14580/Drinking With The Devil

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Drinking With The Devil
Date of Scene: 01 April 2023
Location: Josie's Bar
Synopsis: People gather at Josie's for a Saturday of drinking, eating, and the Final Four. Pool is played. Pockets are picked.
Cast of Characters: Matthew Murdock, Colleen Wing, Natasha Cranston, Veronique Lalonde




Matthew Murdock has posed:
It's lunchtime on Saturday. It's one of those big sporting weekends with college basketball tournament lovingly known as March Madness drawing nearer to its conclusion with the playing of the Final Four.

Matt Murdock isn't the biggest basketball fan. Sports are more difficult to enjoy when all you get is the audio over the television, with some announcers better than others about describing the action. Radio is a better medium for Matt.

But, it can be a fun time to be out as people flock to their favorite watering hole to watch the game. Matt has let some friends know he's free to meet up if they want. He shows up to Josie's with a bag of takeout from the Royal Dragon Chinese restaurant just down the block. He's gone with mostly appetizers, and the ones he knows that his friends enjoy the most.

Matt's cane taps from side to side as he comes in. The bar has a fair number of people here to watch the game, so there's a nice bustle and energy to the place. "Hello Josie," Matt calls out as he nears the bar.

"Matt," Josie calls back. "You want a seat at the bar, or a table?"

Matt replies, "Table please. Hopefully will have some friends showing up," he says, gesturing with the food. "I got you some crab rangoon," he adds.

Josie grins, coming from behind the bar to push two tables together for Matt. "Sweet talker," she tells him as Matt zeroes in on her voice, setting the bags of food down and then getting out a container for the bar owner.

Colleen Wing has posed:
Saturdays were typically a busy day for lessons at the Dojo, but this afternoon, Colleen had left her schedule wide open. She needed some time for herself and she had decided to finally listen tp what everypne had been telling her. Thus, when the invitation came from Matt to meet don at Josie's there was little hesitaton in deciding to go. Any chance to get out of the dojo for a bit and catch up with a friend. Besides, he said he was bringing Chibese food from the ROyal Dragon and that was certainly a draw.

Entering the bar, COlleen looks about for Matt, spying him and begins to make her ay towards the table. She is weaing a pair of jeans, some red converse sneakers and a black sweatshirt that says in large white lettering. "Made in Japan". "Mr. Murdoch. How are you Matt?" She pulls out a chair and slide in across from him, reaching back to pull her hai up into a ponytail. "Royual Dragon. You spoil me."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt looks up at the sound of Colleen's approach. In his deep, even toned voice he says, "Colleen! I'm glad you were able to make it." He rises from his chair until she's seated, then takes a seat back.

Josie is returning with a cold mug of beer for Matt. "Colleen," she says. "What do you want to drink?" the older woman asks the younger Asian woman.

Matt motions towards the bag and starts pulling out containers. "I got, one of everything from the appetizer menu. And then three of the stuff that I know people like the most. Especially that one Jessica is always getting," he says with a warm chuckle. "Not sure if Daisy can make it until later."

Colleen Wing has posed:
A quick answerr is given to the woman asking about her desired drink. "A lager. Suprise me." She smiles to the woman and turns her attention back to Matt as he starts to take the food out of the bag. "I needed some time out of the dojo. Can only take so much." She shifts in her seat and therer is a slight audible wince she tries to mask as she settles once more.

"So what have you been up to Matt? Staying out of trouble? I mean I know that is a silly question, but I feel like I should ask it." She reaches a hand out to start to open some of the containers, not yet taking any of the food. "Oh you did get the good stuff Matt. Is it said that when I call there, they alreayd know my voice and my order?" She mock winces and then shrugs. "I may actually be 50% Chinese food."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt picks out his own favorite, opening up some kind of chicken skewer thing which to even his astute nose, smells heavenly. "A lot of case work. Seems like there is always something going on," he says with a sigh. "There's a group organizing around a business in the area that's trampling on some of the locals in, well, a number of ways. I'm debating whether to just advise or whether to offer legal services. Not quite sure what the best way forward is, to be honest," he tells Colleen.

He takes a bite of the chicken, letting out a soft sigh as he savors the taste. "So is it the kids that are making you need a break? Or the adults? What is the split between them among your students?"

