14564/Sweet Christmas, it's a bloody hayseed

Sweet Christmas, it's a bloody hayseed
Date of Scene:	11 October 2022
Location:	Joe's Bar, Kingsbridge, The Bronx
Synopsis:	Two bar owners walk into someone else's bar, and a fight breaks out.
Cast of Characters:	Spike, Cannonball, Luke Cage

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Spike has posed:
Screeches carried over the live band, whose routine abruptly came to a halt at the thud of the table that had been knocked over onto its side, held up by the rim and the plus sign shaped base. The contents of that table, a few glasses, a plate of onion rings, and a phone hit the floor, some crashing, others scratching.
    A large man with long flowing brown hair stood up, looking down at a wiry fellow, who was now on the flat of his back, "I'm only going to say this once," his voice was vaguely European, perhaps Croatian, "where is the girl?"
    The other customers were as surprised as the staff, with the bartender ducking down behind the bar, and hurriedly sending a text message. A waitress stood there, serving tray in hand, two drinks at the ready, uncertain of how to proceed.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie has just walked into the place, and looking over as he sees someone starting a ruckus he will step to the side of the door, towards, the bar, but keeps an eye on the man and his table, as he makes his way to the bar. He waits to see if there is going to be issues and if it will be handled by security.

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke Cage doesn't take many nights off from tending bar at his own place. Tonight happens to be one of those few nights away. He'd come to catch the band. He'd found a table early, back in a corner where he could be out of the way. Just a big black guy in yellow tee and black denim with leather boots.

The Bar Owner-slash-Bouncer in him tensed at the table being flipped and the aggressive threat from the large man. It took him a half second to remember this wasn't his place and he wasn't working the bouncer. Instead he sighs quietly and slowly reaches for his drink. If the show was going to be interrupted he is at least going to drink and watch the side show.

Spike has posed:
Spike was currently sat at the bar, drink in hand. He didn't seem phased in the slightest, the only adjustment he made was to make sure he had a better grip on his beer. He held it slightly lower in his fingers, which had the effect of moistening them, as he rubbed the glass between them and his palm. He raised it to take another swig. He caught sight of Sam approaching the bar, and helpfully suggested to the cowering bartender, "mate, after you clean yourself up, you got a thirsty punter here," and tilted his head in the direction of the man from Kentucky.
    The bar did have some security, though neither were as big as the guy with the long brown hair. They were seasoned though, one of them even worked for Luke in the past. Approaching the two with caution, since you never did know if someone would have a gun or a knife, and it was always best to resolve these situations peacefully if possible, one took the lead, speaking, "okay, I don't know what your issue is, but this isn't the place for it."
    Assuming no one intervened, they would try to resolve it by taking the big one through the front, and the guy who was on the floor, but has since gotten up, through the back.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie will nod his head to Spike and the bartender. "Beer." He asks for from the man, expecting a draft since he did not specify, He does watch the happenings out of the corner of his eye. "Be nice till it is time not to be nice." He says the movie mantra for a bouncer. He pays attention to see how it goes but also how well the guys handle it.

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke Cage watches as the bouncers disarm the situation in their own way. The one he knows is offered a lift of his beer in salute. Well handled as always. Then the drink is gone. As the band seems to be reorganzing to continue their set, his glance around the room spots Sam. Not exactly someone he knows well but he's been in Luke's bar before.

Standing, Luke decides to relocate to the bar himself, positioning much closer to the source when it comes to new drinks.
Heliding onto a stool not far from the others he nods. "Evening." A glance as the bouncers separate and escort the two parties outside in different directions, "Not a bad outcome."

Spike has posed:
The bartender rose to his feet, silently mouthing, 'it's my first week', but not actually giving voice to those words, not even a whisper. He looked over to the bouncers, thankful that they seemed to be handling it, and began pouring a draft beer, not even really caring which one he poured right now. The man's hand shook a little as he poured. With the men seemingly ready to take whatever issues they have elsewhere, likely because neither one wanted to be arrested. The wait staff went back to serving customers, cleaning up the table, and the band started back up.
    Life in the bar appeared to be returning to normal. In a few moments, it would be as if it never happened. And then Spike was in the presence of a giant. Deciding that this bar hadn't seen enough fighting for the night, he asked, "if you're here, who's looking after the Blue Ox?" Yes, he just compared Luke Cage to Paul Bunyan, and if those aren't fighting words, what are?

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over and nods his head to Luke. "Yea, not bad, will have to keep him in mind, in case he comes by Evolution. Doesn't seem quite our normal cliental but it is good to know if someone has a penchant towards causing trouble. He gets his beer, and thanks the man "It will be ok, your in one of the safer spots in the bar if a fight breaks out unless it is actually at the bar." He tells the bartender.

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke Cage can't help but smile at the bartender. "Don't worry. Tonight of all nights, you're probably in the safest bar in the city." He doesn't elaborate as to why that might be, but Sam's coment and his own presence may have something to do with it.

Looking to Spike he just shrugs easily, "Not sure. My place is called Luke's and it's in good hands while I'm here." He lifts his chin toward the bar tender, "Can I get another pint. Whatever's on tap is fine." Looking back to Spike thoughfully, he shakes his head and turns to watch as the band starts back up.

