Galaxy's Edge Space Bar

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Rathien sheathes one of his fighting blades as he sits at the bar.  Salem is shortly behind and at the word 'pup', he takes his left-hand blade and plunges it straight down into the bar-top, letting go as it sticks firmly.  "Actually I'll take water."  He turns his haunting eyes on Salem, refusing to break his gaze away.  "I intend to remain sober, thank you."  He grins, but it doesn't reach his eyes.  He picks up the grubby glass full of water, a single ice-chunk floating within, and drinks, still keeping his eyes locked on Salem.

[guitarhero01234]

Guppy takes a brief moment to respond, giving himself time to figure out just what Myitt was saying. "So . . . I guess this is making about as much sense to you as it is to me?" He laughs. "Guess it's complicated between them, to say the least."

"And by the way, thanks for helping me out," he says with a smile. "Dude, you have no idea how friggin' confused I was."

<<Gaf.>>

<<Hm?>>

<<Didn't you say you were gonna get me drunk?>> Chris inquires. <<If you are, now's the time to start. I need to catch up with how ****ed up this place is.>>

<<That's the spirit!>>

"One question," Guppy says, resuming his conversation with Myitt. "We happen to be anywhere near the bar? I think I need a drink or ten right now."

[Myitt]

Myitt exhales audibly. "Yeah, let's go and get us a few drinks, Gup." She tugs him over to the bar counter, settling in near Rathien and Salem.

She can't help but stare at the two of them.

Salem hadn't changed...much.

"Bartender," she says, "redin, leave the bottle. And whatever Guppy wants. And you know what? Put their drinks on my tab, too." She nods at Rathien and Salem, still staring.

[Terenia]

William watches in relative awe as the ship's ramp extends and Al descends. Try as he may, he's finding it hard to keep up with all of the new technology he has suddenly been made aware of. Every time he thinks he has a handle on it something new shows up.

Al's comment drives some of the nerves from him, and he smiles, crossing his arms over his chest, then grimacing and brushing at some of the caked blood there. It's all dried by now, at least, but it makes it appear as if he's just finished a particularly grizzly bout of murders.

"Dying is easy, my friend," he says in his faintly old-fashioned dialect -- almost English, but not quite. He takes Al's hand when it's offered, gripping it firmly and then pulling back. "It's what comes after that's a pain in the arse." His gaze drifts to the door of the bar, where Salem disappeared. "Does your friend always make such an entrance?"


Fayleth has remained frozen during the action, standing near Nepek with one hand gripping the back of a torn armchair. She glances at Myitt and Guppy as they come near, then hisses an exhale. "Myitt," she says, stepping over to her, giving Rathien and Salem a wide berth. "We're going to go wait on the Skimmer. I...need to call Corliss and Reven and let them know you're alive and...well." She says this last word somewhat doubtfully. "You know where to find me if you need me."

She turns to go.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Salem sighs again. "So I guess you'll want... an explanation?" He glances over at Rathien, then quickly away. He sucks in another breath, then shakes his head and chuckles a little to himself. "I don't know why I'm so apprehensive about this conversation. It's not like I'm going to try to excuse myself. I was... kind of an ****."

"I suppose... I'd better start with the last time I saw you." There's one last pause, as he gathers his thoughts, then he seems to make up his mind.

"What we had was good. It was..." He chuckles, "kind of amazing, actually. Still rough. Still wrong. Not perfect, and that somehow made everything perfect. And I... I started to wonder what it meant." He glances at Rathien with a sad smirk. "I didn't know. I didn't know what I wanted. More importantly, I didn't know what you wanted, and I started to wonder. You'd hated me, Rathien. How was I supposed to explain your turn-around? Well..." he chuckles again, more bitterly this time. "If it were me... if I were in your place... I'd be playing the odds. Acting. Biding my time until I could find a way to wreck the nanites in my system and be in the perfect spot to..." He shakes his head and swallows.

The bartender finally sets a chipped salmon-colored coffee mug in front of him, nodding towards Myitt. Salem raises his eyebrows as he glances at her. He's not entirely sure where they stand... they've had at least as many bad moments as good ones... but at least she seems willing to give it a go-round.