Colleen Wing has posed:
"I do not think it is really either. More so the pace I am setting myself at. I don't really set aside a lot of time for myself. I have told myself I am going to change that. And look. Here I am." She reaches for some white rice and some chicken, scooping in onto a plate and reachng for some of the chopsticks. "Private lessons for other clients as well. It has become a lot to juggle. I'll make it works." Some of the chicken is popped into her mouth and she chews it slowly before speaking again.

"There is always something going on that eeds somebody to help. I guess the question is, is it something you feel you can help with...or is it bets left to someone else?" She waves her chopsticks at him lazily. "Advice is always a good start. Perhaps reach out see what they may want. I mean, I will help anyway I can. You know that."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt eats quietly while he listens to Colleen's talk about the Dojo. He continues to eat in small bites as he looks thoughtful. "Well, maybe you just need a little bit of help," he muses. "I mean you could get Elektra to come by and help teach the..." Matt says, though the normally calm, staid man starts to break up a little bit. "Teach the..." he repeats again before he's starting to openly chuckle and grin. "Teach the... oh I can't even hardly get out Elektra teaching the children. Even on April Fools Day," he kids, grinning in Colleen's general direction.

He draws a slow breath and says, "Well, I don't know if there is anyone else. At least as far as the legal end of things goes. Not a lot money to be made in it," he says. "Read 'lot' as 'any', practically. But it helps people. I suppose might garner us some empanadas or a cake from a grateful person," he says, shrugging.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Elektra had informed Natasha about the Defenders; however she hadn't given any formal introductions either way -- and The Shadow Knows better than to trust a woman with -- to say the least -- questionable motivations at her word. A bit of informal investigation seems called for.

    Fortunately, the names of some of its members - as well as their most common hangouts - are all but public knowledge. Time for "Jenny" to go bar-hopping for a bit...

    Faded jeans and sneakers, white cotton tank top under a brown leather jacket, blue-dyed hair in its usual pony tail, and the ever-present blue girasol ring on her left hand; she might look a bit young compared to the usual clientele but not that much out of place.

    She looks around as the door closes behind her, then makes her way to the bar, taking in the patrons and the layout with the wide-eyed curiosity of the young before she hops onto a barstool and starts studying the drinks selection.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt takes another bite of the chicken. The appetizer really is heavenly. The ingredients are fairly high quality, which is true of the restaurant in general, but this dish in particular. And for Matt that really does impact his enjoyment of food a lot.

At the bar, Josie comes over towards "Jenny" and tosses down a cardboard coaster with the name of the bar, and owner, on it. "What can I get you?" she asks. Down the bar a couple of guys sitting there already look over to check out the new arrival. Up on the TV, the game broadcast is starting.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Jenny smiles politely back at Josie and nods. "Just a Coke, for starters, and maybe some pretzels? I'm just off practice and I probably shouldn't start alcohol until I've got at least something solid in my stomach..."

    Once she's sure Josie has taken her order she turns from the bartop to regard the rest of the bar proper, keeping a half eye on the basketball game even if it clearly isn't her primary interest.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Josie gets the soft drink and unceremoniously plops down some pretzels in front of Jenny. Not a lot of margin to be made there. She also drops a menu for a place next door that delivers, allowing Josie to not have to worry about serving food herself.

Matt leans back in his chair, losing himself in his thoughts. The game doesn't interest him too much. If it was a boxing match it would be more intriguing to him. He's thinking through the situation with the community group and the company that has been making some real estate moves that have people unhappy.

Meanwhile, those guys at the bar seem to take an interest. One of them rises and moves over to Jenny's side. "So you watching the game tonight?" he asks.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    A young red-head with sketchy mannerisms shoulders her way into the bar, hands in her jacket pockets. Her jaw jutting forward like she's trying to impress someone. All the posturing of someone that's not a regular and thinks this sort of thing will make her a less easy mark.

    Once the interior scents have tickled her olfactory senses enough to identify just what she might be walking into, she's making a beeline to the bar. For those with heightened bits, they might notice how one of her hands happens to slide out of a pocket, and pockets a Tip that doesn't belong to her while she passes a table. Facial twitches as she feels a moment of guilt, but her brows are furrowed and she's done the deed. Veronique goes to lean against the bar, down a little from where a fellow questions Jenny. She brays in a Quebecois tinged accent, requesting a drink, "Rum ~and~ Coke."

