Grisly Bar
Worn wooden floors stained with ages of spilled drinks (and worse), creak under the feet of patrons as they enter the dark, disordered room. Though dust has settled over a lot of the establishment, making it appear abandoned, the flow of customers would speak differently. Dirty glasses, some with sticky yellow patches in the bottom where beer or scotch has been allowed to dry, stand on one end of the bar.
Several of the windows have been bricked up to prevent vandalism, but create a great fire-hazard. There is a tarnished mirror on the wall behind the bar with a chipped and fading Art Nouveau nymph painted across the bottom.
Ivan would normally not have been caught dead in an establishment of this caliber. Now, he's not a particularly snooty individual, but the Grisly Bar is just downright grimy. However, it's been an exceptionally difficult time for young Fontane, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Or alcohol. And lots of it. And so, it is with his nose scrunched with distaste that the young professional pads into the bar, eventually taking up a spot at the bar. "Ugh…Just give me some whiskey, double malt." He orders with a casual wave of his hand, screwing up the courage to touch the dirty counter and eventually lean his elbows onto it.
—
When you spend a chunk of your life in the form of animals you learn not to be picky, and after a full moon Dan's even less picky than usual, he too heads to the bar, looking tired as he sits not far from Ivan and motions to the barman. "Rum, or an Irish if you don't have rum." He nods slightly to Ivan in the casual way of greeting some people are prone to at bars.
—
Receiving his alcohol quickly puts Ivan in better mood then he had previously been. With a liberal swig of the warming substance, the man lets out a sigh of acceptance and, eventually allows his eyes to roam the counter. When they fall upon Dan, the recognition isn't exactly immediate. "Hey. I've seen you before, haven't I?" He inquires, giving his lips an experimental lick. "You were the man from the park."
—
Nodding Dan nods as he recognises Ivan, it wasn't as unique an encounter for him after all, not that he's gonna admit it. "Yeah…. can't say that was my finest hour." He doesn't blush even going so far as to offer a very slight, if somewhat sheepish grin. "I hope I didn't ruin your date too much?" He sips his drink.
—
Ivan shrugs his shoulders, his lips curling into a wry smile. "Nah, man, it's cool. I know how it is. Tell me you at least drew penis's on the faces of your buddy's when they passed out in retaliation, though." He offers with his glass raised slightly, as if making a toast. "Mhmm. Nah, it didn't turn out all that badly. No need to worry. I'm Ivan, by the way."
—
Laughing Dan shakes his head. "Not had the chance yet, but I'll think of something." He sounds as though this is certain, he then flashes a slight grin, this one showing nothing but confidence. "I'm glad to hear it, and I'm Dan. It's goot to meet you." He leans slightly to offer a hand to Ivan.
—
"I'm sure you will," Ivan agrees amiably, and he reaches over to accept Dan's hand with one firm shake, the shake of a business man. "It's a pleasure, man. Hey - this isn't one of your usual haunts, is it?" And his eyes fly around the room thoughtfully. "Because…frankly, I'm a little afraid of contracting something communicable just by sitting here."
—
Taking a glance around Dan shakes his head with a slight frown. "Nah, I've been here once or twice when I've been passing by, but it's not a regular spot for me." He frowns a little. "Well if you don't mind my saying… it's generally a bad sign when someone's drinking at a bar that they consider that disgusting."
—
"Totally a bad sign, isn't it? Clearly it means I'm a closet alcoholic, if I'm this desperate." With a tone of commiseration, he swallows another generous dosage of the whiskey before looking to Dan. This is easy, the idle bar talk. It distracts him from the mess that is his life. "What're you doing here, stranger? What's your story. We've all got stories to share."
—
Shrugging Dan laughs a little looking into his glass. "Nah, if you were an alcoholic you wouldn't think /any/ bar was disgusting, as for me…" He seems to think about that, as he throws back his own drink. "I just got back from a camping trip, decided to head out of town for the parade, never been a fan of crowds like that." He rolls the empty glass in his hands a moment before motioning for another. "I got back to town, parked the car, and then decided to head out for a drink." He looks around. "Since I didn't want to have to worry about getting a cab, I decided this place was best, it was nearest to me." He looks at Ivan. "What about you? Why're you here?"
—
"You lucked out. The parade was a bit of a disaster, I don't know if you heard." Ivan drawls over to the man, a bit of bitterness found evident in his tone. After a moment, he lowers his gaze to the glass found in his hand. "My story? Ah…dunno. You ever get the impression that everything to do ends up in failure?" It's a rhetorical question, judging by the way he continues to speak. "Like…like everyone's judging you to be a bad person, and that they haven't even bothered so look at all the good shit you try to do?"
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Offering the slow, thoughtful nod of the random bar companion Dan sighs slightly. "You try and please everyone and end up just having everyone out for blood, or just end up ignored." He shrugs. "Sometimes it's enough to make you wish you hadn't bothered." He takes a long sip of his new drink as it's brought over. "Yeah, I know the feeling."
—
Ivan nods faintly, frowning as he scratches the back of his head. "Yeah, somethin' like that. Why do I even bother. That's something I end up thinking alot these days. But…if I don't bother, who will, right?" Beat. "It's like, my burden, you know? 'Cause wouldn't that make me a worse person all around, knowing that I could choose to do something but don't anyway? I mean…if I mean to do well, it's better for me to try and fuck up then not try at all, yeah?"
—
Dan seems to give that a little more thought than he probably should in the role of random bar pal, so when he speaks in the slow deliberate tones. "Maybe sometimes choosing to do nothing it the right choice… maybe there are times when someone needs to be the one pulling back before things get out of hand." He shrugs indicating he doesn't know as he swirls his drink.
—
Ivan also seems to be taking this conversation a bit more seriously then he possibly should. The glass is lifted to just under his nose, and he takes the opportunity to sniff at it before taking a much more demure swig. "I don't know if I can agree to that," the man grunts finally. "If I've the means to make a positive impact in this world…If I've the ability to change things for the better, even if it is just the slimmest of chances…then it's my responsibility to at least try." Pause. "Why else would I be put in this position? But…I guess that begs the question of whether you believe in destiny and all that crap too, though…"
—
Shrugging once again Dan smiles a little. "I think that perhaps people think their place is to affect change too readily." He sips his drink again. "I sometimes wonder, what if you were put there just to stop change from happening too fast? There will always be the man who's trying to put his coach before his horses after all, men like that ocassionally need some one to pull up on the reins for them." He laughs a little. "Still I don't really know."
—
Ivan sighs before finishing off the drink. And though he stares at the bottom of the glass woefully, clearly deciding on the merits of ordering another, his responsibility wins out. Getting to his feet, he fetches the appropriate amount of money to pay for it. "Yeah. I guess." He says, sounding a bit dejected. "Hey. Listen, man. You're a cool guy. I hope to catch you again later, yeah?" And with an amiable smile, Ivan nods in Dan's direction before shoving off.
