Log: Lil and Garrison

[x-diamondlil.livejournal.com]

Two Canadians walk into a bar... Lil and Garrison have a little reunion at Harry's.


Lil had finally gotten off her ass and made it to the bar everyone had mentioned. Harry's Hideaway wasn't the clubs she'd worked back home, bouncing and tending, but it wasn't a complete dive either. People were friendly enough and didn't seem to make too much trouble and the bar wasn't nearly as extensive as the last place's which meant she wouldn't be shelling out hundreds of fruity, girlie mixers all night... Now if she could only get her courage up to ask if they had any spots open on staff. Seated at the bar with a beer and wings in front of her, the blonde woman sighed then took another sip of her drink. It was just another bar in a new city. So why the hell was she having such a difficult time asking for a simple application?

Briar came over to ask her if she needed anything else, and the blonde bartender suddenly went white, the glass in her hands slipping out to crash on the floor by her feet. Her wide-eyed stare was joined by another, this one an older man who Lil had guessed as the Harry of Harry's Hideaway. He recovered more quickly, shaking the girl's shoulder and pointing at the Moosehead tap. "You know what he likes. I'll get it straightened out."

There was no reason for the sudden change in the late night atmosphere, until the person who had just walked in reached the bar, and leaned on it: Garrison Kane.

"They said that you'd been killed in a car accident last November, Garrison." Harry said, wiping the front of the bar before Briar came over with a pint in her shaky hand. Kane shook his head.

"Mistaken identity. I've been recovering since then. Just really woke up yesterday." It was a lame cover story, injury and coma, but he couldn't really tell people he'd been kidnapped by a revenge twisted madman seconds before bleeding to death on the highway following an attack by mutant terrorists, could he.

"Mistaken identity. You tell the others, Briar. I'm not interested in losing more glasses tonight." She fled to the back, and Harry shook his head. "Damn lucky, kid. It's good to see you upright." The bartender moved off, missing Kane's low and bitter mutter before sipping his beer.

"Yeah. Damn lucky."

"Damn liar," Lil muttered casually when Harry was far enough away, her eyes focused on her drink instead of the man next to her. "Some people'll do anything to get out of town when they've heard I'm on my way. Not really your style to take it to such extremes, though." The blonde clicked her tongue then slowly turned to face him with a small smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "But like the guy said, it's good to see you upright. And in one piece... well, relatively speaking."

"Gah!" Garrison said, starting as he saw her. "Lil? Lil Jeffries? Wha- what the hell are you doing here? Don't tell me Madison is in the bathroom or something?"

"My god, didn't you read any of your emails before you went and got yourself blown up?" The blonde asked with a playful roll of her eyes. "Got shipped to Xavier's to shape up when I went crawling back to Heather looking to make Alpha. And Maddy better not be in the bathroom or he's gonna get my foot up his ass when he comes out," Lil swore before taking a sip of her beer. "You've missed quite a bit, Gar."

"Apparently. I've kind of had my time taken up with the whole being dead thing." Kane looked back at the bar. "Can I get a shot of Crown as well. Actually, make that two." He turned back. "Heather sent you down here to make Alpha? And you left Madison behind? What is going on up there?"

"Put the shots on my tab," Lil instructed the barkeep before looking at Garrison again. "Least I can do for someone who pulled a Jesus," she added with a smile then gave him one of her dismissive one shoulder shrugs. "Things went bad between Maddy and me. He was spending too much time with Mac and Roger's BoxBot and I wasn't gonna just sit around and play the happy homemaker when we both agreed to drop Beta. So, I told Heather that I wanted Alpha but because they didn't want me at Maddy's throat and 'cause he's the only one who can control that damn thing, I was the one who got shipped south for additional training. To uh work on my people skills and learn to play well with others," the blonde finished with a wink to her former classmate before scooting her plate of wings closer to him in a silent offer to help himself.

"Oh christ..." Kane muttered as he slammed back the shots one after the other. He'd forgotten how freakin' tall Lil was. Kane was six foot and broad shouldered, and he had to look up to talk to her. "So they're prepping Madison for Alpha, and you're down here to, what, learn why being a bitch doesn't work so well in a team setting. I swear that Heather's got a fucking brain tumor or something. Who's training you?"

The Amazon only shook her head as a small, somewhat disappointed frown appeared on her lips. "No one, yet. Things kinda got shuffled to the backburner, I think so I've just been kicking around the mansion, waiting to hear from Scott about whose ready to take on the Wicked Bitch of the North. And you know, looking for a job." Hazel eyes rolled before she lifted her chin in Harry's direction. "Seeing as you've been dead, I don't suppose you know if this guy's hiring or not. Dunno what the situation is here so I've kinda been feeling things out while having a cold one."

"A job?" Kane took a breath. "Harry, you got a sec?"

The owner ambled over and Kane waved at Lil. "This is Lil Jeffries. She's staying at the mansion for a while, and could use a job. She's got some experience and best of all, is her own bouncer. Can deal with anything up to and including drunken mutants. She got Johnny out of a jam a couple years ago. You need someone for last nights, closing?"

Harry thought for a second and nodded. "Bring me a proper resume tomorrow, and we'll see how you handle Saturday night close with Briar and I. The crowd can get a little wild, but they're not usually trying to cause problems. If- and I mean if you impress me, I might be able to use you for nights."

Lil blinked hard before snapping shut the jaw she didn't realize was hanging open. "Yeah, okay. I mean, um, thank you." She blinked again and even gave her head a little shake to convince herself the exchange she'd been working herself up to all evening had passed in a flash. "Thank you. I'll do that... sir." The blonde winced then offered Harry an apologetic smile as she grabbed her beer and took a healthy swig.

"I'll see you at eight tomorrow then. Black shoes, non-slip soles, no heels. You're tall enough as is." Harry said, and went over to handle a patron. Kane shook his head. Lil down at the mansion? Heather was losing it.

"There you go, Lil. Not to be unfriendly, but I'm trying to get my head around a few things, and that's more private drinking than anything. Do me a favour? Give Vikks a call. I e-mailed her my flight, but I don't know if she thinks it's a hoax or not, and I'd rather not have my sister ready to kill me when I'm coming through the door."

She nodded dumbly at Harry in response than repeated the gesture at Garrison's request. "Yeah, sure. Anything for a guy who mighta scored me a job that doesn't involve filing cabinets and fax machines; my adventures at Elpis are exaggerated but not by much."

Tossing back the rest of her beer, she dug into her purse and pulled out the cash and tip she owed. After laying it down on the bar, Lil reached over and gave his wrist a squeeze. "I gotta get back to the mansion but what you said before, about being damn lucky?" Her smile went soft and sincere. "More than you know. You've got a lotta people here who care about you - including me now. You turn up dead again and I'll kill you myself. Remember that," she warned with a poke to his bicep as she slipped off her seat. "I'm looking forward to working with you again, Beaver Boy."