alejandro

Holdering for a day on the job.

Who: Alejandro to Jovie
When: 2:14PM

Hey. It's Alex. Call me back to let me know you're alive.


Who: Alejandro to Jovie (again)
When: 2:17PM

In case you care, I'm starting back at work tomorrow.

Who: Jovie and Alex
When: Just before dawn
Where: Jovie's bedroom

The sun was barely coming over the horizon when Jovie stirred. She was a fairly deep sleeper most nights - unless she had overnight company. There was something that kept her almost on edge, bracing herself for something she couldn't really pinpoint. It was like she was never one hundred percent comfortable that she could slip into the kind of sleep that left her feeling rested the next morning. Last night was one of those nights. Alex had stayed over, which she didn't mind, given what they had been up to most of the evening. But he had also been there since the early evening when she'd made him dinner and finally confirmed what he was. Thankfully she hadn't picked up any desire to murder her coming from his mind, so she hadn't minded the company. Until now. It was becoming a bit too - comfortable - having him there, which meant it was time for him to go.

Jovie nudged him sleepily with her foot under the sheets. "Time to go, Alex..." She yawned and cracked open her eyes to roll over and push him out of bed if she had to - broken leg or not. Unfortunately she didn't even have time to do that, given the dark shadows surrounding her bed. Jovie shrieked, struggling to untangle herself from the sheets in the process.

Who: Jovie and Alex
Where: Babylon, then Jovie's apartment
When: About 4PM

It took every ounce of willpower that Jovie possessed not to track down Alex after staying up for most the night reading the books she'd bought from Nevermore. She had one email awaiting her by the time she closed down her shop and returned home for the evening - confirming what the books and her suspicions had begun to expect about the Mourning Star. She wasn't ready to assume that Alex was an ascended demon. Or a fallen angel. For all she knew, he could have known someone who was one or the other - a friend, perhaps. Family. An ex-lover. A current lover even. Jovie knew better than to march into Babylon while he worked and demand answers. No, she didn't think it terribly wise to do that in a bar full of people. She was fairly certain Alex wouldn't appreciate it either. So after showering and dressing in a simple, white cotton day dress, Jovie went into work for a few hours, trying to concentrate on selling her jewelry, before the time came for her to leave. She locked up and walked to Babylon. She knew Alex's shift was ending, which was perfect for her. Unless he had his little toy with him - then she would have to make sure she maintained enough distance that she didn't blab about everything she had done and read about the day before.

Who: Alex and Melia
When: Early morning
Where: Alex's house

Melia was back on what was more or less her regular schedule, inasmuch as she had one; she was bedding down for the night shortly after the sun extinguished itself below the horizon, waking as the first rays were brightening the sky - to a shadowed figure over her in the water. It disappeared quickly enough that she was able to dismiss it a moment later, though she'd been startled almost into attack mode. She caught herself a quick breakfast and ate it on the swim, so to speak, heading to shore and her cache of human clothing. Drying herself and dressing quickly, she moved with purpose - it had occurred to her that she hadn't really spoken with any of the two humans that she cared about beyond a meal or entertainment, and she was planning to remedy that foresight.

Ready to go, she set out to make the more or less short walk from her favorite section of the lake to Alejandro's house. It didn't occur to her that it might be a little too early to call on someone in human society, and she likely wouldn't have cared even if she had known. Melia wanted what she wanted when she wanted it, and right now that was to see Alejandro. Stepping up to his front door, she tried the knob, but it didn't turn. Sighing, she made a fist and banged on the door.

Who: Alejandro and Jovie
Where: Random coffee shop
When: Late afternoon

The coffee shop was all but empty, the storm raging outside, and Alejandro liked it that way. There were no mirrors here, no staring shadows, and nobody demanding his time. He'd gotten off work-- thank fucking god-- went home long enough to grab all the books he'd bought and headed out into the storm. In his car, the beat up old Lincoln that had been all he could afford, since walking was out of the question.

Fucking cast. Fucking Acherus. Fucking Mourning Star.

