Better Stand Tall

[Rook Boswell]

[2:03]

Like basically everywhere else that served the supernatural world, Hole in the Wall was busy.  It was so busy, in fact, that Coop had enlisted Rook's help waiting tables while he'd hopped behind the bar with Clarissa.  The cooks were keeping up, but only barely, and Coop rushed back there to assist when he could.  Rook had taken to the waitressing part pretty well, flirting and laughing with customers that were somewhat surprised at the number of people in there, as well as a few that gave her the heebie jeebies.  It was too bad that she couldn't catch Claire for more than a second in passing to mention the way they were giving her the creeps, or even to take a glance at the hand of cards she'd pulled RIGHT before she'd been asked to help.  She hadn't even gotten to look at them, nevermind really read them. but she probably would have lost it if she had.  As it was, she was pretty high-spirited, laughing, teasing and rushing around in the warm air of the bar.  She was thinking that maybe she should see if Coop had any extra shifts she could take, since she was kind of enjoying herself.  It was probably only because she knew her way around the place so well from many hours hanging out there, but she was picking it up pretty well.

"It's not always like this?" she asked Claire breathlessly as they both came to rest for an instant, waiting on Coop to pour a few drinks.  The man had the sleeves of his button-up rolled all the way up to his biceps, short hair spiked and sweaty from the heat and the running around, and Rook could see why Claire liked flirting with her boss so much.  Dude was hot like that, no pun intended.  He also had a look of concentration on his face that Rook thought was pretty intense, and didn't hurt that 'hot' factor.  Of course, her own hair was looking pretty edgy, the heat and constant movement taking the normally smooth look and roughing it up a little.  She'd stripped down to her tank top and jeans, donning a short apron that already had alcohol smears on it from grabbing glasses that weren't exactly poured too neatly.  That was mostly Coop, since Clarissa was pretty damn good, but Rook didn't blame him.  She was just going to go home stinking of bar and booze, which wasn't actually her usual.  She sometimes could smell a little on herself, but 'reek' was a better word for tonight, once you took into consideration the stink of sweat, too.  Hey, at least she was being productive. 

She blinked around, suddenly wondering where Melissa had gone, but only for an instant.  Almost as though her mind had been read, she saw a blonde pony-tail disappearing back into the kitchen after dropping some food off for Clarissa at the bar.  Melissa was down to her tank and a pair of dress slacks that were much too nice for the kitchen, but she seemed to have taken to helping them in the back.  That explained why Coop hadn't disappeared from the bar in so long. 

"Coop is so lucky that Melissa and I were just hanging around tonight," she told her friend, just in time for Coop to lean in and transfer a load of drinks over to them.

"You ain't kidding.  I might even have to pay you two," he told them, smirking just a little and winking before glancing over his shoulder as someone called his name, in need of a refill.  Rook didn't envy him, not when she had her own people looking for attention. 

[Charlotte Silver]

 Clarissa was almost sorry that she'd invited her sister to the bar under the pretense that they would have some time to catch up. Melissa was a social worker for Single Earth, so she was usually pretty busy trying to smooth people's lives over, while Clarissa just did accounting and made drunk people more drunk five nights a week. Melissa was the one who was supposed to be taking a break, and Clarissa was openly frowning as she watched Daniel spill some of their more expensive vodka all over the front of his shirt.

"Seriously, just -- " and she reached out and snatched the bottle from him, pointing to his office. "Change. I can handle this. Cut Willa, too, she's been here since like, noon," she shouted at his back. She wiped up the mess and shoved the bottle back under the counter, turning to take more drink orders. She watched Rook and Claire hurrying back and forth trying not to spill things or collide with one another, and un-elegantly wiped beads of sweat off of her forehead. It was hot inside, but cold outside. Maybe someone should crack a few windows and let the place air out. The smell of all these people was starting to bother her.

"Rook, here's two more, for the table right there," she said, pointing with a French-tipped nail to the table adjacent the bar. It was amazing her nails were in perfect condition considering how rough she'd been the entire evening. Since about six or seven, the patronage had become thick, and it hadn't let up. They'd hit maximum capacity twice; Chad had told her that he'd had a line at more than one point that led out into the parking lot, but luckily there had been no incident. She waved Diego over to the bar. "I'm taking a five. Coop will be back in a few seconds to help you," she informed him, taking the apron she was wearing to protect herself from Daniel's messes off and tossing it behind the register. She went after Melissa back into the kitchen. "I am so sorry. I thought we'd be dead since that music festival is in the next town. Evidently not," she sighed. "Want to get some air?"

