Déjà vu (Open)

"Yes, Mary, that would be great," Again Landon handed over the wizarding money in exchange for another drink. He would take this one a little slower than the others. It was all well and good to get tipsy and feel the warmth of the alcohol running through his veins but it was quite another to let his mind become too slow to process his surroundings.

Right now his surroundings were getting interesting and he wanted to remember these names and faces he was learning. Gendan was an unusual name, but he seemed an unusual fellow so it suited him fine, in Landon's opinion. The blonde woman had yet to grace them with her name but he could only imagine it being something as graceful and formidable as she looked. He kept his good-natured smile poised on his lips as he waited to hear her answer to Mary.

With one hand Mary took the coins and deposited them in the Wizarding money till, with her other hand she grabbed a glass and got it filling with beer, her eyes shooting between the register, not letting the beer overflow, and surveying other customers not at the bar. Tim appeared to have fallen asleep on his half-eaten packet of crisps, she'd have to ring him a cab and wake him. She'd gotten rather good at performing a discreet nonverbal Waking Charm, it only lasted a few minutes but at that point Tim was the cabbie's problem. She handed Landon his beer with a smile.

Finally finishing his second irregularly, McBride leaned back in bias stool and continued watching Mary and the unnamed woman. He was enjoying tonight, despite the muggles the bar had an excellent atmosphere. He slid another pound onto the battle and gave Mary a nod, silently ordering another drink as it got louder.

"Gendan, if you want a proper Firewhiskey on the rocks in a glass, you need fifty pence, mate." Mary reminded him with a smile, turning to the blonde woman. "Pleasure to meet you, Maelena. Yeah, Cazz Valentine, a friend of mine, she founded this place." Mary explained, pushing her hair back out of her face. She debated grabbing the bandanna she had tucked into the waistband of her skirt earlier, but decided she could in a minute, once she gotten something for Gendan. And possibly called Tim a cab.

Gendan, noticing 'Maelena's' green eyes couldn't help but stare back as licked her lips. There had to be a bit of Irish blood in her or he was the queen of France. He called out to Mary "Make it a double then Mary, be gentle with the rocks," and watched her for a moment. Considering how busy the bar was though he let her do her job and started focusing back onto the blonde, all but forgetting Landon sitting nearby.

(Sorry mate  )

Mary nodded to Gendan, grabbing a glass and adding half the ice of his previous drink, and twice the firewhiskey.
"Two pounds fifty, back in a mo'." She set the drink in front of Gendan with a smile before grabbing the pub's phone and hitting one of the speed-dials.
"Hey, this is Mary, we're going to need a cab at Deja Vu when you can spare one... Yeah..." She glanced at Tim, asleep at the bar, his face on the open packet of crisps. "Yeah, he's out for now... I think so, just a mo." She fished his wallet out of his pocket. "Yeah, he's good for it... Alright, thank you." She hung up and slid a business card for AA into Tim's wallet. She knew it probably aggravated him, but if he wanted her to stop giving them to him he had to stop passing out drunk at her pub.

(I reread one of my earlier posts and noticed I typed 'battle' instead of 'bar'.. silly kindle autocorrect)

Gendan placed the money down for his double and waited for Mary to finish with her call. As she was busy on the phone, McBride couldn't help but let his eyes slide back to 'Maelena' and watch as she seemed to go deep in thought, her mood changing before his eyes. Although he was curious, he didn't ask about it because it was her business and he didn't know her, so he really didn't care.

Mary's eyes immediately darted to the sound of shattering glass. She grabbed a broom and dustpan-on-a-stick, tying her hair back with her bandana before sweeping the glass and throwing a rag over the spot.
"You alright, Maelena?" She asked, still smiling, but concerned. At first she thought the woman had just had a bit too much, but she was frowning and her hand shaking. Did she need medication or something? Was she taking medication that interacted with alcohol badly? Was she having a seizure?
She moved Gendan's money to the till, keeping an eye on Maelena.

((Yay, drama!))