Who: Alex and Buttah
When: night
Where: Babylon

Though it would be a good idea to start going to Babylon just to see and be seen, tonight Buttah had a mission. She was looking for information, and if she was going to find it anywhere, she was going to find it there. She'd dressed down a bit for the occasion, just in some tight-but-flexible dark jeans and a low-cut black shirt. It tended to inspire folks to talk. She found the building easily enough, now that she knew what it was, and just kind of shook her head. Right next to the elementary school, that was kinda fucked up. Bu walked in, shrugging out of her light jacket and slinging it back over one shoulder. She took a second to glance around the place before she headed for the bar and slid into a seat. "Jus' the man I was lookin' for," she said with a little smile to the guy behind it.

Who: Alejandro and Jovie
Where: Babylon, where else?
When: Early evening

Tonight, Alejandro was very not happy to be at work. He had to be at work, because he had to pay the bills and he had to keep his job and he really had to get to Nevermore to look at what they had, there, but he wasn't letting himself until he was no longer in the red financially. And he had no idea how much getting a cast put on his shattered foot would wind up costing, but he hadn't had a choice, if he wanted it to heal at all. Already the doctor had warned him he might wind up with a permanent limp, and he would wind up with a slightly disfigured foot.

Fucking Mourning Star. Not acceptable.

Who: Alejandro
Where: His house
When: Just before dawn

It was nearly dawn when Alejandro finally stumbled to the front door of his house and inside, to safety and rest and retreat in humiliation. He left behind him bloody, staggering footsteps, and a smear of blood on the door handle. It had taken him from almost midnight to now to even get home.

The leeches might not have won... but they almost did.

Who: Jovie and Alex
Where: Babylon
When: Late Afternoon, shortly after this scene

After the kind of night Jovie had, the last thing she had intended to do was sit inside her apartment all day. Her store was a wreck, a lot of her inventory gone - not that she minded all that much seeing as how she'd love to see the kind of effect the curses would have on those blood sucking bastards - but her computer was probably ruined, though Nerd Genius in the apartment above her could salvage at least the data, and there was so much mess in her shop that she had said 'fuck it' after twenty minutes of cleaning and had headed out. She went to Babylon without even thinking. It would be open, she knew, and hopefully untouched by all the chaos. Plus, a tiny part of her wanted to see if Alex was working - just to make sure he was alive. Not that she had given him much thought at all since all of the destruction started happening, but after nearly five days of it, she figured she might as well check on him, seeing as he was one of the only people in town she knew.

She wandered into Babylon, spotted him immediately behind the counter, and headed directly for a seat at the bar. "I need something really strong," she instructed him, setting her purse on the counter beside her.

Who: Alex and Buttahfly
When: late afternoon
Where: Babylon

Bu hated being put out of commission like she was. Hated. It. But her arm wasn't about to heal up in a matter of days, and it was unreliable. Which meant she wasn't on top of her game. Which meant that if she went out hunting, she'd be putting herself in real danger. Which meant that if she went out hunting with Socko? That wasn't a risk she was willing to take. Not when it sounded like they weren't alone in their quest to put the threat down. No, there were gunshots and screams every night, and she knew that not all of them were from vampire victims.

What she wanted when she walked into Babylon -- The Bar That Moved, in her mind -- was information. How well it was going, how much longer anyone thought it would last, if there was anything she could help with. If there was anyplace to find out, it would be there. Or so she'd more or less discovered. She came in dressed down a bit, in jeans and one of Socko's oversized long-sleeved shirts to hide the bandages around her arm. Bu paused in the doorway and blinked against the different lighting, eyes scanning the place before she picked a direction.

Who: Regan and Alex
When: Night
Where: Streets of Marquette

Regan was fed up. Not only was she fed up, but she was feeling sulky, and worse - hungry. The last few nights she had stayed in, knowing better than to fuck with the Acherus, despite her many, experienced years as a vampire. She knew she was maybe stronger than some, older and more superior to the majority... but they were faster and simply uncivilized. Not one Acherus could claim her kind of beauty and Regan was not about to let one of them mar her perfect features in a fit of jealousy. Regan also knew it would prove to be more difficult to feed when many of the residents were following police orders to stay inside past dark. Which left vampires and dark creatures that Regan was fairly sure would taste absolutely horrible.

However, when the sun set that night, she was far too hungry to wait any longer. If she couldn't feed properly, she would hopefully find Babylon open and buy her meal there. Her raven colored hair fell past her shoulders, her pale skin a stark contrast against the black, low cut corset and dark pants she wore. The only color she emitted was her lips, painted red because she would be damned if she allowed her minor fear of the Acherus to affect how she presented herself. Moving briskly down the street about a block from home, she kept her eyes open and her ears sharp. She wanted to find a human - any human - drink her fill and return to the sanctuary of her own home.

