Happy Hour

[lt_shea62truck]

It's not that Kenny has been avoiding Milliways. It's just that ever since he started on his quest to find inner peace and be one with the world and all that mumbo jumbo, he no longer sees the end of the universe as an escape.

(Except when it comes to Sunshine's baked goods. He'll always show up for those, no matter how far away.)

So it's with some surprise that he finds the door again, and chooses to step through. After all, a full, meaningful life is all about the choices you make, isn't it?

Lieutenant, bartending duties are yours tonight, says the note on the napkin.

Kenny shifts his stare from the napkin to the dark wood counter top.

"Do I have a choice?"

Not really. xoxo

Oh, well.

At least he's off-duty. So he settles in behind the bar with a newspaper and a bottle of beer.


TONIGHT'S SPECIALS

Fireman's Brew Beers
Blonde
Brunette
Redhead

Fireman's Brew Soda
Root Beer
Cream Soda
Black Cherry


[OOC: Internet is annoyingly spotty at the moment! But in any case, this post will be open all night and all weekend.]


tiny tag: Lt. Kenny "Lou" Shea

Comments

[not_his_pa]

The bruises on his face are colorful but fading as he comes up to the counter and sees Lou,

"Hey, its been a while. Could I get a Black Cherry soda?"

[lt_shea62truck]

He blinks at him, almost doing a double-take.

"William! Sure thing, but Christ, what happened to your face?"

He pulls an ice cold bottle from the refrigerator and sets it on the counter.

[not_his_pa]

"I got sick, thought I was someone else and got into a duel that I lost. How are you doin'?"

At this point, he's healing but it still sounds bad.

[lt_shea62truck]

Another couple of blinks.

"I'm-- fine, just fine. But let me try to follow this chain of events here. You got sick, and you thought you were someone else. Are you saying that this illness that you had, whatever it was, caused you to think you were someone else who could win a duel? And by duel, do you mean, like-- with swords?"

[not_his_pa]

"Yeah, D'Artagnan, one of the musketeers. Last time I had it, I thought I could control water,"

He really hates this particular strain of flu.

[lt_shea62truck]

"Musketeers..."

Okay. Okay, fair enough.

Still, though.

"Yes, well, that's-- yeah, that's a pretty strange illness to make you believe you're French. Who exactly did you think you were the last time?"

[not_his_pa]

"Someone named Percy Jackson, who's father is Poseidon. Some of his friends used to come here, that made it even odder. Cause I sort of look like him but I wasn't him,"

He takes a drink of his soda, which is tasty.

[lt_shea62truck]

And at that, he suddenly remembers why coming to Milliways is such a joy. Of course, by joy, he means a thoroughly confounding experience.

"Thinking you're the son of a Greek god still sounds a lot safer than someone who uses a sword for a living. Who kicked your ass in that duel?" He peers at William's bruises with more concern.

[not_his_pa]

"Someone else who thought he was someone else and had a sword. It ended up a pretty fair fight, we both looked bad by the end of it,"

Javert's confusing too since he also looks like Ben Wade.

[lt_shea62truck]

"He thought he was someone else, too? Holy shit, what the hell was going on around here?" he almost half-laughs, shaking his head.

"Well, as long as you got a few good licks in. I would imagine things might be pretty awkward if you come across each other again when you're both yourselves."

[not_his_pa]

"A flu. I knew him already, which made it weirder cause I have seen him around. We weren't friends before so it didn't wreck anythin',"

It just added another level of awkward.

[lt_shea62truck]

"Jeezus. Kind of a roundabout way to take out your aggression on each other, but it probably had to happen sooner or later."

No love lost, all the awkward gained.

"So, this thing was contagious? Wow, glad I wasn't around for it. I'm good with just being myself, thanks."

[not_his_pa]

"Yeah, I think it got a lot of people but you don't know you have it when you have it. You just think you're the other person,"

He doesn't think he would have fought Javert or Wade if it wasn't for the clue and having a weapon.