"As long as you're sure. Let me know if you need anything." Mary dumped the glass shards in the rubbish bin and wiped up the spill with the rag. She quickly tossed the rag in the laundry hamper in the office and grabbed a clean one, sticking it in the waistband of her skirt.

A car honked outside and Mary hurried to peek out the door, holding up a finger for the cabbie to wait. She threw Tim's arm over her shoulder and grabbed her wand from her skirt pocket, performing a nonverbal waking charm on the drunk man.
"C'mon, Tim." She returned her wand to her pocket and heaved the man to his feet. "Cab's here, time to go home." She felt a headache starting, but wasn't sure if it was a Seer headache, or just from dealing with Tim.

Gendan was momentarily mesmerized by the red on Maelena's dress. It looked as though she had just enjoyed a raw meal and gave him the familiar desire to turn to his animagus form and hunt. He wanted nothing more than to enjoy a deer he caught himself in the wilderness. McBrides desires almost betrayed him, he could feel the change beginning to happen and had to snap back to reality and stop it before he transformed in front of all these people. Luckily everyone appeared to dazed or distracted to notice.

Landon  had been letting his mind wander over the bar for a while now. He felt his consciousness wash over various patrons he pegged for muggles, knowing that they would never feel the intrusion. It was more a matter of simple habit than anything. When he found himself bored of his current surroundings he would find new ones, new conversations and thoughts to peek into. Perhaps he had a problem; he knew it was impolite but it was just so easy sometimes. When you can get away with something, why not do it?

He was snapped back into his own consciousness by the sound of glass shattering nearby. His eyes refocused on the woman sitting at the bar who was now spotted with the spilled remnants of her drink. There was something in her eyes that did not look at place among the light atmosphere of the bar, something yearning to be set free. Landon, along with his other trainings at the Ministry, had learned to sharpen his gift of reading people. It went rather well, after-all, with his ability to read them from inside their own minds. He had seen this look before on people who had been needed for questionings and...well, other projects.

She covered herself well, though, and Landon was not about to delve too deep into her business. At least not yet.

“Maybe you just need a stronger drink to calm your nerves? Let me get your next one- something with a bit more kick?”

Tim rubbed his face and stumbled along with Mary out of the bar.
"D'I sleep thrr last call?" He slurred.
"That you did, Tim." Mary lied easily, able to loosen her hold on the man as he woke up and took his own weight. The cabbie held the back door of the car open as Mary helped Tim in. "Hey, Skottie." She sighed, smiling at the young man. "You remember his address?"
"As well as my own."
"Try to get some sleep before school tomorrow." She waved and returned to the bar.

"Maelena, the loo's just there if you want to try and save your dress." Mary pointed, before going to collect dirty glasses and get refills for the other bar patrons.

Mary frowned at such an obvious display of magic in front of muggles, but there wasn't much she could do. At least now she knew for certain Maelena was magical. She brought empty glasses back from a booth and set up a half dozen rum and cokes on a tray, bringing them to the booth and returning again, this time with a fistful of pound notes.
"By the way, Maelena, I could make a currency exchange for you, if you like." Mary glanced away from the cash register to smile at Maelena again. "Gendan, Landon, you need anything?" She smiled at them, finishing sorting out the notes and closing the till.

Wearing a long dark red sweater, going past her hands. It came to about mid thigh on her dark cop shades on and black leggings with an old pair of ripped up shoes as he feet lightly tapped on the concrete floors. Not over herd by the subtle music that played in the background. A yawn leaving her as she slowly moved to the bar ignoring most of everyone around her looking for Mary spotting her a soft smile appeared on her lip as she slowly lifting the plank to get behind the bar walking over quickly tackling Mary in a hug. Her warm sweater wrapping around her in a soft cuddly warmth.

"Mar Mar... hows work?"