Who: Alejandro
Where: His house
When: Sunset

Sitting around on his ass wasn't what Alejandro wanted to be doing. If life was fair, he wouldn't be sitting around on his ass. He'd be out there in the growing dark, slicing up vampires and leaving a trail of fully-dead corpses behind him.

Who: Melia and Alejandro
Where: Alex's house and then the lake
When: Late morning

It had been a long few hours as Melia hung out by herself in the tub; she'd had no one to talk to and she'd been correct earlier in the evening when she'd figured she wouldn't sleep. She ended up with a crick in her neck that made turning her head to the left supremely uncomfortable, muscles sore and tight from the cramped position she'd had to keep in the tub. When she figured she'd spent enough time in the water to be all right taking the remainder as a human, Melia maneuvered herself out of the tub - which was tough, given the slippery porcelain and the fact that she was trying to keep quiet. She'd managed, however, and had used a towel to dry herself off. She'd tried the sofa first but found it scratchy and uncomfortable with little room to move around, so it was off to Alejandro's room to share the bed he'd offered. She'd climbed in without making a disturbance, stretching out and falling asleep almost immediately.

Alejandro had managed to scoot over to make more room for her without really waking up, but when he finally woke up-- several hours after dawn; Alejandro was not one to get up early, and after the eventful night before, and with another warm body in bed, he wasn't getting up earlier than he had to-- he wasn't surprised by her presence. He looked over at her a moment, not moving yet, but then stretched and yawned and sat up, rubbing at his head.

And wincing. Damn, he was sore. Everything hurt, it seemed like.

Who: Melia and Alejandro
When: Just after full dark
Where: Near Alex's house

In Melia's opinion, walking without a specific goal or destination in mind was rather boring. It was so repetitive - left foot, right foot, repeat endlessly. All the same, she'd agreed to go for a walk with Alex when he'd found her on the lakeshore - she'd actually spent most of the day wandering around Marquette, using human money stolen from a human's wallet to buy things. Nothing big - she just wanted to practice using human currency. She'd picked up some human clothes, some 'waterproof' bags to stick her growing human clothing collection in so she could hide them better when not in use, and mostly wandered around, enjoying the town. Alex had been at the lake when she'd meandered down the shore after storing her new things, and somehow the human - angel, she reminded herself - had convinced her to go walking with him since they'd gone swimming last time.

Who: Jovie and Alex
When: Early morning
Where: Jovie's Apartment

Jovie woke up as the light began to filter through her bedroom window. Granted, it was dull light. Gray and tiring. Which meant rain. It also meant she didn't want to get out of bed. She was comfortable, and sated and wouldn't mind just sleeping the day away. Which was one of the many bonuses of being your own boss. If she didn't feel like opening her store, she simply didn't. Stretching a tiny bit under the sheets, she turned to glance at Alex's sleeping form. She had considered making him leave once their evening had come to an extremely enjoyable end, but she decided to take pity on the poor guy and let him stay over. Walking home in the middle of the night after some extremely physical sex probably wouldn't have been the kindest thing to do. Turning away, she slid from her bed and grabbed her silk robe to pull it on. Coffee beckoned and she left the bedroom to head toward the kitchen. Hopefully he would be up and dressed before too long. As much fun as she had with him, she had things to do and was still trying to decide whether or not to go into work for awhile. Opening the front door, she grabbed the newspaper, tossed it onto her kitchen table and began to brew the coffee.

Who: Alejandro and Jovie
Where: Kalos Jewelry, and then out
When: 8PM

Heeding Jovie's suggestion, Alejandro came to her shop in torn jeans and an old but still serviceable-- and well-fitting-- t-shirt. After a whole day and a half of internal debate, he'd also left the block at home. There would've been no way he could've concealed that he had it on him, no way he could've kept his distance from her, and nowhere he could've put his jacket with it in his pocket that would've been out of the way and still been accessible-- and safe. He couldn't risk that thing being stolen, it was too valuable.

And since he wanted this little meeting too much to simply not go, he'd had to trust that she'd stay out of his mind. And since he couldn't trust that she'd stay out of his mind, he'd just be watching very carefully what he thought, and watching his thoughts very carefully in case it was possible to notice when a telepath was listening in. He didn't know enough about them to even guess-- just enough to get himself in trouble.