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Jenny looks up from her coke as she's addressed. She gives the man a brief glance, her eyes narrowing for the barest of instants before she smiles back and shakes her head. "Not really. Mostly just unwinding after practice. Sometimes it's good to check out a new place, you know?"

    She shrugs and snaps up a pretzel, then bites down on it with an audible crunch. "Mm. These are nice," she comments, already turning away from the guy and back to her idle examination of the rest of the room...

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Josie prepares Veronique's drink, not having noticed the petty larceny that is going to leave the owner just a few dollars poorer at night's end. She fills the glass and slides it over to Veronique, then turns to cast a baleful eye towards the guy hitting on Jenny. Though she doesn't say anything. Young people coming to hit on others, and be hit on, is part of what keeps her in business.

Matt takes a sip of his beer, pulling out his phone to tap out a message. With the number of people in the place and the sounds of the game, so far he hasn't taken particular notice of anyone else, and he missed the theft of the tip as well.

The guy talking to Jenny peers over towards the girl with the accent briefly, but keeps going with Jenny. "Yeah, I got a few bills on U Conn to win it all," he comments. "Mostly just to make it interesting, you know?" he tells her. "So, ah, we could go play pool if you didn't want to watch the game." His friends watching alternating between quietly cheering him on, and making fun of him to each other.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique winces and sucks in air past her teeth, her elbows propping herself up as she cranes to peer up towards the game being televised. "Mmmm...sportsball." she murmers as she waits for her drink. The hand in her pocket sorts through the coin to see if she's got enough or this will be a drink-n-dash kind of situation. "Cinque...Vingt-cinq..." She huffs leans forward, spotting some freebie snacks down by jenny.

    Veronique takes her drink, flashing a faux sweet grin of appreciation, and slides her way down closer. Near enough to hear the fella's attempts to chalk his cue. This seems more interesting to watch than the game. She raises the drink to her lip and starts to proceeds to drain it. The ice clinks around as she slowly tilts it back. Not interested in nursing it, moreso in gratification and substantial delivery for her parched throat. It's not cold enough to brain freeze, but it does make her eyes water a little. She snakes a hand towards the pretzel bowl like it was a tip jar. But wait a moment...She stalls and considers the fellow hitting on Jenny. If he's got bills to spare, she hovers a bit closer while he's distracted.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Jenny gives the guy another glance, then the pool table, then shrugs. "Never played it much, not sure how good I'm going to be," she admits a bit reluctantly, then brightens a bit and hops off her stool. "But like I said, gotta check out new experiences once in a while, no?" she asks, heading over to the pool tables.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
The guy smiles as the cute young woman agrees to the game of pool. "I'm Benny," he offers as he grabs his drink to move over that way. His two friends one nudges the other, the latter sighing and pulling out a twenty to pass over. Someone lost a bet.

Flush with an extra $20, the winning bettor stands up and he moves down to where Veronique is sitting. "Hey, my friend's going to shoot pool. You maybe feel up for joining me and we can see if they want to play doubles?" he asks her.

Matt's attention pulls away from his thoughts long enough to give some focus to the room. Nothing much demanding his attention. He finishes off his beer and rises, pulling out his cane to help him make his way to the bar to order a refill. "Another please, Josie," he tells her.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique's expression does a bit of a face-fault when her potential donor to her personal Kickstarter moves off. So when she turns to the winner, she has to take a moment to relax her pinched features. She reaches up to rub her nose with the cuff of her jacket, taking that moment to switch gears. She bites at her lip and considers. "Oh is that your friend?" Mild panic at a bad thing having almost occurred. Probably would have been caught red handed if she's tried to pickpocket his friend.

    Her tongue curls and she summons a small grin, raising her glass to get some ice to cronch up. A quick peek to the door to see if anyone came in and she's nodding. "Sure. Can't promise to be the best, but I promise I ain't the worst." Cronch cronch. "Roni." she says, by way of offering her name.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Jenny picks up a pool cue while she waits for the guy to set up the table. "... So, from what I've seen, you're supposed to knock the colored balls into the pockets first?" she asks, looking like she's trying to pull up vague memories from somewhere.

