5370/It Is An Interesting Bar

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It Is An Interesting Bar
Date of Scene: 27 February 2021
Location: The Wick
Synopsis: Viola is out drinking with college friends, and runs into a man who may or may not be an IRS agent, Grant Ward.
Cast of Characters: Viola Fiore, Grant Ward




Viola Fiore has posed:
The Wick is an interesting bar. Most bars don't really worry about something to set them apart from other bars. If you have alcohol, people will come.

However, The Wick does have it's own thing. A pair of white candles that have been burning for decades. New candles added to the top, and the white wax allowed to run down and create enormous pillars of white wax. They look almost like someone has managed to freeze time and capture a bubbling spring, the water pouring down but then frozen into ice.

Viola is present in the bar with three friends, girls that she went to Columbia with. All are graduated now, but they have gotten back together for the evening to keep in touch and catch up on what everyone else has been doing. "Oh you wouldn't believe the costumes, and the space it was in was just incredible," Viola finishes telling them, speaking of the Mardi Gras party at the Hellfire Club that she did the planning for.

Grant Ward has posed:
He drank alone. He did a lot alone. Agent Grant Ward was not the most socially driven of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents and it was well-known that he probaly spent more time by himself then most anyone. This evening was no different. The Agent was seated at the bar as well, but fsacing the door a few empty seats on either side of him with a bottle of beer resting in his right hand before him; resting on the bar itself. There is nobody enaging with the man who is wearing a white-tshirt and brown leather jacket. "One more if you would." The bottle is rasied to his lips and finished, then slid across the bar slowly to the waiting bartender's hand.

While waiting for the next drink, Grant turns his head finally to survey the room, catching the sound ov Viola's voice and her accompanying friends. It was not a conversation he intended on joining, but it was conversation and for the agent he always was taking in his surroundings and the conversations about him. If he is noticed, a slight head nod would be given, not recognizing in the dimly lit bar the young woman from a few days ago.

Viola Fiore has posed:
The young women continue their conversation, another girl talking about her experiences at a law firm as a paralegal while she is doing law school. It sounds like it's mostly getting hit on though, or at least those are the parts the pretty woman is talking about.

Viola picks up the pitcher of margaritas on the table and fills the glasses of the other girls. The last bit of beverage ends up in someone else's glass and Viola says, "I've got this round," as she rises from the table then.

She's wearing a simple pair of jeans, with black boots, and a grey sweater that lovingly hangs the brunette's curves. A black leather jacket is hung over her chair that Viola slides back in beneath the table before heading up to the bar.

She doesn't really look at Grant, but ends up at the bar in the space between the chair next to him, and the next one further down. The bartender is off at the other end of the bar making drinks for people there, so she waits patiently, glancing over the bottles of booze on the shelves behind the bar.

Grant Ward has posed:
There is that awkward moment when you are sitting alone and a beautiful young woman comes to stand beside you while she waits for a refill. Do you engage in what will undoubtedly be a meaningless conversation of /How are you?/ or /What are you drinking?/? Or do you sit there, say nothing and look like a complete and utter loser, only adding to the pathetic-ness of drinking alone. There seems to be a moment of weighing the pros and cons in his head before Grant turns his head to acknowledge the young woman now beside him. Yey, whenhe goes to speak hie stares straight ahead, taking the new beer in hand.

"Girl's night out? That's a thing still right?" It is then that he turns his head to look upon her once more. "Grant. And for the record I was not stood up. I came here alone." The Agent feels it necessary to explain his solitary status. "So the fake i.d's worked? I commend you." He clearly thinks she is on the border of legally downing a pitcher of margaritas."

Viola Fiore has posed:
As Viola hears the man's voice, she looks over towards Grant. There's surprise at seeing him, but somehow she manages to keep it subtle enough that it probably won't provoke much thought. Though maybe one day if Grant recognizes Viola from that day on the street, that little flicker of expression might be remembered too.

"It sort of is. College friends getting back together. Now that we're all graduated," she says, giving a soft laugh, "So either all child geniuses, or old enough for another pitcher," she tells Grant.

Viola's had some experience with pretending to not know things she knows. Oh has she ever. It serves her well, though her heart is racing at the thought that the SHIELD agent might identify her. Was it a crime when she ran away?

There's the smallest flush to her cheeks, that one might interpret in other ways as the handsome man approaches the pretty woman at the bar. "Nothing wrong with having a drink by yourself," she says, before leaning slightly closer. "Come on tell the truth, who was she, the one that stood you up?" she asks in a stage whisper, and a tone that suggests she's just teasing.

