log; complete

[haroicsacrifice.livejournal.com]

When; Tuesday, August 11, mid-afternoon
Rating; G
Characters; Luck Gandor (favorsthebrave) and Lockon Stratos (haroicsacrifice)
Summary; Lockon gets new employment.
Log;

Mid-afternoon is an early hour for a place like Cassagioso, and the place is mostly empty when Lockon stops in, with the odd, almost too-still atmosphere that comes from seeing during the daylight hours what's designed to be at its best at night and full of people.

Luck's here, though, sitting at one of the tables. He has a deck of cards out and a game of solitaire laid out on the tabletop in front of him, contemplating it idly.



Normally Lockon wouldn't mind being here amidst the crowds. He's as much at ease with a lot of people as he is with a few, after all: just so long as he isn't alone. But right now, the important thing is that he get to know Luck, and that can be accomplished a lot better without extra distractions.

So he chooses his time advisedly, and he gives a pleased little smile at seeing that he got it right as he opens the door, steps inside, and takes in his surroundings. Or maybe the smile is automatic; it's hard to tell sometimes. He approaches Luck, lifting a hand in greeting. "Yo." He glances at the cards. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."



Luck looks up at Lockon's approach, and offers him a polite nod of greeting. "Not at all," he says, and gestures to one of the other chairs at the table. "Have a seat."

He gathers up the cards and shuffles them without having to look at what he's doing, the movements easy with the familiarity of habit. "I was losing anyway. Solitaire is more my brother's game. But it passes the time. Care for a drink?"



Lockon drops easily into a seat at the offer, leaning forward a little at the table to watch the reshuffling with faint curiosity. "I never really got the hang of it myself," he confides with a shrug. "No, I think I'm fine, but thanks for the offer." He looks around, still smiling, but now more relaxed about it. "I'm sure it's usually busier than this. You're doing pretty well, for someone who hasn't been here too long."



"Business doesn't really start to pick up until evening," Luck agrees, in response to Lockon's observation. He taps the cards lightly against the tabletop to square them, then slides the deck back into its box. "I've had an advantage," he admits; "apparently I've been here before. I don't remember anything about it, but the place was already established and waiting for me when I arrived. If I'd had to start from scratch it would have taken longer."



"I've seen that happen," Lockon says. "People coming back to things they don't remember, I mean. You might be the first person I've seen come back to a bar they don't remember." He laughs a bit, but moves on easily enough: "It looks like you're not doing a bad job of getting it running again, though. I don't think I'd mind working in those circumstances."



"It's built after a place my family owns in New York," Luck explains, smoothing his hand absently over the surface of the table and glancing briefly around the speakeasy. "It's not exactly the same, but it's close."

Presently his attention comes back to Lockon, and he regards the other man speculatively. "We could use more help with just about everything," he says, "depending on what you're thinking you'd like to do."



"It's good to have something like home here," Lockon observes. "It might help you stay grounded. That's not always easy around this place." He looks faintly contemplative for a moment, but it's only a moment, and then he's casual and smiling again.

"Well, I'd rather not handle security," he says. "I'm not very effective at that sort of thing up close." Or at a distance, anymore, but at least he's gotten past the point of being totally useless there by now. "I don't mind taking orders, though. Even if I might have to learn quickly about mixing drinks."



Luck nods, seeming to accept this as a matter of course. "I didn't expect you'd want to be put on security," he acknowledges. "You did say you weren't interested in work that'd mean fighting. Besides, I have a couple of people I trust on security already." He shrugs dismissively. "We could start you as a server and bartender-in-training, if you think that'd suit you."



The mention of those "couple of people" that Luck can trust gets a momentarily thoughtful look from Lockon, and then it's gone. Sometime, he'll have to learn more about them, just in case, but for now it's a relief to know that for his potential employer, at least, security is a settled issue. "I do think that'd suit me. In any case, there's no way to find out except to try it for a while and see."



Luck smiles faintly at the expression that passes across Lockon's face, and says nothing more on the subject of security. "If it doesn't," he says, "maybe we can make a different arrangement. We can worry about that if it happens."

His turn to look thoughtful, foxlike eyes cool for all that his manner remains polite. "Are you much of a drinker, Lockon?" he wonders.



"That's right," Lockon agrees amiably. "We don't have to get worked up about something that isn't a problem yet." He looks a little more surprised by that next comment, though--but not enough to be bothered by it. "Not really, but I can hold my liquor well enough. I'll have a drink now and then, but that's just part of being good company."



"Good to know," Luck says. "I don't mind if you have a drink or two while you're working, as long as you don't overdo it, but people don't always know where their limits are."



Lockon grins at that, even laughing a little. "Don't worry. That's not a limit I like to push." It's by coincidence only that he words it that way; he isn't even really thinking about the fact that there are limits he pushes. "I think people are interesting enough when you're sober, anyway!"



The faint smile on Luck's face grows a little at that, with both a trace of amusement and a note of satisfaction. "I can agree with that," he says.

Settling back a little in his chair, he goes on, "Aside from that, I don't have too many hard rules. So long as you're straight with me and you pull your weight, we'll do fine. I do have a partner who helps me run the place - Mr. Zolf Kimblee - and when I'm not around, he's in charge. If you run into any problems, though, I'd prefer it if you came to me directly."



Even as Luck settles back, Lockon leans forward just a little, unconsciously tuned in to the ebb and flow of the conversation. "That sounds like a good deal to me--hey, should I call you Mr. Gandor now that you're my boss? Either way, I'll remember to bring problems to you if they have to come up."



"Luck's fine," he says, waving a hand dismissively. "There's no need to be that formal. Anyway, welcome aboard." Luck sits up straighter now to offer his hand out to Lockon. "We can get you started within the next couple of days, if you want."



In turn, Lockon reaches out to shake the offered hand. His own is still gloved, and there's no heat from it, but with such brief contact it's difficult to say for sure what that might mean. "That sounds fine to me."

There are other things he wants to ask--for some reason, 'how old are you' is at the top of the list. No, he knows the reason: he's still trying to figure out whether it's appropriate for him to big-brother his boss. The guy looks young, but, well, he's Lockon's boss now. And he doesn't look that young. So Lockon resists the urge to ask.



If Luck even notices the coolness of Lockon's hand - and with the glove, he may very well not have - he doesn't bat an eye at it. "I'll let everyone else know you'll be joining us. Since you'll be learning to tend bar, you'll be working with Claire some. He's a little eccentric, but he knows how I do business."



Lockon laughs a little as he rises to his feet. "Eccentric is fine with me. You should see some of the people I've worked with!" He thinks he's being clever here; this would be because he doesn't know Claire. "I'm looking forward to working for you, Luck."



Luck just smiles. There's really just no preparing people for Claire. "Glad to hear it," he replies instead, rising from his seat as well. "It'll be good to have you with us." And for all his usual cool composure, he seems to mean it.