Rickie Connery
Adult
Scores Bartender
Pfft me crazy? No way.
Posts: 51
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Post by Rickie Connery on Mar 1, 2009 2:58:09 GMT 1
Heart pounding and head throbbing, Rickie barely heard Silas as he spoke. He saw the man’s mouth moving and, so as not to look rude, nodded his head a couple of times. God damn that music, the bass through the floor was the worst bit. Every time it reached its peak, Rickie felt the floor shake more so than the people around him. As the lights flashed on and off he found himself back in the forest he dreamt about so very often. All around him other soldiers moved but he wasn’t called for yet, not yet.
Shells burst all around him and Verey Lights lit the night sky overhead. From where Rickie sat, he watched in awe. The lights in the starry sky would have been beautiful if it wasn’t for the fact they were potentially lethal. All of a sudden the sound of exploding artillery got louder and more frequent. It was getting closer. The last burst was the loudest of all and Rickie automatically shielded his head with his hands from shrapnel and debris.
The song ended and Rickie resurfaced from his memory just in time to catch Silas’ question. Slowly he pulled his heads out from underneath his hands and just wanted to disappear. He must look so crazy in Silas’ eyes. Trying to look like nothing had happened; the younger man regarded the question.
What had brought him here? Did the man mean Hogsmeade or Scores?
If it was Hogsmeade, truth be told, Rickie Connery was in trouble. He’d run from the army, never wanting to treat another wounded man again. Now he was a wanted man. Military police were looking for him to throw his sorry arse in jail and the man had fled to the only safe place he’d ever known. Hogsmeade, the place he’d wished he was while he’d been over watching his friends die.
If Silas had meant Scores, Rickie wasn’t sure why he was here. “Dunno,” he shrugged, still thinking. Maybe he could look even more pathetic and ask Silas for a job? A job would be a good way to get his mind off things. “I heard the place had good water,” he laughed shakily, taking a long drag from his cigarette, “also, I was wondering whether you had any job vacancies?”
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Post by Silas Rosier on Mar 1, 2009 7:49:16 GMT 1
Hmm, three job applications in the same week. Silas couldn’t exactly complain, the faster staff positions got filled the better, but there really wasn’t much left. First Cassie, then the cleaner position had a tryout, now this. If it was anyone else Silas would have just admitted they were full up, but Adrian’s brother was a special occurrence, even he did look to be a bit of a headcase. It was a good opportunity to get rid of a minor (okay, major) annoyance; one of the night workers who had started talking conspiratorially to a known Ministry Official beyond the expected light conversation with the patrons. Silas actually had no idea what was going on there but he could tell light banter apart from serious, secretive tête-à-tête. Far be it for him to take the risk the man was imparting information he shouldn’t.
”There is, actually,” Silas said, flicking the cigarette to shake off the building layers of ash then leaning on the bar with his arms folded. ”We’ve had some loss of inventory lately. Traced it back to the bartender who does the night shift,” he explained, glancing over to the girl who was managing the bar at present to check if she was listening, but she seemed busy. ”Been snagging free alcohol for himself and friends on the job and squirreling away a few bottles for private use. I like the guy well enough -” lie ”- but I’m running a business here as you can understand. Haven’t done anything yet because I wasn’t sure if I could get him replaced, but there it is,” Silas shrugged.
”The job is from ten thirty to four in the morning, seven and a half hours a night. I usually wouldn’t offer, but I figure a man who walks into a bar for what he can get for free at home isn’t going to start embezzling whiskey,” he grinned, glancing at Rickie’s glass of water. ”How about it? We could try you out for a week and I bet there’s a music cancelling charm we can put inside the bar if you’re easily annoyed by the songs.”
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Rickie Connery
Adult
Scores Bartender
Pfft me crazy? No way.
Posts: 51
|
Post by Rickie Connery on Mar 3, 2009 10:06:26 GMT 1
There wouldn’t be a job position for him and even if there was, why would Silas hire him? Rickie was a complete stranger, just a random who’d come in and was drinking water while acting like a crazy person at the music. Why had he even asked? It had been a stupid thing to do and all Rickie wanted to do was get up and leave. His headache was getting worse and the last thing he wanted was for Silas to finally suggest he get help. He didn’t need it, he wasn’t broken.
Instantly Rickie looked up from his usual downward stance when Silas said there was in fact a job available. Wow. That had been unexpected but it certainly wasn’t unwelcome. For the first time for the evening, Rickie payed full attention to what Silas was saying. The last thing he’d do was embezzle liquor; Rickie didn’t drink and didn’t know anyone to take alcohol for, unless you counted Muck. The kitten had acquired a taste for firewhiskey.
Rickie watched the girl behind the bar closely. That would be his job soon. The time wouldn’t be an issue, Rickie only really slept about three to four hours a day and it showed. The younger man’s eyes had dark shadows underneath them, his paleness on enhanced the gauntness of his face.
“Wow, that’s excellent. When can I start?” he asked almost eagerly. Still jumping at the music, a soundproof charm would be much appreciated.
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Post by Silas Rosier on Mar 3, 2009 15:16:17 GMT 1
Crazy little sucker. Rickie had jumped from self-imposed isolation to false interest to high panic to enthusiasm all in the span of about, what, fifteen to thirty minutes? Silas had lost track of how long they had been talking for. The boy was all clearly all kinds of fucked up. It was fun for the time being; a novelty, but he could easily see how it could grow to be annoying after a few hours or days of constant ducking and furtive glances.