Claire had heard Clarissa telling Coop to cut Willa, so she cupped her hands over her mouth. "Willa! Leave!" she yelled. She turned back to Rook, wrinkling her nose. "No, it isn't always like this. You've been here when we've been "busy", it's nothing like this. Usually we get a little crowded around ten or so, but you know this area, most people are in bed by like, one. We're going strong and we close in an hour. What the hell," she hissed to herself. She watched Clarissa vanish into the back, and knew that asking for a break now was out of the question.

"I know I sound wimpy, but my feet hurt and I'm hungry. I'm going to see if I can't get Marissa to cover me for two seconds while I put in an order for some cheese sticks and stuffed potato things. Are you hungry yet?" she asked, knowing that Rook could have been swinging through the kitchen and she'd never have noticed given how busy they'd been. "God, Coop needs to get his ass in gear and do last call so we can get the hell out of here," she moaned. "Although, I think I've cleared a hundred bucks in tips. You?"

Claire would have liked for Rook to work there. She didn't seem to ever get enough of her best friend, although if she knew that she'd been checking out Coop, she might have said something territorial, but Rook wouldn't have been surprised, either.

[Rook Boswell]

"You got it!" she called to Clarissa when the other woman told her about two drinks for a table near the bar, and then she was off, dropping them off and seeing if the people there needed anything else.  She was pretty much operating under the rule that if someone gestured for her, she took their money and brought them drinks.  She sure as hell wasn't doing bad on tips, either, so it was easy for her to agree with Claire on that one. 

"I don't even know how much I've done.  I'm not used to this like you are, so I haven't even been looking, just stuffing them in my apron," she offered, rolling her shoulders back to crack a few things in her back and neck area.  She hadn't worked like this in quite some time, so she was actually kind of enjoying it.  Plus, she liked everyone here.  "I could eat, maybe.  Once we got busy, I forgot all about it.  Coop'll go for last call soon, I'm sure."

He had to.  Even busy, it was getting way late.  They were never open that late that Rook had seen.  Of course, they were doing a hell of a business, so she wouldn't have been surprised if they stayed open.  Most places didn't close as long as they had a crowd.  Rook wasn't so sure if she could do another two hours or anything, though.

[Melissa Arthur]

Okay, so Melissa had definitely shown up to have a drink, hang out with her sister and do some catching up, but this worked, too.  She'd been wearing black dress pants and a nice top, but once she put her hair up, the people in the kitchen had just been glad to have her there, so they hadn't cared if she pulled the pretty top she was wearing off and just worked in the black pants and cami.  Her shoes weren't exactly kitchen-safe, but they were flats, so at least she wasn't trying to run around in heels or anything.  Besides, cat grace had to help keep her from slipping somehow, right? 

Right, it was working.  She wasn't exactly the best at this, but she could work a fryer, and that was the easiest part of the line, they said.  They also said she was a natural, which did feed her ego a little and keep her from getting discouraged, but she knew that it really didn't take much to operate the fryer.  It was just organizing everything in her brain so that nothing burned and it all ended up coming out around the same time.  Since everything was NOWNOWNOWFASTFASTFAST, it didn't really matter.  Everything had to be finished asap. 

When Clarissa swept into the kitchen, Melissa looked up, hair falling out of her ponytail and into her face, and offered her little sister a little bit of a frazzled smile.  Her eyes were a little wider and tired than usual, but she was in good spirits.  "I think I have this fryer thing down," she offered, almost as though that made it all better.  It certainly helped. 

"Really, it's okay.  It's just good that I was here to help," she returned, smiling again, and got a shove in the direction of the door with a 'we got this, go breathe'.  She wasn't asking twice, so she was out the door.  She'd come back, though. 

Once outside, she breathed deep, taking in the cool air on her hot skin and letting her muscles relax just a touch.  "Wow."