Or to poison him, he thinks, shooting a look at Joanne's neck.

Still, that doesn't seem like the Myitt he remembers. And he needs her help. Starting out with that kind of suspicion is not going to do them any good. So he raises the mug in her direction with a nod. He takes a sip, scalding his tongue in the process, and winces as he swallows. "Ow."

He looks back towards Rathien and continues, "Anyway, once that thought was in my head, I couldn't get it out. It was eating at me. I couldn't shake the feeling that you were just looking for the opportunity to stab me in the back. And I... I had to run. So..." he swallows again and hangs his head. What he'd done to Rathien had been low, even by his standards. "So I did. I neural-shocked you. I ran. I flew from that rock. And then..."

He laughs bitterly again. "And then I thought. I thought that, what we had..." He pauses again, searching for words. He's usually pretty slick, in control, but then, he usually doesn't care quite so much. And it's not like he's the orator Al is. It's funny-- he's had this conversation in his head a million times, and now he can't remember one little bit of what he'd wanted to say. "Even if it were fake... even if you did only want me dead... it was the happiest... the most real thing I'd had in... Forever. And if there was a chance you were... you weren't faking. That you really did trust me... I wasn't going to..." He glances at Rathien again, eyes now brimming with tears. "It's happened to me. I... I couldn't do that to..."

He clears his throat again, staring into his coffee, and then lets out a sound that falls somewhere between a laugh, a sob, and a choking cough. "I turned the damn ship around. I made it less than a thousand kilometers before ****ing Thienal showed up. Right then that little weasel had to show up." He pounds the counter angrily. "I barely got away in one piece. I had to pull into one of those random hollow asteroids to hide. Took ages. By the time I made it back to that moon, you were long gone."

He sighs again, shuddering at the memory. "For... for the first couple of years, I was always on the lookout for signs of you. I heard... stories. I heard about a few kills that were probably you. I caught whiffs on the wind and through my channels, but I... I was always too late to catch you. And after a while I figured you didn't want to be found." He looks around the bar, at all the faces, the familiar ones and the new. "I guess that's what happens when you live life on the fringes. Nobody wants to be found."


Al raises and eyebrow at William's comment. "You've got some experience with the whole 'dying' bit, then? I was under the impression that was a one-time deal for most of you squishies." He waves a hand at the blood on William's chest. "Anything to do with that?"

He laughs. "No, no, Salem prefers to make entrances wherein he's mostly unseen, he has a whole battalion chasing him through the woods, and he drops me in a lake." He grins, "Trust me, my way is much more fun."

[Terenia]

"Squishies?" William echoes blankly, staring. "Ah...yes, it's typically an experience one only has once." He gives his head a little shake, as if physically dismissing Al's words. "I am not typical." He glances down at himself. "No, though I suppose I should clean myself off." He glances around, eyeing the nearby late doubtfully. "Does anyone know where one might draw a bath around here?"

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

"Kind of?  KIND OF?"  Rathien looks over at Salem, incredulous.  "You betrayed my trust, shot me, and left me convulsing on an alien moon."  He scowls as Salem continues his tale.

"It wasn't just that, Tobias.  We made a good team...we executed contracts with a precision and grace I would've been ecstatic to touch upon by myself.  And what didn't cap off a successful contract kill better than a wild night of violence in bed?"  Rathien smiles genuinely in spite of himself, remembering how it had been.  He suddenly pushes the smirk off of his face and shakes his head a bit.  He was mad at Tobias.  Wasn't he?  Despite everything, he detects a bit of joy within himself, arguably at seeing his mate again.