”You start, er, say Sunday? Gotta tell the old guy he’s fired first and give him his few days notice, which should be a fun conversation,” Silas said, smiling in a fashion that looked more like a grimace solely for Rickie’s benefit. He quickly took a deep breath from the cigarette. He was actually quite looking forward to firing the guy, extra points if the man tried to yell or argue, but people tended to give you odd looks if you made a habit of looking enthused by the prospect of confrontation. Rickie had better be worth hiring instead of someone more qualified.
”We can get you trained of course, if you don’t have any experience. That’ll have to be done before you start. Basic stuff really, Janna can show you the ropes if you need it,” he said, nodding in the direction of the current bartender and running his index finger subconsciously around the top of the absinthe glass as his eyes drifted downwards towards her rear. ”What sort of jobs have you had in the past?”
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Rickie Connery
Adult
Scores Bartender
Pfft me crazy? No way.
Posts: 51
|
Post by Rickie Connery on Mar 3, 2009 15:50:57 GMT 1
Rickie nodded, fervently listening to Silas. He was almost beaming at the prospect of a job that didn’t involve watching people die in bloody messes. The loud music was a drawback but if he couldn’t get the sound proof spell, a set of ear plugs would probably do too. But then there was that obvious problem of being unable to hear customers. Oh well, that could be sorted out when the problem arose. For now the younger man was inwardly revelling that he had a job.
The news of the job and the subsequent distraction it brought had cleared Rickie’s mind of everything else. Just for a moment he was looking like a normal person. Still a little unconsciously jumpy, but that couldn’t be helped. “Sunday then,” he confirmed a small smile now plastered on his face. Although he’d probably suck at bartending, he now got to get out of the Three Broomsticks, the owners of which weren’t exactly happy about him being there in the first place. He got to be surrounded with people again, something Rickie missed about the military.
Though he looked forward to working, he didn’t look forward to being trained by the girl, Janna. She was pretty, which was extra bad. Since coming back from war and the devastation it brought, no matter how hard he tried, Rickie hadn’t been able to forge any emotional connections with anyone, especially girls. The one thing he’d missed the most about civilisation and as soon as he got back he couldn’t connect with one. Why was life so unfair? He felt too distanced from them and that just made things awkward.
The younger man continued to puff on his cigarette then instantly stiffened when Silas asked him about his past. The smile on Rickie’s face disappeared and was replaced with a glare, one that made him look a lot like his brother. He stared intently at the bar, not knowing how, or not wanting, to answer Silas’ question. “I’ve never had a job as peaceful as this,” he answered finally, unwilling to say any more on the matter. Once again he grew more and more disconcerted as the thoughts of his past came flooding back. The flashes of light made the pillars of the place look like the trees again, the shouts and calls of the men sounded as if they were screaming for a medic.
Why was he like this? Rickie shook his head furiously, he was just about ready to leave. To go back to moping in his hotel room regardless of whether the Three Broomsticks' owners wanted him there or not.
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Post by Silas Rosier on Mar 4, 2009 5:25:48 GMT 1
The resemblance between Rickie and Adrian was staggering for a moment. They both had a way of looking at you like they were dead serious about pulling your own intestines out your mouth. Oh well, there was a benefit to that at least; if someone refused to pay or was being a pain Rickie could just give them a look to make them shit themselves. The customers tended to take the bartenders seriously because more often than not they were well equipped to handle any problems if there were no bouncers nearby. Although considering Rickie it seemed to be a tossup on if he’d blast a troublemaker to bits or hide under the bar and cry.
The intensity of Rickie’s scowl and the dodging manner of his reply made Silas think that Rickie might be hiding something else. Law trouble, perhaps? War couldn’t really be that bad could it? He’d been in a number of large scuffles before with aurors back in America, many explosions and body parts a flying, but it hadn’t been all that traumatic. Try wicked fun. What had that been now, fifteen years ago? Christ, he hated the reminders he was getting on in years a bit. War sounded much the same, just legal.
”Don’t worry about it,” Silas said idly, taking another mouthful of the black liquid and feeling it practically burn like an acid as it went down, ”I’m not going to do an official background check or anything.” Emphasis on official background check. He was still definitely making one for his own benefit. ”Everyone needs a second chance I think. Doesn’t matter what you did, it’s what you do.” Did he believe that? Not really, but it seemed to be what people liked to hear. ”If you don’t work out behind the bar, no biggie. Worst comes to worst you haven’t lost anything.”
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Rickie Connery
Adult
Scores Bartender
Pfft me crazy? No way.
Posts: 51
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Post by Rickie Connery on Mar 4, 2009 6:52:36 GMT 1
Rickie sighed, placing his head back in his hands and glaring at the bar some more. As much as he wanted to he couldn’t escape the memories as they came creeping back. He could try as much as he wanted to fight the nightmares off but they always came eventually. He had to get out of Scores before he tackled someone to the ground to patch up their non-existent wounds. For all Rickie knew he could end up stabbing someone with a pen, thinking it was a syrette of morphine, or strangle someone with their tie trying to bandage them up.
“Thanks a lot, I’ll be back Sunday,” the younger man nodded in thanks as he got up off his barstool and managed to force a small smile. Before leaving, Rickie shook Silas’ hand to say goodbye and in thanks. Thanks for giving him a job, a new start at life and for not prying into his past. Not that he knew that Silas would indeed be looking into him and that he already knew a substantial amount about him anyway.
After the quick handshake, he left. He walked through the thick set entrance doors and back out into a world of white snow and the last golden light of the evening. Instead of wincing at the cold and snow, the man embraced it, much like he would sleep in a few hours. And with sleep came pain. For another night, Rickie Connery walked back to the Three Broomsticks to let the nightmares embrace him once again.
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