Grant Ward has posed:
She has most certainly piqued his interest. The young woman's sarcastic wit is not lost on the Agent. Deep down inside that exterior of a complete and utter stuck-up goody goody was a sense of humor. You just had to get through all the layers...like /all/ the layers. A sip is taken from the beer as he listens to her speak, lowering it back to the bar as she leans in closer in her murmured questioning about the girl who dared stand up Agent Grant Ward.

The slightest of smiles tugs at the corner of his lips as she finishes asking her question, and from what she may be able to tell, at least for now the agent has no idea who she is or recognized her from the other day. "It was foolish of me to think she would show. Clearly she thought my tinder profile was too good to be true." Another sip.

"It's probably for the better. I mean logically speaking what would have been the percentile chance of you speaking to me if she had shown?" He does not turn to look at her table of friends, but speculates based on his training. "Undoubtedly. Don't look. Your friends have turned their attention to us right now. They are more than likely whispering and trying to decide if one of them should approach and make sure everything is alright. " He continues. "But...you are clearly the ringleader in your little girl group and that means you can handle yourself just fine, so nobody is going to make their way over here. You will probably be getting a text in 3...2...1..."

Viola Fiore has posed:
Viola lets out a soft, warm chuckle about the tinder profile. "Let me guess. Moderately successful businessman - because you wanted to sound humble - seeking a lady who isn't afraid to pursue career, family, or both. Likes dogs. Favorite activities include hiking, the beach, and Coney Island. Quiet evenings equally enjoyable to dancing into the wee hours of the morning..." Viola says, just making her way through the hypothetical Tinder profile, before pausing at that point.

"Wait a second," she says thoughtfully, "I think I'd probably want to date that guy." She breaks out in a soft laugh then and listens to Grant's prediction about her phone buzzing. He counts down, 3... 2... 1... and then there's a soft chirp and buzz from her pocket. Viola laughs softly and says, "You can see them at the table with their phone I'm guessing?"

She takes the phone out and checks it, then taps something back. "Rescue mission aborted. Thank goodness we have text messaging for this. I'm picturing that 30 years ago they'd have had to light signal fires like they were Gondor and Rohan," Viola says. Wait, did she just make a Lord of the Rings comment?

Grant Ward has posed:
As the phone goes off he simply tkes a sip and smile from behind the mouth of the bottle. "Not at all. To be honest I am not even sure what they look like. It is predicatable, standard socialogical anaylsis. It's the pack mentality to see to the well-being of their fearless leader. I am assuming you are the most attractive out of them as well. A level of submissiveness because they know it's true." He sets the bottle down again and looks over to her.

"Your comment on my profile is pretty accurate actually I am impressed. Well except for the businessman part. And Coney Island has its moments." There is a tilt of his head as it finally realizeds shemade a reference to Lord of the Rings. "If only there was one ring to unite us all...the world would have less conflict in it." The beer is reached for again and he csually adds. "So does the little elf have a name, or shall i call you Arwen?"

Viola Fiore has posed:
Viola Fiore was, in truth, enjoying the exchanges with the man at the bar. Though as she hears his comments breaking down the sociology of her friends, the young woman can't help but become more intrigued. There's no way he could know she herself has a sociology degree. Though he might pick up that Viola's smile grows slightly at what she hears from Grant Ward.

"Well, I don't know about most attractive, I think I'm favored with a group of friends who excel in many ways including that," Viola says, though if he hasn't looked to the table one can't say for sure if maybe she's the one being humble now.

"All but the businessman part?" Viola repeats. "And so what should we amend that occupation to be?" she asks Grant. There had been a chair between them, Viola having left that space when she went to the bar, but now she moves around it, standing more directly beside Grant. And her friends getting that extra bit of signal that she's fine talking to him since she just moved closer. "You know I was going to give you my name, but darn if I wouldn't like having someone call me Arwen. I guess you can decide though. I'm Viola," she says, offering him her hand. "Though most of my friends just call me Vi."

Grant Ward has posed:
As thr attractive young woman moves closer to stand beside him, Ward accepts the fact that hse is going to remain a bit longer at least and his night of lonely drinking has for the time being ended. He actually takes his foot to tug the stool out a bit for her should she choose to sit. "Of course. You seem quite confident with yourself and would only surround yourself with friend who were less attractive if you needed a self esteem boost. Clearly that is not you." He raises a hand to the bartender and noticing the empty pitcher states. "A pitcher of whatever that was to her friend's table. A single glass..." he taps the bar in front of her.

He seems to consider a moent whether or not he should tell her his true occupation, and in the end responds to her with a slight smile. "I work for a select government organization." He says nothing more regarding it right now, extending his hand to the young woman and shaking it. "Nice to meet you Viola.I shall keep Arwen in my back pocket and pull it out if things start to go south and I need to redeem myself. Fair enough?"

