Galaxy's Edge Space Bar

[Shenmue654]

The last thing he remembers is the sound of the shot, and the ringing in his head as the bullet pierced his brain. Jeffrey Barnes has no idea where he is now---- If he's dead, alive, or something in between. Strange imagery sears in his mind, shimmering, as if iridescent--- It seemed to him that Rosie had betrayed him a thousand times, died a thousand times, fell in love a thousand times. The last thought remaining, the only one that it seemed like he had control over, was-- He had been unable to protect her. And he still cared about that. He still cared about that, even though his disease had driven him completely off the deep end!  Jeffrey laughs at the absurdity of the whole thing as he lays on the pavement. Pavement?

"Huh," Jeffrey says, rubbing the back of his head. He reaches out his hand and discovers it is covered in blood. The wound is still there. "I should not be alive right now. Not be talking. Nope. Absolutely not. Dead men tell no tales!~ Is this it? Is this the Grey Havens?"

Jeffrey stands up abruptly, as if jumping to his feet, and whirls around rapidly. Ships, like spaceships from old 90s shows, dotted what seemed for all the world to be some sort of spaceship parking lot. Jeffrey snickers again. If this was the Grey Haven, it was about what he deserved, but it had to be the dullest, strangest afterlife he'd ever seen. He brushes off his white shirt and jacket and starts walking among the dilapidated ships. It was odd--- The place looked abandoned, like nobody had been here in ages but that it had been vacated all of a sudden. Jeffrey startles as soon as he sees that one of the ships had lights that had dimmed just moments ago! Jeffrey runs out from his spot to see if he can find one of the only things that still catches his interest--- Another. Living. Person.

Jeffrey sees the building pretty soon after the shipyard. He can't help but be baffled by how bizarre this whole situation is. It was like someone had gotten bored and fused a Western and a 50's space show together, like...Firefly, maybe? Gods, it had been too long since he'd dug through his archives to watch any Joss Whedon. The man had been the best of the late 2000s, really. Jeffrey pushes open the double doors to the building, noting that someone had come in shortly before him. A girl?

"Hey, uhh...honey, d'you know where this is? Are we dead?" said Jeffrey tentatively.

[Terenia]

The voice startles the girl, and she jumps, one hand going to her chest and the other to the weapon at her side as she whirls around. Tense, she looks him up and down, eyes narrowed slightly as she takes the stranger in.

"What?"  she asks, belatedly translating his words. "Dead?" Her grip on the gun loosens ever so slightly, but her shoulders remain tense. She doesn't directly answer the question, apparently finding it too absurd to deserve a response. Instead, she takes a step back, giving him room to step away from the doorway. "You're bleeding," she notes, a small frown etched on her freckled face.

[Shenmue654]

((Description: The man was weird-looking, to be sure. He was dressed in a black vest and black pants, with a refined-looking white shirt underneath the vest. He appeared to be wearing some kind of necklace with a small emblem or symbol attached, which looked a bit like an ouroboros but with something more to it--- It was hard to see from here. His hair was black and matted, evidently sprayed into intentional-looking layers, and his eyes were dark brown. He definitely had a knife belt, too, equipped with some rather sharp-looking knives of various designs and purposes, stabbing or slicing--- but no gun.))

Jeffrey nods, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his head. "Of course I'm bleeding--- Somebody shot me in the freaking head! I was..." He squirmed slightly and looked away. "...it's not important right now. The wound is probably closing up fast at this point."

Jeffrey walks away from the door but doesn't try to fully close the gap between them, noting her gun and her defensive posture. This **** could kill me again right here if I make the wrong move, and I've got no idea if Regen blood works when you're dead. Or...here, wherever this might be. On the plus side, for once in my life, in thirty years I don't hear that horrible sound. That ringing. Does that mean I'm Mundane? "And...yeah hun, dead. I remember dying literally minutes ago. Do you know where we are?"

[Terenia]

She blinks, then smirks, lips quirking upwards. "If you're dead, you're a medical miracle," she says. Deciding he means no immediate harm, she relaxes, removing her hand from the weapon. "We're in a bar. Evidently." Narrow shoulders lift in a shrug. "I haven't figured out more than that, my nav system went haywire before I landed. The coordinates don't make any sense at all." She peers up at him. "You look like you could use a drink."

[Shenmue654]

"I could use a lot more than a drink, sweetcakes---Literally my entire life has gone to hell in the past two months," said Jeffrey. He smirked a bit, and then crossed the room and sat at a stool at the Bar, continuing to face her. He crossed his legs. "Name's Void Va--- You know what..." Jeffrey played with a strand of his hair. "...never mind. Not anymore. Jeffrey Richard Barnes. Ol' JRB. I hate my real name, but piss all on being a Supervillain anymore."

"What about you? Oh yeah, and I'd like a Crown and Coke on the rocks--- In honor of my girl," said Jeffrey, offhandedly to the bartender. The bartender immediately went to work.

[Terenia]

The girl follows Jeffrey to the bar, keeping a reasonable distance and a wary eye. Her smirk turns into a grimace at the terms of endearment. "Sweetcakes?" she echoes, sliding onto a stool herself. "Do people actually say that?"

She waits for the bartender to notice her, then places a simple order for a glass of lemonade before eyeing him again. "Dalik Two-Eight-Four-Four the Prime," she says by way of introduction. "Nice to meet you...Jeffrey. You're human, then?"

[Shenmue654]

"I do--- I like old-fashioned colloquialisms, dear, gives my personality a bit of color for the camera. And more or less, although by my century humans have uhhh...diversified a bit," says Jeffrey. "I'd show you, but..." Jeffrey clears his throat several times, and then coughs. In the meantime, the Bartender appears to have slid him his drink.