He scowls a bit again.  "Normally, I would say you'd be right.  I've seduced in order to kill before.  Nothing is forbidden...everyth ing is permitted.  And I have no problem using all of the tools at my disposal to carry out my contracts.  Except this time, you were wrong.  So very wrong.  I shared details about my life with you.  True details.  Feelings...things I'd never shared with anyone.  I wanted you to understand me."  He pauses for a second.  "Normally I don't give a **** about what people think of me...but I wanted you to know me.  I wanted you to know why I am the way I am.  The only reason I can think of is that I actually cared what you thought of me.  Because I...I..."  He falls silent, unable to continue the rest of what he had been going to say, the words choking a bit in his throat.  "So you stabbed me in the back instead...I want you to know that if your purpose was to cause me more pain than I've ever felt in my entire life, even beyond my parents disowning me, you were completely successful."

He scowls at Salem's story about Thienal.  Suddenly he wonders if Tobias isn't playing him somehow.  If he isn't spinning this whole yarn just to keep Rathien placated until he could accomplish his purpose here and then run again.  "That's awfully inconvenient.  Well, according to what you're saying it's inconvenient...Thie nal showing up.  Conversely it's VERY convenient for your story, isn't it?  'I felt so bad about it but gosh darn it if this third party didn't show up right then to keep me from rectifying things.'"  Rathien stares at Salem with a dark intensity, as if his almost iridescent eyes could see the truth inside.  Despite his own commentary, and his own mind telling him it could all be a lie...a trick, Rathien feels his heart tug a bit at the sounds of sadness coming from Salem.  They sounded genuine.  And Rathien had heard both genuine and mock sentiments from him before.  His face falls flat for a moment as he wars with the emotions inside himself.  Was he really feeling bad for this person who'd utterly betrayed him.  The only person he's ever really trusted?  How could he possibly still care for this wreck of a human?

"Right...you were looking for me.  When I spent every waking free moment trying to find you?  I killed to survive.  I took easy contracts to make quick money so I could spend the majority of my time searching for you.  At first, the desire to kill you and the desire to be with you were about even...I needed one of those things to happen.  But then I realized...I realized I needed to know why."  He runs his hand over the hilt of his fighting knife still jabbed in the bar counter top.  "Either way, Tobias...you'll never be free of me in this Universe, if that's truly what you want.  I won't allow it.  So like I said, if that's a problem for you, you'd best kill me now.  Otherwise you'll have to deal with me, either in bed, or in the arena."  He glances over at Salem, quirking an eyebrow up at the human.

[Shenmue654]

Keshin lets out a droll sigh, rolling his eyes at Salem. "Sounds like yet another road story. The long and venemous road across the star ocean, filled with stories, betrayals, and venemous emotions. I would like to hear it all, though, after you're done. It's a tangled web you weave, Salem." But Keshin can't help but be the slightest bit disturbed how unsettled Salem looks. He looks between Salem and Rathien with interest, trying to parse their relationship. The same man who took on most of the Bar, including several veteran warriors, without a care in the world or a pang of fear in his heart, choked up over a psychotic bounty hunter? Something had happened, that much was clear.

<<I don't think you're going to be able to crack it, Kess.>>

<<And why not?>>

<<Because that's how it goes, alright? Remember what happens when we try and explain our relationship to other people?>>

Keshin nods, smiling. <<Heh. Point for you on that one.>>

Keshin wanders over to the Bar and sits down next to Myitt and Guppy, taking care to turn his head every so often to listen to Salem and Rathien's conversation. Whatever was going on...It sounded like it was too much to get involved with without getting paid for it.

<<If a fight breaks out, we're stepping in again. Period. Okay Kess?>>

<<You're not in a position to be making demands on both of us, Joanne. We'll go only if repaying our debt to Salem does not lead to our death. Period! >> The last word was said very nearly in a mocking tone. Joanne seemed a little wounded internally. Keshin figured she'd get over it.

He looks Guppy over and says, "So. Who are you supposed to be?"
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Jeffrey croaks out a snicker in response to Al's rapidfire questions. The nerve, when the man knew nothing about him! "Okay okay Buck Rogers, I'll get to it!" says Jeffrey, the mirth still in his voice. "It's like this. I used to be a Supervillain in my universe--- A real big shot!" A proud grin forms momentarily on his face. "At my peak I was on the villain side of Guardian Council and controlled at least a ninth of the whole Under Dome. Good times! Only I had..." Jeffrey pauses, as if unsettled by what he's about to say. "...I had a daughter, okay? My beloved immortal. Rosie." He swallows.