So he wandered into her shop protection-less, keeping his suspicion and wariness hidden behind a cocky grin as his eyes sought her out.

Who: Alejandro and Jovie
Where: Kalos Jewelry Shop
When: Around lunchtime

Alejandro was surprisingly lonely after a day with no one in his house but himself. He'd gotten used to the little sounds of having another person there, the occasional whispers of conversation when Jezebelle emerged from her basement room and came and went for school and visiting friends. The young fae had gone back to the Dreaming and her mother in the light of all the murders and disappearances and whatever-the-hell else that seemed to be taking over Marquette lately, and Alejandro was a little disturbed with himself to find that he missed her.

So, since he didn't work until the evening-- shitty shifts for the new man, of course; no one went to a bar on a Tuesday evening-- after a lazy morning of sleeping in he kicked himself out of the empty house and went for a walk. It was a dreary sort of day, though not actually raining this time, which suited his mood. He had the stupid block in his pocket, given he kept forgetting to take it out when he tossed his jacket onto the back of a chair or something at the end of the day, so he made extra sure to keep his distance from people.

One store gave him pause as he spotted it, though. It was a jewelry store, and the name rang a bell. It took him a minute to remember Jovie's store, match up the name, and realize he'd forgotten to stop by after Jezebelle's unexpected departure had thrown him off.

Well, it was something to do, and might cheer him up, so the ex-angel headed across the street and pushed the door open.

Who: Alejandro and Jovie
Where: Phone
When: Late morning

Days off, while not actually earning any money, were still good things. Especially when the days on completely made up for the days off. Alejandro spent most of the morning sleeping, just because he could, but once he'd gotten up, showered, and wolfed down some breakfast, he had a whole day ahead of him with... hmmm, nothing really to do. Jezebelle wasn't even in. It was a gorgeous day-- bah-- but the thought of going out in all that sunlight made his head hurt, so he dropped the curtain again after his peek out and retreated to the couch.

That was about when he remembered he had someone to call. A certain telepath-- whose skills surely couldn't reach all the way across town to his house, right?-- who had given him her card, her name, and her number. He'd put the card... where. Somewhere around here. He'd have to find it.

Ten minutes later, after sorting through a stack of papers by the door, another stack on the kitchen table, and the smallest stack on coffee table by the couch, Alejandro'd come up with the card. He needed to watch where he tossed things at the end of the day, seriously. So he settled back onto the couch, punched in her number, and waited for the pick-up.

Who: Jocelyn and Alex
Where: Outside of Babylon, then inside of Babylon
When: 10:30pm

She'd been stood up. It took her awhile to admit it, sitting on the curb outside of Babylon, wondering if maybe she got the night wrong. Or the time. But no. As humiliating as it was, she'd been stood up. By a vampire. Good Lord, the enjoyment Val would get out of that if he ever found out...Jocelyn didn't even want to think about it. She sat there, her purse next to her on the sidewalk, her chin rested on her arms that were currently crossed upon her drawn up knees as she watched the cars pass by filled with dark, unfamiliar faces. She would have retreated back to her room, but confining herself in solitude, especially with the roses still on her dresser, was simply too depressing. Her first date in years and she gets stood up. It was if another crack in her self-esteem widened and a thousand self-deprecating excuses as to why it happened began to run through her mind.

After a relatively pleasant, and interesting, encounter with Melia again, Alejandro headed for Babylon. He had someone he wanted to talk to, for all he'd really rather not see the place again until his next shift. On Monday. Thank God. At least he'd asked around and found out what room she was in, so maybe he could corner her in there where she'd be the only one to ramble at him.

Except there she was, sitting on the curb. That was unexpected-- and unexpectedly easy. "Hey, waiting for someone?" he asked, coming up towards her rather than Babylon's door.

Who: Melia and Alejandro
Where: The lakeshore
When: Dusk

The sky was darkening as the day moved on towards evening and Melia, just back from a meal in the middle of the lake, was swimming out near the shore, just before it started to get shallow. Backlit by the setting sun, she wasn't worried that anyone would see her; it was too bright behind her and she knew she'd be just a silhouette from shore. All the same, she was careful to keep her tail beneath the surface of the water. She wasn't really sure what she was going to do now - she was fed, so she could probably go see Caleb or just wander the town. Maybe go back to one of the human bars in the town and see if she could find some unsuspecting human to become dessert. And breakfast, and if she didn't eat too much, maybe lunch. Gliding through the sparkling water, Melia stared at the sky and pondered her options.