[Claire O'Riley]

 "I tried to forget, but I caught myself picking on someone's leftovers," she admitted. When Rook made a face, Claire scoffed. "What?! Like I can even get sick! It isn't like ate a piece that had a bite mark taken out of it, damn," she said with a laugh. "But if you are going to ignore an entire serving of fries, why should I deprive my tummy of them? Melissa has been adding a lot of season salt to them, too, which is evidently a big hit with the crowd. Looks like a recipe change is in order," she observed. She glanced back at the office, where she couldn't see Coop anymore because his door was closed, and then looked back at Rook.

"I think my dad called earlier, but I haven't had a chance to call him back," she confessed. "So now I'm wondering, is he going to show up, or is he going to send my brother to come and check on me?" She rolled her eyes. "God forbid that I'm, you know, at work."

She didn't get much longer before she had to leave Rook and go back to tables. Marissa was bussing and serving, but it wasn't happening fast enough, so Claire moved in behind her, trying to take care of the little stuff so she could get the big stuff. If Daniel didn't make last call happen soon, she was going to have a real cow.

[Charlotte Silver]

 Clarissa laughed at Melissa when she said she thought she had the fryer down. "The most important part is not to burn your hand off, not that it matters, since if you burned yourself, you'd heal in hours instead of like, weeks," she said with a snort. She ushered her to the door, eager to get away from the crowding for a few precious minutes. As soon as the night air hit her face, she sighed a long sigh of relief. She noticed her sister doing the same thing; it was amazing they weren't twins. They even looked almost identical - almost. You could tell Clarissa was younger, but not by much.

"I don't know what the deal is. That stupid rock fest thing is supposed to be going on like forty-five minutes away. I thought all of Ramsa would be there, not here," she said, flipping her hand up and gesturing the general direction of where the festival was held. She sat down on the top of the picnic table they had out back for the employees to hang around during breaks, and ran her hands through her hair. It was beginning to curl in the early morning humidity, and she made a frustrated noise.

"I'm going to do last call in fifteen minutes. If Daniel doesn't like it, he can kiss my ass," she announced, stretching her legs out. She was so glad she hadn't dressed "up" tonight. Jeans, a cute top, and some comfortable shoes. "Tomorrow, we can sit around my apartment and watch Netflix all day. I queued up a bunch of scary foreign films and bought popcorn, because I wanted to do it tonight, but... " she nodded her head back and forth and rolled her eyes.

"So, tell me about your day," she said, switching gears. Despite living within 15 miles of eachother, she and Melissa's schedules were retarded, so they didn't see eachother often enough. Clarissa didn't want to just bitch every chance she got.

[Veronica Cross]

 Outside, Veronica snuggled under her gray sweater, hands thrust into the back pockets of her hip-hugging, boot-cut jeans. She kicked at a rock as she walked from where she'd landed in the branch of a tree positioned some soft grass just outside and across the street from Hole in the Wall. The parking lot was gravel, loose dirt and broken asphalt; she could feel it as her boots crunched over top of it, but it didn't surprise her. The place did well, but the lot it was in was fairly old. She wondered when they'd spring for a new one. Veronica had been coming here off and on since she'd picked up her gig as a "double agent" for Midnight; she'd mostly been instructed to observe and report. Veronica wasn't a fighter, so she was happy with that singular assignment. Since tonight happened to be the first night of "The Cleansing", as Ivy had called it the day before, Veronica thought she'd have a beer and sit in the midst of the mayhem. Of course, if she were apprehended, she had to keep in cover, but since she knew it was coming, she could fly, and fly she would.

As she approached, she got a little surprise when a car in the lot, the lights of which had been off, had a door suddenly open and a man stepped out. Veronica jumped slightly, her hand out of her pocket and to her chest. "Oh, wow," she breathed. "You startled me. I didn't think anyone was even in there," she said, laughing at herself. She flicked her eyes up and down him, quickly - shapeshifter, but she wasn't sure what. Attractive enough for her. She tilted her head to the left, the motion so obviously bird that she didn't even have to tell him what she was - he'd already know.

"You know, this place is pretty packed. Hope you're not in a hurry," she ventured.