He takes another sip of his beer as the magaratia is set down before the young woman, the pitcher then being brought to her friends. "So tell me Vi...what is it you, I mean aside from showing sympathy to lonely looking men at a bar? Wait let me guess." He turns his head ot study her a moment, taking her in fully before speaking. "Just out of college as you said. You are either recently employed or seeking employment. Well-dressed. Well-spoken. You have had a good education, no doubt on daddy's dime. Which means you could be a daddy's girl. Yet you are at a bar like this and not at a finer establishment, so you do not embrace the lifestyle opting for a more rebellious approach to what you choose to do." He looks to her and softly states. "How did I do?"

Viola Fiore has posed:
Viola does take the barstool when Grant offers it, and smiles as he gets the bartender to take a pitcher to her friends. She was just about to do that herself. The glass is delivered to her, margarita with salt. She thanks the man before turning back to Grant.

"A select government organization," Viola repeats and then gives a mock forlorn sigh. "IRS. I knew it," she says with another sigh and an exaggerated shake of her head. She doesn't ask further which agency it is though. Not knowing if he'll answer, and not really wanting to have him thinking about SHIELD business, at that.

The Italian-American young woman gives small nods or inclinations of her head at a few of Grant's points. "I probably woulnd't fight greatly the implication I was a daddy's girl," she admits with a soft chuckle. "Though I don't know about being a rebel. I just more enjoy the ambiance. I do enjoy some of the finer things in life. And there have been times I've worried about my own materialism. But I don't think it's to the point I won't enjoy a charming place like this," she tells him.

"But full marks for much of the rest. I'm working as an event organizer. I did it part time in college, working under another woman, and she offered me a partnership when I graduated. Which wasn't where I was planning to go actually. And, more recently I have an exclusive club giving me some trial runs for a position handling a number of their events," she tells Grant.

She rests an elbow on the bar, her chin on her hand as she regards the handsome brunette man. "And I think maybe that's a smart thought, with Arwen. Though hopefully you won't need it for that," she tells him, eyes studying his face.

Grant Ward has posed:
"One must always have a way out of a sticky situation. If refering to you as an elf get me out of that...I will not hesitate to draw and fire." He raises the beer and takes a longer sip, speaking from behind the mouth of the bottle. "An event coordinator? I could see that. Well actually to be honest there is no way I would have been able to tell that about you. You must be very good at what you do to land a position at an exclusive club in the city."

He turns more on his barstool now, resting an elbow on the bar and just now catching a glimps of her friends; offering them a slight hand wave. "They must be so jealous right now. It's okay to allow them to feel a slight bit of envy...it builds character." He taps her once on the shoulder and murmurs. "Better tun and look a moment, we may be on social media in the next 15 seconds." Sure enough one of her friends has her phone out and is taking pictures.

His attention goes back to the younger Italian girl. "So tell me Vi. When the night comes to an end and we go back to our lives...are we to allow fate to decide if we are to speak again...or are we going to take matters into our own hands an insure that happens? I for one try to eliminate luck when I can. So I am leaning more towards making sure that it happens."

Viola Fiore has posed:
Viola pivots on the stool as Grant draws her attention back towards her friends, just in time to get their photo taken. She chuckles and turns back towards Grant. "I have an ex. Boyfriend, not husband. They probably just want to get under his skin. Which it will," she says. "I should have put my arm around you for it." Viola's wry smile with a touch of heat in it suggests she won't be too upset if it plays out that way either.

The young woman takes a sip of her margarita as she listens to Grant. Her dark brown eyes gain a somewhat merry light as he asks her for her number in roundabout terms. "I suppose," she says as she sets her glass down, "that it would be a shame to have gained an elven get out of jail card, and then immediately lose the ability to ever play it," she tells him.

The young woman looks over at Grant, for a moment openly looking him over more fully. She's in her early twenties, and if she just graduated school, like around twenty-two or twenty-three. Viola notes there being a few years difference with the older government agent man.

A thought blossoms in her head for a moment. Does he recognize her? Is this just a way to find out who she is? The thought is pushed aside quickly. If he's SHIELD and focused on her then he'd probably already know know her name, number, her dress size and what the last book was she checked out of the library up the street from her parent's house.

Viola stands up on the bars at the bottom of the stool, leaning far out across the bar to reach a pen sitting there, and a little stack of napkins. She grabs one of the napkins and then sits back down, writing out her number beneath a stylized writing of her name, Viola, showing off a bit of calligraphy. "Probably best we do it like this then. I don't think the East Side can handle bonfires on the roofs," she says with a smile as she offers it to Grant.