Landons eyes caught the movement of wood at Maelena's side and watched as her dress became dry and clean once again. A small crease formed on his brow as he quickly turned his head to make sure no one else had noticed her actions; no muggles at least. No one seemed disturbed, luckily, but it was still a bold move on her part. Bold and inadvisable. If he had been more concerned with the overall rules of the wizarding world Landon could have tipped off the right member of the Ministry to keep an eye on this woman, as it was though he didn't see the need. The wizards who kept track of those rules left his business at the Ministry well enough alone and so he aimed to do the same to theirs. It did however clue Landon in on the fact that she was indeed a witch which was useful information.

“Just a glass of whatever Maelena here wants, thanks.” He answered Mary with a smile as she returned to the bar.  

Landon turned back to the blonde who was now poised comfortably in her chair. He considered a moment before pressing the conversation further. She seemed casual and composed, but Landon couldn't hold back the thought that there was something more going on behind her staring eyes. Whatever it was may be just as mundane as her appearance in the bar but still the thought of finding out thrilled Landon. Perhaps after a few more drinks her lips would be looser with their secrets.

“So what brought you out here tonight? Tough day at work?”

Gendan shook his head at Mary's offer of another drink, he still had half of his double in front of him. After a good number of drinks he was finally starting to feel the effect. A long missed feeling. But he couldn't relapse again, this wasn't Ireland where bar fights were common and applauded. Despite his now fuzzier perception, he did notice the sudden lack of red on Maelena's front. She was a witch. While this prospect only increased his interest in her, the lack of the blood color on her disappointed him. It seemed so fitting.

The newcomer, walking behind the bar, was nothing of interest to him other than the fact she had to be another witch. When the bar has two forms of currency, it doesn't make sense that a muggle would work here. McBride watched her try to get Mary's attention but refocused on Landon, finally finding his voice again. His buying Maelena a drink rubbed Gendan the wrong way. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe he just wanted a bar fight, but either way he didn't like the idea of it.

With a new idea, Gendan perked up and asked "Mary, looks like yeer replacements 'ere, want a drink on me or ye' gonna' run along fer tha night?"

"Oof! Hey Cazzie!" Mary cried, hugging the woman in the red jumper back tightly. She was delighted her friend had made an appearance.
"Gendan, I'll have a drink with you mate, but I think I'm going to stay on this side of the bar for a while longer." Her smile was bigger now, more natural, not that her smile before had been particularly forced. She'd get 2 of whatever Maelena wanted, and perhaps 2 of whatever Gendan wanted, that was what he'd meant, right?

Cazz smiled hugging her tightly back as she shook her head gently running fingers threw her hair softly. "The other girl called in... so I'm gonna cover for you go have a drink with the guy eh eh" She gently nudged Mary with her elbow wiggling her eyebrow as she smiled taking off her sunglasses and her long sweater wearing a blue tank top under as she smiled at Mary gently.

"Now what am I makin'?" Her voice seemed a little more warmhearted then the last time Mary had seen her back at her apartment she had been trying to get back to the hang of things or be normal. Which ever came first. She stuck her tongue out playfully at Mary as she looked at Gendan drink a few moments before looking up at Mary a hand on her hip.

Mary chuckled and grabbed the rag from her waistband, transferring it to Cazz's shoulder. She stuck her tongue out and pulled an eyelid down with her finger before exiting the bar and taking the seat next to Gendan.
"By the way, I already sent Tim home." She told Cazz.

The air tingled in the room. Gendan could feel that everyone was elated for one reason or another, but he only had one thought on his mind at that point, everything else became nothing more than a blur and white noise. He noticed Maelena move but thought nothing of it.

"I've been drinking whiskey all night but the lady gets to decide what we share." Gendan genuinely smiled as he quaffed the last of his drink. "Whatever she wants, I'll take too." McBride took out some more money, sadly nearing the end of his cash. He had only twenty notes in total.

Gendan was too distracted by all the attractive witches to think of the tingling in the room as anything other than a good feeling. Why shouldn't it be? He's been drinking a mans' drink, found a bar with great service, and he is finally getting back into the wizarding world.