"Look, long story short Al...One of my jobs went south. Really south. And Rosie fell in love with the **** I was targeting---named Ellis Straylight. And she...She set me up. Betrayed me. Somebody shot me clear in the head. I don't know who." Jeffrey tries to keep his voice from cracking as he says that. "And..." Jeffrey gestures all around him with a somewhat derisive look. "...and now I'm here."

Jeffrey then turns to William and says, "Look, pal, whatever you think--- Living for me, and dying, was way harder than this ****ed up afterlife. At least here only a blue deer really wants me dead and my past can't come back to haunt me. If you died too, was your life before you kicked it really all that great?"

[Myitt]

Myitt eyes Fayleth and Terenia. "Don't stay out there too long," she advises. "It's dangerous. Fayleth? Fayleth--Jesus Christ." She turns around in her seat, watching Terenia's back.

She sighs and swivels back around again, just catching Salem's eye. She didn't want to get involved - no, remember what they were.

<<Bounty hunters,>> Tara supplies needlessly.

<<Yeah,>> Myitt broods, pouring a drink. The shaking from her oatmeal hit is still there. Will still be there for at least another two cycles. <<My ****ing favorite.>>

<<...You gonna cut their throats, too?>>

She winces outwardly.

"You're not helping," she mutters through gritted teeth, swallowing back a shot of liquor.

Again Myitt tenses as Joanne and Keshin sit by her and Guppy.

Internally she groans. <<Why the **** won't she just leave me alone?>>

<<Dude. It's a free...well, she's not...she isn't out for our blood,>> Tara finally settles on.

Myitt finds herself staring again. Hard. Glaring knives at Keshin.

"He's my friend," she leans in and tells Keshin. "You know, like, the people you hang out with and don't try to kill. Ever."

She pours another drink, into a fresh glass, fingers palsied from internal struggle more than anything else.

"Here. In retribution for trying to dig a knife into Joanne's jugular." She slides the Yeerkish liquor carefully down to Joanne. "Can't a girl make mistakes?"


Outside the bar, a lone Bug fighter cruises slowly above the parking gravel.

It settles its leg-like landing gear, delicate and spindly, onto the rocky surface, surrounded by the hulking masses of dead and dormant ships.

It's a nondescript Bug fighter, unmarked. Beyond washing the front windows of the bar in a glint of crimson light, it makes no further indication of its presence.

[guitarhero01234]

"How about a Mai Tai?" Guppy says to both Myitt and the bartender. "Thanks, Myitt. Jeez, I'm startin' to feel like I'm relying on you a bit too much here. I appreciate the drink." Almost immediately, he feels his drink being placed next to his hand idling on the bar. Instead of questioning this, he promptly takes a sip of the ****tail. "Gotta say, as messed up as this place is, the drinks are on point."

Guppy can't help but laugh at Keshin's question. "Who am I supposed to be?" he echoes - not in a mocking tone, but almost as if he doesn't understand the question. "What, is it that hard to believe I just came for a few drinks, maybe see a fight break out?" He laughs again. "I'm a trader, here to sell some stuff. Question is, what're you doing in this little hole in the wall?"


Nepek stands up from his corner of the Bar, which had become rather isolated since Salem's entrance. He carefully takes his hand off the countertop to test his balance. He definitely didn't want to fall over again on his way to the door like last time. Thankfully, he seems to have sobered up enough to walk again.

"I suppose it's time I leave," the Hork-Bajir mutters to nobody in particular. In truth, none of the other patrons seemed to hold his interest. The blind human seems to be too eager to get into trouble, especially considering how he stays so close to Myitt, who Nepek is keeping a safe distance away from. The same could be said for this Jeffrey character, who's apparently outside the bar with William. Terenia also has appeared to have vanished. Rathien seems to be a loose cannon to say the least, and Salem clearly isn't right for wanting to talk with him.