[Kieran O'Riley]

Not really all that aware of Claire's musing over whether their dad was going to show up to make sure she was alright or Kieran would, he hesitated in his car for a moment for a breather.  The place looked packed, so he was finishing his cigarette in the peaceful dark of the old, beat-up muscle car before venturing inside and facing the crowd.  He didn't really have a problem with crowds, but knowing that his sister was among them, probably taking crap for assholes while she was trying to work, that he had a problem with.  He didn't spend a lot of time at her job because of that, knowing he'd destroy the first idiot who looked at her wrong, but he was just as worried as their dad was.  He believed she was at work, but it was getting ridiculously late.  At the very least, Kieran was taking her home.  At this hour, it wasn't right to think that she'd be going on her own.

After a full day on-site working on a house in Ramsa, then a night at the tattoo parlor, there could have been a better day than this.  He was dangerously close to being up 24 hours, and it wasn't helping his mood all that much.  Who knew, though?  Maybe he'd get in there, have a drink and chill while he waited for Claire to get off work.  That would be nice, and was pretty likely. 

He could dig it.

Glancing in the direction of the girl who jumped when he hopped out of the car, he smiled at her as he took the last drag off of his cigarette.  It was a reaction he was used to, considering he was a little over six feet tall and not badly built, but she also smelled of bird.  He'd found that it wasn't often hard to spook them. 

"I'm not worried.  My sister works here, so they'll let me in," he said confidently, and if someone gave him a problem?  That was when there would be trouble, because he wasn't being kept from Claire.  Sure enough, he wasn't held up, and he offered the girl a smug sort of smirk before he slipped in the door, just in time for Claire's comment.  He couldn't hear it from across the room, but Rook saw him walk in the door.

"I'm thinking he's sending your brother to check on you," she whispered, flitting past Claire as the other girl worked to help Marissa bussing a table, then continuing to one of her own.  Coop had glanced up when Kieran entered as well, but he wasn't surprised, either.  It was only a matter of time before one of the wolves showed up.

[Melissa Arthur]

Oh, Melissa thought that not burning her hand off mattered, especially since she'd already been splashed a few times and it hurt.  It definitely wasn't the worst she'd endured, especially not when she had Father Dantes to compare to, but she'd learned her lesson fast.  She was relieved that she had shifter healing, since it would get rid of those burns fast, and proud of herself for being able to jump back there.  She hadn't been so sure that she wouldn't just be a body in the way, but she thought that she might have actually been helpful, so mission accomplished, right?  Wait until she told Michael how her relaxing night out to hang out with her sister had devolved.

"I don't really think Daniel has any idea what time it is," she offered, taking her own seat on top of the picnic table beside Clarissa.  "He's been running around all night, and I think I remember hearing him complain in the kitchen that he hit his watch off something early on.  He probably still thinks it's midnight."

She was joking and deliberately mentioning an earlier time, but she really did think that he'd be shocked to find out it was after two.  Someone should really mention it to him.  Melissa didn't personally mind the craziness, but it was surprising, to say the least.  "Tomorrow is great for the film frenzy, especially after today.  It's not like I did anything too crazy with my day, mostly just boring stuff and paperwork, but I'm definitely not used to this restaurant thing.  Kudos to you," she offered, smiling and then stretching.  She could bet that she probably reeked of grease, too.  She'd had her nose in it too long to tell.  

"Do I stink?  I bet I do, huh?" she asked, the smile turning into a grin as she scrunched up her face like she could smell the grossness.  

[Veronica Cross]

 Veronica nodded with an "Ohh," sounding enlightened. She followed Kieran in, whether or not he chose to acknowledge her further his own problem. She got through the door, same as he did, but all she had to do was flash Chadwick that million-dollar smile and he said, "Hey, Veronica," stepping over to give her passage. She heard him yelling at people who began to bitch, but the line was thinning out once people realized how late it was.

Once inside, she gave the wolf a last glance, and then took a place at the bar. "Just a gin and tonic, for me," she said, holding money and her ID out. She rested the palm of her hand on her chin, glancing left and right. The bar had attracted a very, very large crowd. She could pick a few Midnight people out, but she worked exclusively with one or two people, so she wasn't going to be able to point them all out, even if there were lots of them.

All she was doing was taking Melissa's advice. Before they'd left for the evening the Cougar had told her to 'relax a little' and 'go get a drink'. So, Veronica was doing that. She didn't see her anywhere, though. Had she already been grabbed?