Spike has posed:
Spike shook his head, mimicking Luke's movements, and allowed his lips to curl into a wry smile. Luke didn't take the bait. Meanwhile the bartender poured a pint for Luke, same as he had just done for Sam a few moments ago. His nerves were calmer, between the bouncers handling things, the wait staff dealing with the mess, and three seemingly tough, but good, people at the bar. Sam and Luke's words of kindness also went a long way.
    He set out a bowl of pretzels for them, one between Luke and Spike, and the other between Spike and Sam. Taking one from the bowl shared with Sam, Spike asked, "you two know each other?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over and says "Have ran into one another before." to answer Spike, and to Luke he says "Yea, our guys at Club Evolution were trained by Guido, don't know if you have ever met him, but he has been doing bouncing and security all over the place for a while. "You may have met him, yea tall" He holds his hand about 7 foot tall area "Mostly bald, little tuff of white hair." He describes the bouncer/body guard

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke Cage has had worse things aimed his direction to try and get his dander up, intentionally or otherwise. As his pint is delivered he nods to the tender "Thank you." He sips from it briefly, watching the band as a question is asked of he and Sam.

Looking over he nods, "Something like that. City isn't as large as it seems, sometimes." Other times it feels like an entire universe crammed into such a small space over all.

Spike has posed:
Spike says incredulously at the 7 foot tall gesture, "forget about Babe, he's Paul, you're Andre," as he just downgraded Luke Cage from Paul Bunyan down to Andre the Giant. "Be careful around men in black," he said, continuing the reference, while also hinting that he should be careful around Spike, who wore a black shirt, black coat, black jeans, black belt, black shoes, and black socks. Though that was more common than you'd think. There were no less than 3 other people wearing all black in that very bar.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie isn't wearing all black, he is wearing a concert Tee, and jeans. He smirks a bit and says "Sometimes it seems it, but then when some of that universe comes down here, it sure does seem small, but then New York felt huge when Ah first got here, guess it is just things seem huge untill you find bigger."

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke Cage looks oddly at Spike. ".. right." He sips at his pint again, turning his attention to the band again as they finish a song. They were doing well with the crowd considering the interruption not so long ago.

To Sam he nods. "I can see that. It's all I've known. No where else I'd rather live." He absently grabs a few pretzels for himself, munching on them.

Spike has posed:
"Spent a lot of time in Tokyo, have you?" Spike asked the Kentuckian, since it was the only place he knew of that was bigger than the Bludhaven-Gotham-Metropolis-New York-whatever else was part of this continuous urban area. Spike generally avoided Asia. He was too conspicuous. He could blend in Europe and North America, though Drusilla had dragged him down to South America once or twice. "I've been to Little Tokyo. Surprising good pizza. Ninja Pizza, home of the nice slice."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over, and says "A wee bit of travel here and there, but Ah am from a little town up in the mountains of Kentucky so pretty much any place was going to found huge compared to that ." He admitd.

Luke Cage has posed:
Luke Cage turns back to watch the band when his phone vibrates. Checking the message he reaches for his beer, finishing it off. He turns to flag the bar tender to cash out his tab. "Looks like I'm needed back at my place." Paying, he stands, nodding to Spike an Sam. "Hope you enjoy the rest of the show."

Spike has posed:
Spike thought Sam might have been from Kentucky. He was good with placing accents, but when it was confirmed, he nodded, "I'll bet," taking a few more pretzels to munch on. After swallowing, he would ask, "say, you know that story of the blue people of Kentucky? Is that an old wives tale, or is there anything to it?" He hadn't caught Luke's name, nor given his own, and so he bids, "adieu, Andre. Watch out for the man in black, he's already bested the Spaniard." Hopefully Cage has seen the Princess Bride, or read the book.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie says, "Ah aint never met any of them, but Ah heard it is true, from what they eat and absorbed into their system. Only odd color folks we had were coal dust covered, white , brown , black they pretty much all look the same under that much dust and dirt."

Spike has posed:
Polishing off his beer, Spike ordered another one. The bartender didn't even flinch this time. Joe's had returned to homeostasis, same, steady, and safe. "Good money in that, these days, from what I hear. Not so good for the lungs." Which was not an issue for Spike. Turning, he heard the band start to sing a song he wasn't familiar with. It was from Encanto, a newer Disney film. Something about open your eyes.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie nods, and says "Not a fun thing to do trust me." He says as he may have not done it long but he did work in the mines for a while "So, what about you, sounds british, Ah think Cockney? Ah have a few friends from that area of the world, but not with quite the same accent as you do."

Spike has posed:
It was not Spike's native accent. It was one he had chosen to adopt. He came from money. He had a posh, upper class, received pronunciation accent of the aristocracy. He grew up in a large home, went to university, and became a poet. With middling success on that last part. But he had the opportunity to do that. As a vampire, he chose to adopt the accent of the working class. And he's used it for so long that it's become a part of him. But he never lost that classical education. "You got my condolences mate." He replied without a moment's hesitation at Sam admitting he had cockney friends, "Hopefully they don't owe you too much."