[lt_shea62truck]

"Hmm. Time to utilize the hand sanitizer in case there are any lingering germs around. I'm no hypochondriac, but I don't want anyone else in my head without my knowing it."

[not_his_pa]

"No, its pretty awful."

[lt_shea62truck]

"I can only imagine."

He wonders if Tommy caught it. Tommy never tells him things anymore.

"So, read any good books lately?"

[not_his_pa]

"I've started one about a detective that's pretty good."

[lt_shea62truck]

"Ah, can't go wrong with a good detective story. Me, I've kind of shifted from fiction to material that's a little more-- shall we say, spiritual. I'm learning about these Eastern philosophies and how they can really help get you through life. Or even just through a day, if you're having that kind of a day that feels like a lifetime. Now, I'm not one to foist anything on anybody, mostly because foisting isn't my thing, but-- well, first of all, have you heard of a children's book character called Winnie the Pooh?"

[not_his_pa]

He's not sure what to make of spiritual, that word can mean a lot,

"Oh, that sounds useful. No, I haven't."

[lt_shea62truck]

"You haven't? Oh. Well, basically Winnie the Pooh is a bear-- he's not even a real bear, he's a stuffed bear-- who lives in the woods with his other animal friends, and he's constantly on a quest for honey. I know that doesn't sound very spiritual or whatever, but there's an author who applied the ideas of Chinese Taoism to those simple children's stories, and the result is a philosophy that's actually pretty damn enlightening. The whole gist of it is that there are some things that you can't change, and you shouldn't spend your life struggling against them. But instead, you should put your effort into changing the things that you can."

He knows of William's fight for a better life for himself and his family and how it's hard to keep up hope in hard times, so maybe something like this could be useful. So he writes down on a napkin the title of the book, The Tao of Pooh, and slides it toward him.

"Look that up in the library some time if you'd like. I highly recommend it."

[not_his_pa]

"I will. Thank you. Its been helpin' you?"

The book seems like some of the stories people have created to deal with the War, but maybe it relies less on belief.

[lt_shea62truck]

"Yeah, it has, actually. After my wife divorced me, and after an ex-girlfriend who was just pretending to be in love with me stole my life savings, well, you could say I hit rock bottom. So it was all about finding a way to turn over a new leaf, a new start, a new way of looking at life. Even if it's just for the moment. Tomorrow it could all turn back to shit for all I know, but at least I tried."

He shrugs and smirks and takes a sip of his beer.

[not_his_pa]

"That's good, tryin' ain't easy but at least you're doin' somethin'. I'm sorry you've had such a run of bad luck."

[lt_shea62truck]

He coughs a short, wry chuckle before taking another swig.

"Yeah, if you want to call it bad luck. That's the kind of stuff that makes you believe the universe is conspiring against you, determined to turn your life into a big joke. But," he heaves a sigh, sounding more optimistic and looking brighter, "that's all in the past. You've got to learn how to let go and move on, and find something else to occupy your time. Easier said than done, but to me the hardest part is just knowing how to start."

Maybe he'll never completely let go and move on deep down inside, but if he can convince himself that this stage in his existence is good for him, then so be it.

[not_his_pa]

"Yeah, I can see how that makes sense, still sounds hard to do,"

Since there's always going to be something.

[lt_shea62truck]

"Well, you never know what you're capable of until you give it a shot. A lot of people are scared to fail, and that's understandable, 'cause nobody likes to fail. Not everything can be a roaring success. But if you go in with some amount of positiveness, who knows, you might surprise yourself."

[not_his_pa]

"I know but I worry more when its not just me that might get hurt by my mistakes."

[lt_shea62truck]

"Ah. Yeah, I know how that is. But you're young. You're allowed some mistakes, and hopefully you're lucky enough to be surrounded by people who'll understand. When you're 40 and making the same mistakes you made when you were 20, that's a bit of a different matter."

[not_his_pa]

"I think I am," And sometimes he doesn't want to be thought of as just young.