[Open]

[pullmeapint]

Finn cleared the last of the dishes from the dinner rush and carted them into the kitchen for Tandy, laughing when she asked if he'd been demoted to busser.

That chore done, he headed back into the bar to do a walk around, checking with those in the game room and those at the tables and booths scattered around the bar area. He joked with a few of the regulars and greeted the faces he couldn't remember seeing before taking his position behind the bar again.

Leaning against the back counter, he surveyed his pub and couldn't help the smile that formed. For as much flak as he'd received from his family over his choosing such a small town when he finally struck out on his own, he really did love the town. The atmosphere was open, accepting, and the sheer fact that he could use his abilities without causing the National Enquirer to drop onto his head made it perfect.

He looked up when the door opened and called out a welcome to the newcomer.

"Welcome to the Pub."

Comments

[pullmeapint]

Finn put a hand over his heart and fluttered his eyelashes at her. "All this flattery, Keira. My poor, untried heart can't take it. And yet, still, as you said you have yet to mark me."

Mental images, check. Damn. "Though, just to set the record straight. No piercings, but I do have a few tattoos here and there."

[wastelandflower]

Rian takes a long drink and nods, understanding completely. "I'm one of five...or eight depending on who you count. We've got our share too." The last three being the siblings who'd survived childhood, but not the crime-riddled adult life they'd all known intimately.

[pullmeapint]

"You've got me beat by one then. My parents stopped after me; I guess Mom figured four was enough to set her in good standing. So how's the shop coming? You officially opened yet?"

[aoife_coombs]

"Oh, no, that wasn't a ploy to get out of paying. I have the money." Aoife checked if the bar's surface was clean before putting her soft pink leather wallet on it. "Honestly, it's more than I always have to remember to leave the house with phone and wallet."

[wastelandflower]

"And those are just the living ones," Rian says, flexing a little bit the same gallows humor that had preserved many a burdened soul in his neighborhood. Finn, he expects, would understand.

"Yesterday, flipped the sign around at last."

[pullmeapint]

"All right, then you can hand over the dollar and we're all square," Finn replied with an easy smile. "Do you forget the wallet and phone often?"

[pullmeapint]

"Then the pint's on the house today, in celebration of your new start," Finn said with a nod and a grin. Then he bent over and picked up the gurgling baby. "What do ye say, precious? Your da's going to make a success of it, isn't he, hmm?"

[aoife_coombs]

"Square." She smiles. "Alright. Yes, I do. I'm so used to people knowing me here, knowing my family and that I'd always come back to what I promised, that a wallet isn't just so very necessary."

And she simply not had enough friends to carry a phone for around.

[keirasullivan]

"That's true, but again there's the ruining and all." Keira replied, laughing loudly as he fluttered his eyelashes at her. Pushing his arm, she gestured down the bar to where someone needed his attention. Their play flirting could wait. "And you have to show me, unless they're someone private and then you still have to show me."

[pullmeapint]

"What's the fun in showing? It's much more fun when you find them instead," Finn quipped back. He headed to the other side of the bar to pour another two fingers to one of his regulars, using his powers to send a bowl of pretzels in front of Keira.

All the while, he ignored that his grandfather was now sitting next to her. Or, at least, he tried to. Especially when the man was keeping up a running commentary about him being mental for just flirting with the beautiful lass.

"So," he said when he was back after the transaction. "About that ruining...?" he grinned, then winced slightly when Grandda rolled his eyes.

[keirasullivan]

"That means waiting for swimsuit season, unless you're going to take me out the back and take me out the back." Keira replied, laughing as a bowl of pretzels skidded down the bar. Stopping them with one hand, she lifted a pretzel to her mouth and crunched one loudly. Glancing to the side, she looked around thoughtfully before shaking her head. "Show me one tattoo and I might ruin you at least five percent for other women."

[pullmeapint]

"Who said they'd all be visible when I'm in my swimsuit?" Finn teased, adding a wink. With his grandfather egging him on to show the one low on his hip, Finn pushed up the sleeve on his right arm to show her the family crest he'd had inked there on his 18th birthday. "Now then. About that five percent?"

He winked again, this time adding in an eyebrow waggle.

[keirasullivan]

"Cute, who said people round here where swimsuits in swimsuit season? You know Siren Cove has a large percentage of sirens after all." Keira replied, rolling her eyes as he winked at her. Pressing her lips together, she finished off the beer before leaning forward to see the family crest tattoo on his arm. "Come here then."