Grant Ward has posed:
As Viola leans over to get the pen napkins, Grant does his best to keep his eye on his beer. It's a good beer. Interesting bottle and well-worth staring at. The napkin handed over, the Agent takes it and give her a wink, tucking it into his pocket after looking it over. "Fancy. I expected nothing less." He then leans over in front of her slightly, his mild cologne now more noticable. He grabs the pen and a napkin proceedding to write his number down as well. When it is handed back she would see a standard written form of handwriting, but it is what he has written on it that may catch her attention. It simply says /Gandlaf/ and then his number. "So you remember the important older gentleman you met at the bar."

His eyes watch her a moment, taking another sip and smiling from behind it once again. "Well perhaps we should give them something to talk about and drive that ex completely crazy." He slides off the bar and offers his hand to her. "Introduce me to your friends. They have not stopped staring and I do not think they will until we do so." He actually grabs her drink off the bar with his free hand and takes a sip from it, making a face. "Yeah..totally what I expected."

Viola Fiore has posed:
Viola Fiore takes the napkin with the Grey Wizard's number on it, the name giving her an amused smile. She pockets it and then as he offers her his hand, slips her own into Grant's and lets him guide her into rising with him. "Now you realize I'm going to have to introduce you as Gandalf unless you give me another name to use for you," she tells him. "I can't be sure how many of my friends would even recognize the name. Deb surely would, the other two might have seen the movies but might have to be reminded who he was," Viola warns.

She stays close and lets the older man lead her back to her table when he's ready. "What they lack in flavor they make up for in strength," she says of the drinks.

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant takes her hand and simply stands there by the bar, letting the friends look and whisper a bit longer. "So how are we going to play this. Do we want to be straight up and honest or do we want to mess with them a bit?" He squeezes her hand once and then adds casually. "Grant. I know a prefect name for someone who works for the IRS." he takes a breath and starts to walk towards Viola's friend's table, pausing next to it and stating matter-of-factly. "I found your friend. She got loston her way to get drinks and apparently I found her. You should really put some sort of /if found return to.../ type tag on her somewhere."

Is Ward being social? He looks over to Viola and then back to her friends, not yet letting go of her hand.

Viola Fiore has posed:
Viola Fiore lets Grant lead her over to the table. The three young women are all fairly attractive. Viola wouldn't try to say whether Grant's earlier prediction about how their appearance compares to her was an accurate on or not, but any of them would be likely to attract attention from the other gender.

One of the women sits up and says, "Oh, it's there, we have her chipped, you see. Just need to take her by any vet and they'd have her name, number and address pop up," she says, resulting in laughter from the other women, as well as Viola.

"I think you just called me a dog," Viola replies back in a voice full of feigned insult, which gets more laughter from the group. Viola then motions to the other speaker, "This is Deb, and Julie and Mary," Viola says as she goes around the table, introducing the women. "And this is Grant. He works with the IRS and and promised me he can find me all kind of discounts on my taxes this year."

At naming Grant as being with the IRS, the women pause as if unsure whether that's actually what Viola was doing talking to Grant at the bar. When Viola's shoulders start to shake with laughter, the rest clue in and start laughing as well. "Best damn looking tax man I ever saw," Julie says.

Grant Ward has posed:
There is something about a large grou of girls laughing that is a bit unsettling for any man, and Ward is no exception. It is not like he is uncomfortable, you just never really know what they are thinking. His eyes take in the three other friends, trying to match the given names to the face as they are introduced. "Deb. Julie and mary. Got it. Ask me in five minutes and I may still remember."

He smiles over to Viola a moment beforelooking back to her friends. "Yeah she is what you call a tax disaster. Neck deep in violations. It might take multiple meetings to figure that all out. She may have to move to Guatamala to escape the government. Don't worry. I'll do what I can to make sure she does not end up in prison or on America's Most Wanted."

It is then that there is a buzzing in his jacket pocket and he pulls his phone out, putting it to his ear and simply saying "Ward." There is a small onversation and he is careful, but does not mask entirely what is being said. "The report is on my desk. Yes I am fully aware. I will be right there. Don't run the test yet." Did he mean to say that part out loud in front of them?

The phone is put back into his ocket and he turns to Viola's friends first. "It was so nice to meet you all. Work calls. I am always on call." He then turns to Viola and takes her hand once more in his own. "You have my number. We should fix this soon. Don't forget your W-2's." He nods once, releases her hand and makes his way for the door, calling out to the bartender. "On my tab for the evening Antonio." He points to Viola and her friends at the table.