Nepek turns around and notices the red glow on the windows. Must be another craft, he muses, and begins to head for the door, not having noticed the Andalite ship that had landed behind the Bug fighter. . . .

[Terenia]

Fayleth doesn't respond, making her way down the back hallway, head ducked. She's fighting against Terenia's memories of their last time in the bar -- memories filled with blood and rage and grief.

Silently, she makes her way through the back door and circles around toward the shipyard, hoping to avoid anyone and everyone.


William laughs. "My life was fine, until I found myself at the wrong end of a rope," he says to Jeffrey lightly. "I had a good ship and a loyal crew. No one would dare betray me. My occupation simply caught up with me." He reaches up to rub at his neck, as if massaging an old wound.

"Admittedly, my life now has become far more interesting," he murmurs, dropping his hand. "But I can assure you, Jeffrey, this place is not the afterlife, whatever else it may be."

[Aluminator (Kit)]

In spite of himself, Salem laughs. Rathien suspects he's lying about Thienal. "Such suspicion from you," he says loftily, and his eyes seem to regain some semblance of his old smirk. "Methinks you're learning, young one." He clears his throat. "You're both bounty hunters. Heck, I thought you and Thienal were almost friendly. Isn't there a secret lair or something where you all hang out? You could always ask him to corroborate. As long as I'm not around. Because he wouldn't hesitate to end you if it meant ridding himself of me, and you know it." He smiles, almost for real, and stares into the distance. "We did make one hell of a team, though."

He notes Terenia leaving. Hopefully not going too far, but today is not the day he's going to claim to be able to predict Terenia's actions. And the cloaked Hork-Bajir also looks to be moving for the door. He takes a quick look around-- a mass exodus here might always mean danger-- but seeing nothing amiss, his tensions ease a minuscule amount.

His eyes follow Rathien's fingers over the hilt of the hunter's knife. So many emotions rolling around inside of him now... it's as if the world is swimming, and nothing ever seems to quite fall into place. Elation. Fear. Sadness. Regret. Guilt. So much guilt. He has an image... a flash of himself, long ago, lying on a cold metal floor, bulky gravity pistol pressed to his own head, finger tightening on the trigger...

"I didn't want to be found either," he says, his voice shaking a little. "I can't just broadcast my location. I have too many people watching for me, and even if it were encoded, I only need one of them to..." he shakes his head. "I haven't lived this long by being that careless."

He looks up at Rathien, blinks back tears, and clears his throat. "Even when we were enemies, I never wanted to hurt you, Ildari. And I never wanted you dead. Back when I tagged you with the nanites... I used a nonlethal for a reason. I just wanted to find a way to keep you from trying to knife me every time we met." He laughs bitterly and waves a hand to indicate the door. "It's a little bit like old times, isn't it?" He sighs. "Rathien, you mean the..." he chokes, his words catching in his throat. After a sip of coffee, he tries again. "You mean a lot to me." He snorts. "If someone'd told me five years ago that I'd be saying that earnestly, I'd have recommended they get their head scanned. But here we are. You know me better than... probably anyone. And I..." he reaches a hand towards Rathien's face, then his shoulder, before awkwardly dropping it back to the countertop.

He stares at his hand for a few seconds before he speaks again. His voice is low. Almost a whisper. "I didn't expect you to be here, Rathien. But I'm so glad you are. The thought of never seeing you again..."


Al listens, wide-eyed, to Jeffrey's story, then to William's. "Wow." He rests a hand on each of their shoulders. "Sounds like you've both seen your share of stuff." The emphasis he places on the word stuff makes it sound almost like a swear word in itself.

He looks into Jeffrey's eyes, his expression somber, "Sorry to hear about Rosie. That sucks, man. You dealing with all that fallout okay?" He smiles, "Because at some point you are going to need to go into detail about this whole Council Under a Dome thing."