After getting off work, swinging by home to grab a quite bite to eat and make sure Jezebelle was still alive and well, Alejandro made his now-nightly trip down to the lake shore. It wasn't quite dark yet, so he actually was paying attention to the lake in the hopes of spotting a tail too large to belong to a fish briefly flicking above the surface, or a familiar head of dark hair poking up out of the water. The fact that the sun was setting and turning the lake's ripples and waves gold wasn't helping: it completely escaped his notice, at that moment, how pretty the effect was. All that really mattered was how hard it made making out who anyone who might be in the lake was.

Including that silhouette out there, which could just as well have some stupid high school kid as Melia. It might even have been more likely.

Who: Alejandro and Jovie
Where: Babylon
When: Late afternoon

Alejandro's shift was almost over-- and thank god for that. It was just starting to pick up at the bar, which was actually reason to want to stick around to get better tips, except the idea of being around a crowd of people when everyone was being as ridiculously talkative as the few customers that morning had been-- and as they had been the previous day, and like Peyton, and Anton-- was overwhelming. What had been funny or even useful with a couple people became a huge pain with a lot of people. Especially when they realized they were talking a mile a minute about whatever was running through their fucking heads.

And it was definitely him. He didn't know why or how, but his best guess was someone had put a spell on him as a joke. It started when he got within a few feet of someone-- he'd experimented, actually, with the exact distance. If he pressed himself back against the shelves behind the bar, it stopped, but he couldn't work like that. So he put up with it, and watched the clock until he got to leave.

When a new customer came in, though, he had to plaster on a smile and play nice.

Half an hour to go....

Who: Peyton and Alejandro
Where: Lakeshore
When: Night

It had made sense to go home and hide in her room for awhile. She'd tried to take a nap, given the lack of sleep from the night before, but her mind was too full to relax and she'd only ended up tossing and turning in her bed before getting up. Tyler had wanted to take her to the carnival with he and Jason and some others but the desire to pretend to have some fun was simply not there. Not with what Thom and Isaac had told her. It didn't feel right to be out, letting other people cheer her up when she couldn't even do it for other people. She'd begun to call Isaac, but had decided against it and hung up the minute the phone had begun to ring. Instead, she'd gotten dressed, left her phone at home and left the house well after sunset, leaving a note for her dad in case he got home early from the hospital. She walked to the lake shore, unaware that she was reverting to a younger age when she would get tired of hearing her parents scream at each other and flee the house toward the shore to block everything else out.

Who: Alejandro and Open!
Where: The lakeshore
When: Midday

After having slept through Jezebelle's heading off to school this time-- thank god; it was way too early to be up without a reason-- and before having to head off to work for the afternoon and evening, Alejandro decided he'd make another attempt at hunting down Melia. One of these days, he'd get her a cell phone, or something. That... worked underwater. Hell, there had to be some way to track down mermaids, right? Somehow. He'd think of something.

Until then, he just walked along the water, hoping idly to run into her and not someone else, or not run into anyone at all. It wasn't raining anymore, but the clouds still hadn't cleared and the wind was making the lake pretty wild-looking. It was, he thought, a pretty nice day.

It'd be even better, though, if that stupid toy block hadn't wound up in his pocket on his way out the door. Alejandro still wasn't sure why he'd picked the damn thing, paid money for it, and then brought it home and mostly ignored it except, occasionally, to toss it boredly around like a Nerf ball, or something. But now it felt like it was burning a hole in his jacket pocket, especially when he kept his hands in them to keep them out of the wind and his fingers kept bumping into or curling around it on accident. That thing sure better be worth the embarrassment of buying it and then carrying it around, whatever it did.

((OOC note: Alex here has the psychic block on his person, which means anyone nearby, maybe within a five-foot radius, has to start speaking their thoughts aloud instead of in their head. No internal monologue for you! =D ))

Who: Alejandro and Jocelyn
Where: Babylon
When: Early afternoon

The second day back behind a bar again wasn't quite as shiny and exciting as the first, but Alejandro was okay with that. It was work, it was bringing in money, and it was safe, and he was perfectly happy with that for a while. He didn't have a lot of customers, so early in the day, but that meant he could get to know the bar a little better, make sure he had everything's place memorized.