Keira curled her finger towards him and beckoned him to come closer.

[pullmeapint]

"Don't remind me. I mean, I'm all about equal treatment for those with a paranormal bent, but sirens freak me out just a little. I can make chairs in this place move around, I can talk to someone's dead relatives if they're still around, but I can't make people do what they normally wouldn't, you know?"

That said, Finn ignored Grandda's fist pumping as he leaned in closer. "Okay. I'm here."

[keirasullivan]

"Mmm, you just need to know the right kind of witch. Then all your fears will be alleviated," Keira replied. Her own bracelets, were warded against other outside forces. Not everything of course but a sirens compulsion was one of the thing she was protected from. "And it's not sirens you need to be worried about. I mean, just be glad there aren't any vines round here, I could tie you up and have my wicked way with you."

Keira leaned over the bar, pressing her hand against his cheek and leaning in like she was going to kiss him. At the last moment she turned and brushed a chaste kiss against his earlobe. "Ruined," Keira murmured into his ear with a wicked smile.

[wastelandflower]

"I should open a business every week!" Rian laughs, enjoying a precious few minutes with both of his hands free. Sophie gurgles happily and kicks her little feet as she's lifted. They've made a few friends so far, but Finn is the only one who comes with the occasional free pint.

"I'll do my damndest, won't I love?" he coos at his girl.

[pullmeapint]

"Utterly," Finn breathed as the warmth of her breath tingled against his skin. Yeah, this girl was going to do him in yet, one way or the other.

Then he pulled back and grinned wickedly. "So what you're saying is that I need to find a good witch to protect me, and hang some ivy plants all over the bar?'

[keirasullivan]

Keira raised her arms in victory, before pushing her empty beer across the table. She could always walk home or catch a cab if she was really desperate. Besides, she liked the beer here and the company. She'd have to bring Aoife, if Aoife wouldn't put down a handkerchief on one of the seats which was always a possibility.

"You don't need to hang ivy plants plural, just one will do. They grow like weeds, they grow even quicker with a little prompting from an Earth type witch." Keira replied, smile lingering on her lips as she sat back in her seat. "I might know a good witch, she might even do your warding for a price."

[pullmeapint]

Finn laughed at that and continued to tickle the baby in his arms. "Seems to me you're off to more than a good start at it. You still up for playing every now and then on Friday nights?"

[pullmeapint]

"What kind of price?" Finn asked as he pulled another pint for someone down the bar and slid it over. This whole witches thing wasn't exactly old hat to him any more than sirens were. His family had always just had abilities, little things no one else did. It was as much a part of him as his business sense, even his brown hair and thin frame. It just...was. Just happened. Wards and potions and spells? Those were the things of movies and books.

"So long as the Earth witch doesn't strangle me with the plants I ask her to help me grow, I think I can do that."

[wastelandflower]

Rian nods, grinning at the way Sophie's taken to Finn with such delight. Next time he's in Boston, he imagines she'll be adored by all her aunts and uncles in much the same way. "Yeah, shop closes around six for now. Might extend hours if I can find a sitter and the shop does well."

[keirasullivan]

"Maybe a beer, maybe a beer and some pretzels." Keira replied with a smile as if she were extorting him for hundreds or thousands not the cost of a beer. She did usually charge, somewhere a lot higher than the cost of the beer but that was just for people, Finn wasn't just anyone. "Oh, that's not what it's for. It's to keep your hands in place when I want to tease you, when you're begging for me..." Keira raised a suggestive eyebrow at him before finishing. "... to stop tickling you."

[pullmeapint]

"I'll keep an ear to the ground for anyone looking to teach a teenager about the joy of working for a living," Finn promised while he danced with the baby girl. "As for Friday nights, if you think she can handle the noise, you're welcome to bring her with you when you sing. I do a pretty good job of spoiling babies while their parents are otherwise occupied."

He wasn't the favorite uncle for nothing, after all.

[pullmeapint]

"I'm not too worried about it, to be honest," Finn smiled then extended his hand. "I"m Finn. It's nice to meet you."

[pullmeapint]

"You're a cruel, cruel woman, Keira," Finn told her, again clutching his heart as if she'd thrown a knife into it. He couldn't hold the mock injury for long, though. Within a minute, he was grinning and refilling her pretzels and pulling her a second pint. "So what else is going on? Anything interesting to entertain me on a dreary winter's day?"