He then turns towards William, his expression softer. "I don't think people usually bathe here. You might try the lake. It wouldn't be the first time it's been used to wash off blood, and knowing this bar, it won't be the last. Or, heck with it, I don't think my friend would mind if I performed a minor trade on his behalf. He's probably got some clothes that'd fit you, if you'd like. I don't think anything of his could match your amazing fashion sense, but you can't win 'em all."

He looks towards the bar itself. Salem's vitals seem to have calmed down, and Al has no immediate desire to go rushing inside. The company out here is plenty interesting-- and about to get more so, if the plethora of landing ships is any indication. "Never a dull moment," he mutters.

His face cracks into a wide grin. "I just want to point out that I'm standing here talking to a guy who self-identifies as a Supervillain, and a..." he ****s a head looking at William, "blood-soaked zombie pirate of some kind?" He laughs. "I love this nuthouse sometimes."

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

"Right, like I'd beg help from Thienal.  Then he'd want to do the deed, wouldn't he?  That's unacceptable."  Rathien shakes his head a bit, taking a long pull from his glass of ice-water.  "We met on Thedes Beta 3.  A place you're very familiar with, I believe.  Warren of criminals and people who don't want to be found?"  He shrugs before continuing.  "He was tracking you...I was tracking your contact, Melvina.  We got to talking...I casually warned him that if he thought he would kill you both and take credit for Melvina, he'd have a rough time.  He just laughed and said he didn't care about anyone else but you.  I was welcome to the contract on the other.  I raised my eyebrows at that.  Very un-bounty-hunterly behavior." 

He swirls the ice-cube around in the dingy tumbler.  "So I had to ask, how could one target be that all-consuming?  He was all but happy to share his tale with me.  At first I thought he was insane, but honestly nothing he'd said was impossible.  And he knew things...odd things.  Then after I ended Melvina's Dream and you escaped with him in tow, I could see the truth in his actions.  I started listening for news of the both of you, and heard plenty enough to know that his singular goal in life was your death.  I could see why...you left nothing but a trail of wreckage and despair in your wake.  Lots of people put out contracts on you and it became apparent that you were not easy prey.  That's why I originally started hunting you.  I knew it would be good sport."

He balls up his fist, growling in the back of his throat.  Dammit all!  He can't hold on to the anger.  He wants to so badly, almost needs to.  It's nearly everything that's been sustaining him, but here Salem was, sitting in front of him, and he could feel the anger being leeched out of him.  Which in turn makes him angry at Salem for robbing him of the original anger.  "****ing ****..."  He almost whispers the words, they'd only be audible to Salem unless someone else in the bar had super-sensitive hearing.  "What the **** did you do to me?"  Rathien is surprised as a hot tear rolls down his cheek.

He doesn't look Salem in the eye, but keeps both eyes locked on the bar counter.  "What the **** did you do to me?"  He repeats again, speaking almost as much to himself as to Salem.  "You broke me...changed me at my very core.  I've tried...so...hard to get back to the way I was before you.  Tried and failed."  He starts to shake a bit as he speaks lowly.  "I went back to it...taking contracts, having flings, drinking myself stupid.  But it was never as good.  You did something...let me taste something.  Something addictive."  He blinks, trying not to cry, feeling the heat rising in his face.  "It was then I realized...I've never had anyone truly care about me.  No one, not even my parents...not after they found out I was a feral.  You gave me the true solution to the problem I was trying to drown in liquor, sex, and death.  When you took that away, everything felt hollow.  Pointless."

He doesn't mention that he'd almost ended his own Dream during that time.  Something inside of him told him that that would give Salem satisfaction, and that he could simply not do.  But now his emotions are twisted again, turned round and sideways and backward.  He snarls, still staring at the bar counter.  "God dammit Tobias, I'm addicted to you.  And it's worse and more wonderful than the strongest narcotic.  You...you..."  He shudders before grabbing at Salem's hand with his clawed one and pulling it up to his own face, pressing the hand against his burning cheek.  He hisses and closes his eyes, producing a sound in the back of his throat much like that of a canine whining quietly.  He almost melts at the contact, and seethes at the same time, a volcano of molten rock.  That touch burned so bad, but soothed the relentless ache in his soul, or so it seems to him.  Pain and pleasure intertwined and he knows he's lost again.  That Salem has melted the hatred from his heart.  For the first time since the betrayal, he lets himself truly feel and it's almost overwhelming.

