alternativewriting | (no subject)

Entry tags:

alec,
meyer

(no subject)

It was quiet. The bar wasn't quite yet open. It had another hour or so. So, Alec was setting up the bar for when it did open, making sure the stock that was there actually had something in the bottles, there were clean glasses... sweeping. Things like that. The black eye really turned out nicely. Black make up couldn't have done any better.

The rest of him was feeling only a little bit better than the eye looked, which was not much at all.

This is possibly why he jumps when the door opens.

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Alec really isn't an Irish name. Alexander perhaps, but he's not calling himself Alexander and for all Meyer knows that's his given name.

"Yes." This he admits to readily. Alec's accent is very clearly Bostonian and that's not something he can hide. He's trying to learn the accent around here, but it's really different than how he's used to speaking. "Originally."

He grabs the broom and starts sweeping up the other side of the bar.

"Interesting place to end up."

For a native Bostonian, at least. He can't see that the swamp would hold much appeal. Then again, maybe that's just him projecting. Florida isn't his favorite place, to put it mildly -- of course, he hadn't liked Boston a whole lot when he'd visited, either.

"I was getting sick of the snow. This seemed to be as far away from the snow as possible. Within my means to reach."

Because there's certainly not snow out in the West, it's just harder to get to. It's also an easy standard lie to give. Almost believable.

"Fair enough. You'll just have to deal with the heat, instead."

Not that it doesn't get hot in Boston, just as it does in New York, but Florida seems to have its own special kind of heat. He sees no reason not to believe Alec's answer, either. While working for Sally isn't necessarily a glamorous job, he's never seen this guy before in his life, so has no preconceived notions about him.

"It has been rather sticky, but at least I don't have to worry about frostbite."

Boston can get rather humid too, so that's not so bad.

"The random rainstorms have been more bothersome than anything."

"I can't say I care for it here much."

That might be a product of the kind of business he has to do here, too. That makes any place less palatable. He looks towards the door again, as though expecting Sally to walk through at any moment.

"Not much for the humidity? Where are you from, if I may ask?"

Alec notices the look and wishes he could do something about that.

"New York, which has its own kind of humidity, but nothing like this. Not to mention considerably less alligators."

The only alligators he's actually seen here have been the ones he'd seen fighting, the first night he'd been in Florida, but he has the distinct sense that more are lurking somewhere.

"I've heard stories about alligators in the sewers up there."

Alec's seen a few of them in the swamps at a distance and the ones fighting. He'd rather keep away from them.

"As far as I know, the alligators in the sewer stories are just that: stories. Here, on the other hand, I could easily believe they have alligators in the sewers. And just about anywhere else."

At least he can get a decent cup of coffee and a decent drink, but you wouldn't catch him living here. Not in a million years.

(At this, his writer teehees knowingly, because irony)

"I could too. However I try not to think about that." Alec's room is not on the first floor for such reasons.

Decent coffee is highly important. Alec doesn't know what he'd do without decent coffee.

"Well, I highly doubt they're going to come inside."

At least, he hopes not. When alligators learn to open doors, the world is doomed.

"Unless someone was stupid enough to leave the door open."

And there's always someone stupid enough to leave the door open.

"Wonderful. Another thing to worry about."

As if potentially getting murdered by Sally isn't enough to worry about, now he has to worry about her alligators too.

"Sorry? I've not seen it happen yet?"

"I'm sure you've seen other bizarre things happen, though."

Yes, he is prying a little for information about what goes on around here, but politely.

"I don't know about bizarre but a lot of people here certainly don't know the concept of hygiene," Alec says.

It seems like an okay thing to say around Meyer who, like Alec, seems to understand this concept.

"That certainly does seem to be the case. Are those people as combative as their poor hygiene suggests?"

Apparently poor hygiene seems equivalent to liable to pick fights, in his experience.

Absently, Alec touches his black eye. "Yes. Unfortunately. It also seems to indicate their intelligence."

Is he sounding like a highborn snot right now? Yup.

Wow, yes, he absolutely is sounding like a highborn snot, but Meyer keeps any trace of judgement for it carefully out of his expression.

"I see. And you, apparently, had a not particularly positive run-in with one of them."

Sally's been trying to get him to stop that. It's being slow to take.

"Several of them," he admits. "I was just able to run faster than they could."

"Being able to run quickly is a vitally important skill. I'm sure it's proved useful for plenty of guys like you."

Rich kids. Snobby kids. Boston kids. Whatever.

Alec narrows his eyes briefly, trying to decided if Meyer's making fun of him or not. Probably. He clutches the broom tightly for a moment.

"It's a useful skill in general," he says carefully, wondering when Sally was getting back.

"I don't disagree."

His tone, at least, isn't mocking.

"I've found it to be very useful myself, many times. Although one might be rather hard-pressed to run away quickly enough from your boss if she were to get her shotgun out."

That's good. Not that Alec could do about it. He doesn't think Sally would appreciate him attacking this guy, especially if they have business. Also, he knows he'd come up on the losing end.

Sigh.

"Thankfully, I haven't seen that happen yet."