Right then, though, he was just leaning absently on the bartop, wondering when he ought to go back to visit Melia, trying not to think about that stupid toy block he'd bought that morning-- and subsequently and pointedly left at home before work-- and waiting for someone to call for another drink.

Who: Alejandro and Charlie (NPC)
Where: A Stitch In Time
When: Mid-morning

When Alejandro went out that morning, he wasn't entirely sure what he was after. He was part wandering, part window-shopping, and part actually on the look out for something strange. He knew about Nevermore being odd, what with an actual witch saying it was genuine, and there was certainly Babylon, where, after one night on the job, he was pretty sure he knew exactly what Eris's "interesting clientelle" meant. So he wanted to know what else Marquette might have that he'd overlooked before.

And if he could find something useful in the process, he wasn't going to complain. He was working at a bar full of supernaturals in a town full of supernaturals, he had a mermaid he kept running into-- or making plans with; whatever-- and he was Fallen-- fucking Mourning Star-- so he could use whatever he could get.

Who: Alejandro and Jace
Where: Babylon
When: Early evening

It was Alejandro's first day on the job, officially, and he felt, for the first time since Seaside, like he was finally in his element again. This was something he knew, something he felt comfortable with. He'd been asked for such a bewildering variety of drinks, though: some people actually came in and asked for blood. Which they actually served, he'd learned before officially signing the paperwork, though it still bemused him a little to be asked. It had only been a couple hours, but he was getting the idea of what exactly Eris had meant by "interesting" clientelle.

It wasn't exactly busy, given how much it had poured all day and how many people fully expected it to start up again any minute, but there was enough to keep Alejandro occupied. He flirted with the women, acted chummy with the men, made whatever was asked of him and then some, collected tips, and basically was glad to feel like things were familiar again, even though they still weren't right.

Who: Alex and Melia
When: Night!
Where: Lake, bar, lake. In that order.

The day she'd told Alex she'd go drinking with him had come and Melia had taken extra care to blend in with humans for that evening. The human books with the pictures of the females on the cover (with stupid names like 'Vogue' and 'Allure' and 'Cosmopolitan') had elaborate human rituals for going out at night, most of which Melia thought were ridiculous. But all the same, she was making an effort to blend in like she'd promised Caleb, so she had to at least try. She'd stolen a drunken college boy's wallet and used the cash to buy tiny bottles of 'shampoo' and 'conditioner' to clean her hair, washing in the lake. The suds were strange but soft and the citrus-y scent, though odd to keep smelling as her hair dried, wasn't that unpleasant. Her hair was indeed much softer and shinier, drying in large soft curls, and Melia decided she might do this more often.

Who: Alejandro and Jezebelle
Where: Alejandro's place
When: Before school

Alejandro hadn't exactly waited up for Jezebelle. Not really. She was her own person, and allowed to be out until all hours of the night if she wanted to. Hell, she was a fae, even if she was just a little girl. She wasn't exactly helpless. But she was still a little girl, and living under his roof, and whether or not he actually, consciously waited up for her, he didn't actually fall asleep until he heard the door click open and click shut again, as quietly as someone could open and close a locked door in the middle of the night.

The next morning, he made sure he was up before she had to be up and getting ready for school. He actually made breakfast, too, since he had to do something with the time.

Who: Alejandro and Eris
Where: Babylon
When: Late afternoon, around 4

Though it wasn't on his list, when Alejandro found the bar named Babylon after being turned away again at the place near the angel-decorated diner, he wasn't about to turn down a new opportunity. He didn't think he'd been in this one, but if he had, he'd forgotten it afterwards. He certainly hadn't remembered any bars being on this particular street.

Inside he went, through a coatroom and to the main floor of the bar. Given it was still afternoon on a Sunday, it wasn't exactly crowded. It was old-fashioned, inside, with gas lamps and everything. Huh. Interesting place. Examining the decor wasn't his goal, though, and he'd be perfectly happy to work anywhere as long as it paid enough to cover his bills. Anywhere except angel-decorated little diners, anyway. Old-fashioned, he could handle.

So he headed right up to the bar to ask the current person behind it, "Hey, I was wondering if you're hiring?"