milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Tara comes downstairs and goes over to the bar, sitting at one end.

"Could I get a cup of tea with milk and sugar please, sweetness?"

The tea arrives and she sips it, glancing around the bar. She kind of wants to talk to Isabel again, and is torn between wanting to talk to Warren and wanting to leave the poor boy alone.

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Beowulf sits on the floor between Van Helsing and the blond lady. He turns his head and looks up at her - because that's what he does - he looks at people. He does that doggy-sniffing thing too, but he's a sight hound, gotta see stuff first.

Van Helsing looks down at the dog, then nods at the blond lady, politely.

She smiles at him, and then at the dog.

"Hi. I'm Tara Maclay."

He tries very hard not to grumble when he replies - he probably swallowed a bit more alcohol last night than he intended. "Van Helsing." He motions toward the floor with his head. "That's Beowulf."

He orders coffee from the bar and drinks it black, which tastes bad, but it's clearing his head a little.

"He's a very impressive dog. Does he mind being petted?"

She looks sympathetic. "You look like you have a headache. Have you tried valerian capsules? They help me when I get headaches."

He smiles a little. "Mind? Only if you stop."

"Valerian capsules?" he asks witha bit of interest.

She looks at the bar. "Sweetness, can I get some valerian capsules, please?"

Turning back to Van Helsing, she explains, "valerian's a herb that helps with headaches, and it doesn't have the codeine and stuff that chemical painkillers do. Give it a try," offering the capsules to him and leaning down to pet Beowulf.

He narrows his eyes a bit to see the capsules as he asks, "Do they go well with coffee?" There is a hint of a smile in his voice.

"They're better with water, but coffee should be okay. One of my friends takes them with coffee, so I don't see why you shouldn't."

"Thank you."

He opts to ask the bar for a glass of water anyway, then takes the capsules.

"How long does it usually take to start working?"

"That depends on how quickly your body absorbs the valerian; they usually start helping me after about ten minutes, but if you've got a faster metabolism they'll work faster, I think. It depends on the individual, really."

She's still petting Beowulf.

"We'll see how it goes then."

He adds some milk and sugar to his coffee.

"You said your name was Tara, right? I'm sorry, I was half listening."

She smiles. "Tara, yes. And you were Van Helsing, right?"

And yes, she does recognise the name, but she met Snow White the other time she was here, she's not about to start questioning everyone with a familiar name.

"I am."

And he's too tired to notice that she might have given away that she recognizes his name.

"Let's see, usually following the standard introduction is - I'm from Rome, 1888. And I'm, currently, as far as I can tell, not deceased." He's trying to smile - but his head still hurts a bit.

"Sunnydale, America, 2002, and I'm dead." She frowns slightly. "Is the headache in your temples, or the back of your head? Do you want me to try and massage some of the tension out?"

"I'm sorry." He won't ask how she died - they have just met, after all.

He stretches his neck. "No. Thanks. It's mostly gone now. I think the valerian is working."

"I'm dealing with it. Thanks, though." She smiles. "Ah, good - I was worried, is all, you looked like it hurt quite a bit. Headaches are no fun."

"I've met a few others here who are not among the living in their own time."

He drains the coffee mug and gets another.

"Yeah, headaches are never fun." He glances to the dog. "I think Beowulf likes you." The Irish wolfhound is trying to lean against Tara's barstool w/o knocking it over.

"There are more of us around than I'd've thought, apparently. It's not bad, though, at least I still get to talk to people."

Tara looks down and giggles.

"He's very sweet. I like dogs, but we never had one this big."

"Thing that gets me is, most of the people I've met are from far far in my future. Not so many from the past."

He smiles.

"Yeah. He's almost as tall as my horse." Okay, so, not really, but pretty close.

Tara looks thoughtful. "Maybe the bar attracts more future-people than past-people, for some reason. It's an interesting thing, though, most of the people I met are from around my time."

She smiles at Beowulf and scratches behind his ears. "He's a lovely dog."

"Maybe," he says with a bit more grin than before.

"He's very well-trained too." The smile grows, he might actually be showing teeth now.

"Considering he's not leaping all over me, I'd say he's very well-trained."

She drinks some more tea. "I wonder what brings people here, anyway. I mean, I think I've got a purpose, but some of the people I've talked to say that it's random, and this place is just like any other bar to them, but a bit... odd."

"I'm not the person to ask. Especially since it seems I must be in near mortal peril to arrive here."

She makes a face.

"Oh, that sucks. I've done the whole mortal peril thing myself, it's not nearly as glamourous as people make it out to be."

He smirks. "Yes. I know."

"So, what did you do before you came here?"