Jeffrey picks up the glass and takes a sip from it to clear his throat. His next words come out a bit gravelly, but his voice rapidly clears. "..don't think I can for some reason. Guess the Grim Reaper doesn't want me to right now. Basically, some people in my time have gotten powers, just like in the old comic books."

"So what's with that crazy name?" says Jeffrey.

[Terenia]

"Powers?" Dalik echoes. She laughs -- a high-pitched, girlish sound. "My brother was been right. This place does draw all sorts." Her gaze narrows. "You're not from the same Earth as my host. No one has powers there. My people would have figured that out by now." She hesitates for a beat, then adds, "I suppose you'd consider my an alien. My species is called Yeerk. We're parasitic; this creature is my host." Tapping her chest she gives a rueful smile, then moves her hand to the lemonade that has magically appeared.

"So...what powers do you have?" she asks in a teasing tone, leaning forward to put her lips around the straw.

[guitarhero01234]

"The hell," a short, scrawny human male mumbles to himself, finding himself materialized in a strange parking lot. He looks around, surveying the landscape. Ships. Granted, not very many, but any spaceships would tip one off that something was amiss. Then again, waking up in a parking lot with no recollection of how one got there was a red flag in and of itself. "Great, another one of those dreams," he mumbles.

The human notices the shady, run-down building across the parking lot. "That's not suspicious at all," he says, making his way toward the entrance. He hears conversation through the doors, though what exactly is being said is unclear. Slowly, nervously, he pushes open the door. He's almost shocked when he sees that the building is a relatively standard bar, especially after such a strange parking lot. Dreams don't always make sense, he thought, cautiously making his way to the bar. Especially after a day like that. . . .

He sits a few stools away from the two humans at the bar, taking care not to make eye contact. Probably best just to wait it out and wake up when I can. Then I can get back to finding that son of a . . . "Whiskey sour, please," he says to the bartender in a gruff voice with a strangely untraceable accent. Just then, he felt a pang in his lungs. He finally looks over at the two characters seated at the bar - one male and one female. He notices the bleeding, gaping hole in the man's head. Best not to ask. "Hey, either of you got a smoke?"

[Shenmue654]

"An alien? Cool! On my Earth, we never got around to finding aliens because we were too busy murdering each other!" Jeffrey said in an amused tone, sipping a bit of his drink. "By the time I was born, there's only one civilization and too many people in it. The world's a ****ing mess." He looked mildly intrigued by Dalik's next few statements. "And you're--- what, like a tapeworm or something? Yeerks...."

After a pause, he eventually says, "Sounds interesting. My powers, if they worked, are basically...You know the Purple Man? He was what by my time they'd call a Vocal Esper--- A person whose voice is hypnotic, so he can make people do whatever he says. Sounds like a broken record from my perspective, actually--- Horrible sound, but only to me. Everyone else hears whatever they most want me to sound like--- but not today!" He sounded relieved, for a person who'd lost his powers.

"Anyway, it's not as efficient as showbiz makes it out to be--- I can only make people believe whatever I tell 'em, doing's harder---but that's it."

[Terenia]

Dalik's eyebrows lift. "Tapeworm?" she asks, sounding offended. The newcomer's interjection keeps her from responding, and she glances over at him.

"You mean a cigarette?" She shakes her head. "Sorry, too young to smoke." The response sounds amused. "Do you have magical powers too? This guy can apparently make people believe anything." She jerks a thumb at Jeffrey and grins. "I'm not sure I believe him."

[Shenmue654]

"I don't believe me either right now-- it's great!" said Jeffrey, relaxing into his chair. He frowns and rubs the back of his head, still feeling a throbbing pain. Bleh, come on! Heal already! I'm just getting relaxed!

He turned his head towards the newcomer and smiled. "I'm sure the bartender's got a smoke. He knew what drink I was talking about, anyway. .....So what's your story? Yeerk tapeworm-thing, metahuman, or neither? Probably neither. This seems like that kind of place."

[guitarhero01234]

The stranger sits back in his seat, picking up his drink from the bar, as well as the cigarette that the bartender produced. "Marb red," he says, nodding in approval. "I suppose do have a trick or two up my sleeve. Not too keen on using them often, though." He takes a sip of his drink and places the cigarette in his mouth. "I guess there's no harm in showing off." He raises a finger in front of his face, placing it on the end of the rod dangling from his mouth. Suddenly, a spark comes out of his finger, lighting the tobacco. "Always loved doing that. By the way, you mind if I get your names?" He turns to the male sitting at the bar. "And why exactly there's a hole straight through your head?" Clearly, the stranger wasn't interested in staying in the shallow end any longer.

[Terenia]

The grin fades, replaced with a look of rapt fascination. "How did you do that?" she demands, completely ignoring his request for a name. She scoots forward, her lemonade forgotten. "Sleight of hand?" She reaches forward, as if to grab his hand and inspect it, but pulls back at the last moment.

<<You're going to get me incinerated.>>

<<I'm not,>> Dalik responds huffily. <<Did you see that? I wonder what sort of technology he has?>>

His inward enthusiasm is met with the equivalent of a mental eye roll, followed by silence.

[guitarhero01234]

The stranger chuckles softly, tapping the cigarette onto the ashtray conveniently across the bar. "Long story," he says. "And frankly, I'm hoping to wake up soon as it is. As of yesterday, I have a lot on my plate." He looks around, taking in the sights of the delapidated building. Despite his mental assertion that this was all a dream, something was nagging at him. It was all just so . . . real!

He shakes off these feelings. Real or not, he's here now. Might as well pass the time best he can. "So, what are you guys doing at this little hole in the wall?"