    She gives Veronique a glance and a friendly smile as she and her 'partner' join in.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Benny nods to Jenny's explanation. "Pretty close. So one of us will be solids and one will be stripes. Whoever knocks in the first ball, what you knock in is what you have then. If you knock in one of both on the same shot you can pick. So then you hit in all of yours, and only then hit the 8 ball in to win. The 8 ball is separate, not a solid. If it's hit in too early, it's a loss."

The other guy introduces himself to Veronique on the way over to the pool table. "Everyone calls me Jet," he tells her. "And yes, we know the song. That's Benny," he says, motioning towards the man who is finishing racking the balls on the table.

"Mind if we play against you?" he asks. Benny checks with Jenny, the unfortunately rhyming pair, to make sure she's ok with it.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Plenty of fish in the sea. Veronique's attitude within brightens, even if it's not for charitable reasons. "Jet." she enunciates, passing her lips the ~J~ slides so it's more like ~Shuet~. "C'est tres bonne." she nods and shows the brightness of her teeth and gives a small laugh.

    At the shared pool table, she tilts her head, sending her red hair over one shoulder as she returns Jenny's smile. A dimple appearing in one cheek. She fans her fingers, "No pressure."

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    "... Okay, that sounds simple enough," Jenny muses almost casually , then nods at Jet. "I'm usually called Jenny, by the way" she replies, with a brief wave at 'Roni', and then grins. "And yes, I've heard that song before as well."

    She tilts her head briefly. "So how do you want to divide the teams? Girls against boys?"

Matthew Murdock has posed:
The two young men glance at each other, no doubt deciding whether they stand a better chance in making friends with the two ladies each paired up with one, or against them. They seem to decide on going with the chance to spend time with each as a partner.

"Jenny and Benny, I should have known," Benny says with a chuckle. "Can make it Ben if that works better for you. Well, how about the two of us against the two of them?" he suggests.

Jet checks with Veronique to see if that's fine, and grabs them some pool cues. All of Josie's cues are as straight as Gotham politician, so everyone is at a little disadvantage there.

Benny says, "Why don't you guys break?"

Jet gives a nod. "I love your accent," he tells Veronique. "Are you from France originally?" he asks her. He'll let her break if she wants, or if not he'll go ahead and do it.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
    Veronique's sticky fingers drift towards Jet's pocket where she assumes a bill might be folded. It hovers, but doesn't commit, and her digits curl before swinging up to finger-comb her hair. She peers out from under her bangs, considering the setup of the game. Another glance towards the door with some side-eyes, just to make sure. Checking entrances and exits is a habit.

    She greets, "Jenny, Ben, Jet." And she gestures with a finger, as if this will help commit to memory, sing-song voice and all.

    Roni accepts the pool cue and slides it up along the inside of two fingers like she was polishing it squeaky clean. "Oh I'm easy." she mumbles. Given the opportunity, she moves around to that side of the table to break. A hair toss to get most of her red out of the way and she leans over to get that cue between two knuckles. "France? No, but that's sweet of you. Only a little further north really. France 2-point-oh, Poutineland." She snaps the pool cue ~PAK~ and stands back to see how lady luck rolls. "Breezed into town to handle a few deliveries. You all born and raised here?"

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    "Local born and bred," Jenny confirms, watching Veronique play with her cue, paying careful attention to the movements as she breaks.

Veronique Lalonde has posed:
Veronique struggles with patience. It's in her mannerisms and everything. It's a bad thing to be paranoid, on the make, looking over one's shoulder and trying to put on less of such a thieving persona. Her stomach growls, reminding her of the calories she needs so desperately. The noise of the bar and the chatter probably helps to cloak the whalesong of the tummy. It also reminds her of what she'll need to do so she doesn't go to bed hungry.

    Her demeanor becomes more fawning, but she lacks the skills, even if she has a smidgeon of talent. More opportunities to bump against Jet, with apologetic touches afterwards. And those become more frequent until it becomes like a silly little running joke. Testing the waters and making the small chit chat. There's no clock running down, but she does feel that her tank is getting empty. The earlier drink only going so far to replace what she lost during her ~breezing through town~. Her fingers linger, and then loiter, then lift a bill from poor Jet. And she's more than willing to put a few balls in the wrong places, once she's got what she needs. The pressure lessens when she feels she has that box ticked, and becomes a little less frantic. Easier to be personable and hang out, quicker to smile, though the girl never seems to want to stay still for too long.