[Charlotte Silver]

 Clarissa chuckled. "This restaurant thing is usually nothing like this," she said, holding her hands up in a half-attempted shrug. "Really. Most nights Daniel only needs about half of us here to do our jobs. The only reason I bartend instead of just being an accountant is because Jeff refuses to work weekends and Diego has class during the day. It's a good thing we're all here, though, or I don't even know what would have happened," she added with a sigh.

"He may not know what time it is, but legally we can't even serve past a certain point, so watch broken or not, I need to make him aware of it. I'm in charge of handling all our licenses and stuff, and I can tell you now, you do not want to see the paperwork involved in that mess," she said with a snort. "As for his watch, don't let him fool you. He's broken that thing more than once. Daniel is a closet klutz, and it gets worse the busier we are. I think he almost prefers slow and steady - and I do, too, but I counted my tips earlier and I think my rent is almost paid. People have been generous tonight."

She leaned back a little and sighed, knowing that they were about to have to go back in. "Maybe I'll go visit you at your job next week. Sit in your office and eat all your candies while you do 'boring paperwork'," she said, nudging her sister. "And you do smell - like fried food. But I smell like spilled beers and limes, so I think we're even. You are driving on the way home, though. Last thing I need is to get pulled over and try to explain why I smell like a raging alcoholic."

With a grunt, she pushed off of the table, sorry that she'd worn high heels. Her feet started to hurt as soon as she stood up, but that was just life. "Come on, let's get this over with."

[Jared Bastian]

Some people might have thought that it was too late to be roaming around, but this was Jared, so the night was still young.  Since he'd been turned by that bitch Akka, daylight had been essentially impossible for him.  He'd been messing around to see if it was just sunlight or the daytime hours themselves, and it was definitely the sun, so there were a few ways around that problem.  Not many, and it was a hassle, but he'd managed to cover up enough that he didn't feel like dozing off while he was walking down the street (or driving) in the middle of the afternoon.  It still drained his energy down to nothing, though.  He hated it.

Credit where it was due, Ryan had proven himself to be an awesome friend.  Jared hadn't gone to him for awhile after all that had happened, but when he finally had, the guy had reacted surprisingly well.  Of course, he'd also explained who his brother was and that he'd known about the supernatural shit, which had just pissed Jared off; had he been the only one who didn't know?  The situation with Ryan hadn't gone as badly as with Angela, however, and part of that was just because Ryan didn't give a shit.  In fact, having a vampire for a best friend had its uses, and they'd been trying that out ever since.  One of the things that Jared hated was that he couldn't get drunk unless he ate someone who was already drunk (which was a little tough to manage sometimes), but he and Ryan seemed to do well enough with it.

Tonight was a perfect example.  They'd gotten this one chick utterly trashed (Ryan had been pretty far gone, too) before Jared took her into a quiet corner and had a snack, then they'd gone off down the street to find another bar, laughing and messing with each other the whole way.  It was a good night, and almost made Jared feel like his world wasn't totally fucked.  Their intended target was Hole in the Wall, mostly because there were always hot chicks working there (and hanging out, since they were positive that the employees called all of there hot chick friends to hang around), so why go anywhere else to waste the rest of their night?  From the looks of things as they approached, they weren't the only ones who thought so.

"Dude, look at this clusterfuck!  We definitely wanna go there?" he asked, and the only reason he was even asking was because it was Ryan who had to wait on drinks.  It didn't matter to him if the service was slow because they were mobbed. 

[Ryan Shane]

Yeah, having a vampire for a best friend was paying off. Ryan would never get a DUI again, that was for sure. Also, on occasion, Jared had done that cool teleportation thing. It always made Ryan want to hurl, but it was a lot faster than anything else they could do to get anywhere - and cheaper, too. Once they'd gone to Vegas and been kicked out of a few casinos. It was worth it, though. Jared had hypnotized people into giving them money, which had been pretty fucking sweet. Yeah, this was a good thing, definitely.

"Uhhhh," he grunted hesitantly, blurry eyes covering the canvas of the bar. He looked from the bar back to Jared, his whole upper body moving as he turned. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, screwing one into his lips. He ducked his head and covered his lighter as he ignited the butt, and then stood back up, stumbling a little. He put his hand on the hood of his car (Jared had wanted to drive, and Ryan was cool with that - it was a midnight blue 69 Chevy Nova SS, blown. It was loud and fast and had wide tires on the back and Jared was superhuman so Ryan hoped that meant he wouldn't launch it into a tree like he had - twice.

