize they were different tables. Wonder what the difference is." He takes a sip of his water again and then says, "Well, you should play if you enjoy it."
"Mmm…some have pockets, some don't. I also think there are different sizes." Theresa replies, glancing towards the tables once more before she laughs, "Maybe I will, if there is a free table and someone to play with."
"There's almost always someone to play with," Daire says with a grin. "Rack up an empty table and someone will usually show up. I don't think you'd have any time attracting another player." He lifts his glass and says "I'd play with you but I can't while I'm on duty."
"On duty?" Theresa then notes the shirt that says staff, nodding, "Oh, right, luv. I imagine that it'd be something along the lines of….we're not paying you to play." She smiles a bit, lifting her beer to him, "I might after a few more of these..Right now I'm pretty comfortable simply sitting here."
Daire glances down to the shirt and then grins when she notices and says, "Yeah, pretty much. That and if I'm paying attention to the game, I'm not watching around to make sure everyone's safe and that things aren't getting rowdy." Though standing at the bar he can talk and still scan the room and keep an eye on things.
"So you are one of those…." Theresa seems to struggle for the name for a moment before she comes up with it, "You bounce?" She takes a sip off the beer before twisting around to look at the crowd in the room, "Seems a pretty risky job considering the customers."
"Occasionally, when I've had too much to drink," Daire says with a flash of a smile that allows those sharp fangs to show briefly. Then he sets the glass of water down and looks at Theresa with a slightly raised brow and says, "Most of the customers are here to have a save haven, a place to just be who they are without being persecuted simply for having been born. Yes, some of those who feel the need to cause trouble can be mutants too, but it's less likely than you'd think." He doesn't seem too concerned about the danger.
"Yeah, but accidents happen, luv." Theresa points out, lifting her glass to down a good half of it before she gestures to the bartender, preemptively ordering herself another. "What if someone gets drunk, and does something on accident? That's all that I mean, not that anyone here is looking to cause trouble."
"Sure, but that's always a danger anywhere," Daire says with a shrug of his shoulders. "Here, it's just my job to help de-escalate it and restore the peace." He smiles then and says, "Don't worry. It doesn't happen that often, really. This place is pretty calm most of the time."
"Life is dangerous." Theresa agrees, finishing off her first glass before she reaches for the second, turning so that her side is leaning against the edge of the bar, smiling, "I'm not worried. Not about that, at least…I'm more worried I can remember how to get home tonight. I still get lost here."
"Well, that part is pretty easy as long as you know the address. The cabbies wll get you where you need to go," Daire says with a grin, "Though if you're still here when my shift ends, and you need some help, I can make sure that you get home safe." And there's really nothing creepy or suggestive in the way that he says it, like he genuinely would look after her safety as he would any other in the bar.
"Not sure what the address is, but taxi…" Theresa nods, smiling as though that actually solves the entire problem, "Thank you, luv. But I know just how to get there now, and it was staring me in the face." She then sets down her beer, reaching over to offer him her hand, "Theresa."
Daire chuckles and nods his head, seeming content to have conveyed soe helpful information. He reaches out and takes the offered hand, giving it a firm but friendly shake before saying "Daire," though given her own accent it is pronounced more like dah-IRE with the tiniest hitch in it, "Though most just pronounce it like Dare."
"Daire?" Theresa repeats it back to him, laughing a bit, "Well, I suppose that they would at that, luv. No accounting for the mangling of a good name, though, is there?"
"The whole country mangles it," Daire says with a bit of a grin as he begins to push away from the bar. "But it's nice to hear it said the way that my grandmother used to say it." He moves away fro the bar a little bit then and says 'Need to go take a walk around the room, but I'll be back if you're bored and don't mind the company."
Theresa laughs at that, lifting her beer in a salute to him as she turns back forward. Evidently she isn't going to go anywhere any time soon.
It takes a little while for Daire to make his rounds, check out the back, check out the staff areas, the restrooms, and eventually all the way around the perimeter before he returns to the bar and his space there. When he does, he glances over at her and says, "All's clear on the western front."
"That's very good, due diligence." Theresa replies, smiling at him when he returns to the bar, lifting a fresh glass of whiskey, it's hard to tell how many drinks she's managed to consume so far, but she does at least seem to be paused at the pleasantly pleasant phase of drinking."
Daire nods his head and returns the smile as he settles back at the bar. Settling himself back onto his stool, his attention returns to the room as a whole, watching some of the folks playing pool before surveying those at the bar. It seems he's content, for the time being, to merely sit in comfortable silence.
"How long have you been working here?" Theresa wonders, glancing over at him after a little while of sitting there in quiet companionableness. At least, for her part it seems to be.
"A few months now," Daire says when she asks him about the job. "Started at the end of the spring, beginning of summer. I've been in the city for years longer than that, though. This is kind of my neighborhood." He nods around, indicating Mutant Town as a whole. "I volunteer at the community center when I'm not working here."
"I've only been here twice now." Theresa replies, waving a hand, evidently to indicate the neighborhood, "First time I was actually lost, but I made it back this time on purpose. I tell myself, some day, I'll learn my way around."
"How long have you been in town?" Daire asks her when she indicates her lack of being able to find her way around and having arrived lost the first time. His eyes are on the room but he's able to hold the conversation with her at the same time without any problem, paying attention to both.
"A few days?" Theresa starts to actually count on her fingers before she shakes her head, "Not very long, at all." She replies, picking up her glass once more, "I've spent most of my time in smaller cities than this."
"Ah, not long at all, then. Visiting or moving here?" he asks idly as he motions for the bartender to refill his glass of water. He takes another sip from it and then says, "Yeah, New York is a big place. I grew up upstate in a smaller town, myself."
Theresa's quiet at the question, toying with her glass as she gives it potentially more thought than that question might need. "I'm not sure yet, honestly. I suppose that I'll see how things go, and then decide."
Daire raises a brow just a little bit when it seems to take quite a bit of thought before she finally answers the question, but he doesn't press. Instead he nods and says, "Well, there's something for everyone in New York, but then it's also not the city for everyone."
"It's my first time in the States, and it's just…" Theresa shrugs her shoulders, not seeming to have any bad reasons or negativity attached to her indecision. It's just she seems to be taking things as they come.
"Just trying to figure out what feels right to you?" Daire asks, his attention shifting from the room back over toward her, tilting his head just a little bit to one side.
"Just trying to figure out what I want in life." Theresa replies, tweaking the answer a little, "I've been working with my Uncle for a while now, but now I'm cut loose on my own."
"Ahh, the big questions," Daire says with a little nod and then pushes slowly away from the bar. "Well, good luck to you in figuring those out. Sometimes all it takes is a little time and circumstance." He begins to move away then and says "About time for me to end my shift. Was nice meeting you, Theresa."
"It was nice to meet you as well, Daire." Theresa replies, lifting her glass and the remaining whiskey in it to him, "Have a wonderful evenin' remember to leave the milk out for the wee ones."