"Damn you to hell, Tobias."  He opens his eyes again, gold irises glinting in the dingy light of the bar as he moves them to stare at Salem.  "You're a ****ing ****, but you know why it's unacceptable for Thienal to kill you?"  He moves his face closer, releasing Salem's hand.  "Because if anyone's going to kill you, it's going to be me.  And to hell with anyone else who tries."  With that he moves to kiss Salem again.

[Terenia]

"Zombie?" William echoes blankly, staring at Al.

He frowns, glancing back to the lake. "I've certainly bathed in worse," he admits. "Though if you do have a shirt, I would be much obliged. Unfortunately I have yet to determine what passes for currency in this place."

[Shenmue654]

Joanne watches at the liquor slides down the counter. <<Come on. Please?>>

There was an internal sigh that sounded like it belonged to a parent who's given in to buying whatever his kid is demanding at the moment. <<...sure.>> He relinquishes control with very little fanfare.

Joanne then deftly grabs the cup handle with only two fingers, sipping it in almost the same motion. She lightly thunks the cup down in front of her and grins at Myitt. "Cheers, then," she says. "To a future in which, maybe, we aren' tryin' to kill each other." Keshin, with what appears to be an eyeroll, retakes control. He sits and sips intermittently at the borrowed liquor before Guppy, the blind guy, speaks up. Keshin scoffs a bit as Guppy mocks them.

"No offense, but this place isn't exactly easy to find," he says. "Everyone here at the moment has either been here before or seems like they'd be an outcast anywhere. That's the sort of clientele this establishment normally attracts. You, on the other hand, seem to be an amiable stranger with no demons worth being rid of. Of course I would want to ask how you came about being here. With that said..."

Keshin shrugs. "It's no business of mine. But by chance...what are you selling?" Keshin always had a nose for interesting opportunities, at least. A trader that Myitt considered a friend smelled strongly of one.
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Jeffrey squirms away from Al's touch, giving him a vaguely grossed out or miffed "Don't touch me" look. But something else catches his attention, anyway. Jeffrey glances up as soon as he hears the mechanical whine and rushing air of a ship coming down for a landing in the Bar's parking lot. Jeffrey finds himself wishing he had come here by ship himself, but alas!--- Apparently sprawled on his face in the middle of the lot was a good enough transportation method for a dead man. I mean I didn't have one on me, exactly, but common courtesy on the part of my mysterious benefactor still would be nice. He points towards the direction of the parking lot and says, "Sounds like stuff is going to get still more fun in a minute, guys. Bring out your weapons and your party hats, because everybody who's shown up so far as brought nothing but blood and a good time."

"As for me and my Dome, and how it's going..." Jeffrey lets out a sigh, putting both his hands in his pockets. "....I really don't know. The whole thing makes me think a lot. Was I really so bad of a father that my own daughter set me up? I...I tried." Jeffrey's voice caught slightly in his throat as the source of his current predicament came rushing back to him. It was nicer pretending he was here on vacation. "I really did, man. I mean I knew we were both screwed up. She was...damaged from what happened with her dick-waving biological dad, and I'm just way too many cards short of a full deck at this point." He shakes his head. "But I gave it all I had, and sometimes...sometim es it just doesn't work." Jeffrey stared down at the ground. He swallowed and then re-firmed his posture. He had to get out of the past. He couldn't go around exposing his vulnerabilities to random strangers. What good would it do? He had no way off this rock. He would never see Rosie again.

"Anyway..." Jeffrey grins in his usual fashion. "Minus all that Hallmark card movie stuff, I can tell you anything about the Dome you'd like. Ask and you shall receive, new guy, but I warn you: there's a lot." It helped to smile. Smiling rid you for a couple moments of the thing's you'd rather forget. It was part of why, although he was missing it now, his costume's mask had a perpetual ear to ear grin.