He laughed his little Muttly laugh, pointing with the two fingers holding his cigarette as the crowd moved in and out and around the bar. "Check out that blonde bitch," he said, pointing to a slender girl who had her back turned. She was wearing a short red skirt and a black tank top, and she had long hair. "Looks good from back here," he said with a laugh. "You think she'd let me take her for a spin?" And he laughed more.

She was talking to a guy who wasn't much taller than Ryan, but he had tattoos all over his arms. Ryan made a face and looked at Jared. "Pft, look at that Ed Hardy motherfucker she's talking to. I'm surprised he's not wearing one of those faggot Affliction shirts in size Extra Sssmedium," he slurred. Then the girl turned around, and Ryan's cigarette fell out of his mouth.

"Holy fuck, that's Camille!" he shouted, grabbing Jared by his shirt. "What is that bitch doing? That stupid fucking slut!" Yeah, Ryan. So not over his ex-girlfriend.

[Melissa Arthur]

Poor Melissa had no idea that Veronica, who she'd talked to earlier in the day and liked well enough, was wondering if she'd been 'snatched', yet, almost like the idea simply made her curious.  Honestly, anyone who thought that hurting Melissa was a good idea would have been smart to reconsider, if only because of Michael Light and the temper that he'd proven he was capable of, but how many would-be attackers had that kind of knowledge?  Not enough, you could count on it.

Too bad Melissa didn't know to even give him a call to tell him that anything odd was going on, or she'd have done so.  As it was, she sent him a text to tell him that Hole in the Wall was super busy and that she was proud of herself for helping in the kitchen.  It was silly and stupid, but she liked sharing with him, even if it was just little things about her day.  He seemed to enjoy being around her and hearing from her (otherwise, why would he respond and choose to be around her?), so she continued to do it.  She was looking forward to seeing him the next day, and even though they were moving ridiculously slowly with their 'relationship' or whatever it was, she really liked him.  He was just old-fashioned, and neither of them appeared to know exactly how to go about it.  She'd never dated a vampire before, but she didn't mind the idea at all (especially when it involved him).  She personally thought he was cute, and Matthew had been giggling to himself about it for what seemed like forever.  This was one of those things that she and Clarissa were going to catch up on when they did their movie marathon, but she wasn't getting into it all that night.  They had too much going on.

"Hey, I'm not complaining, so no worries here.  Why don't we go in, let Daniel know what time it is, and we'll get this place closed so we can go start our sleepover?" she offered.  The sad thing was that, as adults who'd been working for umpteen hours, they were actually going to get showers and sleep for this part of their sleepover.  The following night would be movies and fun.  "I'll drive, it's not a problem!"

[Camille Farrell]

The funny thing was that Camille didn't even know Ryan was there. If she had, she'd have left immediately. As it was, she'd felt sick and flustered from being inside the hot ass bar for so long. She was grateful for the guy who had offered to walk her outside, especially when one of the waitresses cleared him as her brother and assured Camille that she'd be fine with him. Camille wasn't in the habit of just walking off with strange men, but Angela had taken her to this bar before when they were in town from the university, and Camille had seen Claire a few times. She'd gone with Kieran to the front of the bar where there was a smoking area outside. She didn't usually smoke but she'd had quite a few beers, and sometimes a cigarette just went good.

"Sorry," she said, watching Kieran wrinkle his nose. "I know, they smell really strong. I'm thankful that you can't smoke inside anymore, honestly. I couldn't stand coming home with my hair smelling like that." She flicked the ashes into an empty beer bottle and looked back up at him. She wasn't trying to come on to him, which was funny - Camille wasn't the sort of person to throw herself at other people. She was certainly dressed provocatively, but to be honest, Angela had picked this out for her weeks ago and she'd finally decided to wear it.

"So, how late do you plan on staying?" she asked. She laughed at herself, and shook her head, holding up her hands. "Wait, no. I'm sorry, that sounds like a total line. I mean, how late does this place stay open? Sorry," she said. She laughed again.