ArchivedLogs:Bad Taste Isn't a Crime

Bad Taste Isn't a Crime
Dramatis Personae Eric, Liv, Marinov
In Absentia	2017-03-05 Eric, Liv, and Marinov meet at a bar. Officer Kelly attends, unconsciously.
Location <NYC> Q-Tip - East Harlem
This is the kind of place you go to when you want a dive bar but don't want to wait for compete for use of the sole pool table covered with suspicious stains that always leans toward one corner pocket. Q-Tip may not be fancy, but its tables are solid and the drinks are decent. The bartenders are polite but taciturn, the regulars are diverse but largely blue collar men with a sprinkling of hipsters, and the neon-lit jukebox always seems to be playing classic rock. The Winter Term is now over, and the between term break is starting up. As an act of celebration for not having any more exams to write, Marinov has decided to recruit someone to come and have an adventure with them. It's getting into the evening, and Marinov is wearing a pair of tight faux leather pants, a grey band t-shirt for an indie band named 'The Unfortunates' and a camo patterned jacket, hair tucked back into a black beanie. Excitedly and quietly, they say to their companion, "Yeah, lets play pool, like they do in the old shows and shit! So fucking sweet." Currently, there are a few people who are just clearing away from the table, freeing it up for the young rebels. Liv follows a few steps behind Marinov, side-stepping just enough to grab cue. She herself wears a green dress, same shade as her hair, though simple is perhaps just a bit too short and too low cut and too form-fitting someone her age should be wearing. The kind someone wears when they want to look older than they are. Her hair is pinned up and make-up done skillyfully but also trying too hard. She turns and nods to Marinov, letting them go first. "God it's been ages since I've played," she muses, leaning against the edge of the table and watching them. The front door to Q-Tip opens and shuts, letting a brief gust of cold air and a two men in from the cold. One of them is staggering, held up mostly by the arm around his chest. "Jesus, Kelly, can't even make it to midnight anymore," Eric says, laughing, as he helps the other man over to a stool at the bar. "You better sign up for AARP, 'cause it's about time for you to start thinkin' about gettin' the senior discount, old man." The other officer's reply, while not entirely intelligible, seems to be objecting to this in no small terms. "Yeah, yeah," Eric waves over towards the bartender, seemingly sober as a judge. "A round of Guinness, for me and the new dad." He thumbs his finger at the other man, then settles back into a stool himself. Officer Kelly puts his head down on the bartop with a thump. Marinov looks over towards the bar a moment with a contemplative expression and they look back towards Liv, "Ages since you've played? Well, at least we won't be in classes. I've only played a couple of times!" They peer up towards the bar for a few moments and then remark, "We should get some beer. Maybe you'll be able to get someone to buy you a drink? Pretty sure there's no hope for me on that front, but I've got some money. I can set up the table, and you grab the drinks? Or I dunno. I didn't really think through a plan here, I guess." Liv winks and reaches in her purse, pulling out an ID. "I've got us covered," she says with a grin. The ID is a fake, claiming the seventeen year old Liv is really twenty-one. It's a decent fake: an inexperienced or a distracted bartender may not notice but someone with a careful eye may pick up on some inconsistencies. She makes her way over to the bar and finds an empty gap near Eric and his friend. "I'll have two Coors please," she says, setting her ID and the cash on the bar. Eric glances briefly over at his friend when the clunk of forehead against wood reaches his ears. He reaches out and takes the other man's pulse, then snorts. "I guess an extra Guinness for me." The officer pulls his own wallet out, thunking it down on the countertop and tugging out his credit card. With the wallet half open, the badge pinned to the right side is clearly visible, face up. "Can you open a tab?" Eric says to the bartender, sliding the card across the wooden surface and pocketing his wallet once more. "Hiya." Eric says, with a little nod to Liv, politely. "How's it goin'?" Marinov gives Liv a double thumbs up at the fake ID and they start setting up the pool table for the game to come. They get all the balls racked and then lift the rack up. A couple of the balls start rolling slowly out of position because of the tilt. "What the fuck..." They gently stop the fleeing balls. It might not be pretty, but it's set up at least. They glance up again towards Liv to see how she is doing. "Pretty good. How's your, uh, friend?" Liv asks, ticking her head to Officer Kelly taking a nap on the bar. This allows her a good view of Eric's badge. Her eyes momentarily go wide and her brain is temporarily overcome with panic. As subtly as she can, she recollects her ID off the bar and slips it back in her purse as she waits for her drinks, trying not to draw too much more attention to herself. "Tired, apparently." Eric says, with a wry smile. "I don't know what makes a man decide to have another kid in his 40s, but I'm guessing the only solution is a lot of booze." His smile splits into a grin, turning to nod at the bartender and accept the Guinness from the bartender. The other one is placed right next to Kelly's head -- for when he wakes up. "How about you? Here with..." He glances over at Marinov, and his head tilts to one side. His eyes flick back and forth between the two of them, eyebrows furrowing together. "I'm guessing that you're not just dressin' early for St. Patty's day, huh." It's not a question. Marinov starts back to the bar with a quick pace now that the table is set up, in case Liv might need more hands for drink carrying. Despite the quick pace, they mostly keep on the edge of the room to get there, not wanting to draw much attention to their unusual physique. Upon arrival at the bar, they pause upon Officer Kelly and comment, "Christ! This guy sure didn't pace himself." "Well, at least he looks comfortable," Liv says, smiling with relief once her beers arrive. She grabs them, glancing down at her dress briefly as Eric mentions it. "Just...dressing up," is all she can come up with for explanation. "Yeah, they're a friend," she says, turning to look for Marinov just in time to watch them approach her. She smiles again and passes her friend's drink over. Eric glances from the bottle of Coors to Marinov's face, back and forth a couple of times. "Mmm." Eric says, gently shouldering Kelly. "Yeah, the man's gettin' old. Can't handle his liquor anymore." He purses his lips together, suppressing a wide smile with little twitches at the corners of his lips. "Of course, we /were/ drinking Jagerbombs at the last bar, so, maybe I shouldn't be /too/ tough on him." Kelly gets a pat on his back, which eeks out a groan from the other man. "I met you before?" Eric asks Marinov, tilting his head to one side. "Ya look familiar, and... well, I'm pretty good with faces." "Yeah, my face is also like, you know. Sorta memorable. So even people who pass me on the street sometimes remember my face," says Marinov as they take the Coors from Liv. "I'm not so sure that I remember you. 'cause I'm not so great with faces." They take the Coors from Liv and take a drink. The teen shows their sharp teeth a moment, ears folded back for just a moment before popping back up. "I feel sorta rude, prosti, don't mean to imply you're forgettable. Just, I don't remember you. Maybe if you have a hint..." Liv slowly takes a sip of her drink as she watches the two sorta introduce themselves. "You know each other?" she asks, leaning back against the bar and glancing again towards the less-concious officer. "Jaegerbombs? Surprised he made it to the bar before passing out." She seems to relax a little as the conversation stays casual and she takes another sip from her bottle. Eric laughs, a warm bark of sound. "True, true. Ya ain't wrong; your face is certainly memorable. I gotta admit, I can't particularly place where, but it's as if you've got the kinda face I'm likely to mix up with someone else, eh?" The officer takes a long sip of his dark beer, glancing between the two teenagers. "Maybe at Evolve? I spend a lot'a time there when I'm not in the truck. In a chair, in the corner? I'm the one with the pretty face, badge, and handcuffs." He takes another sip of beer, then thumbs his hand back at the passed out man next to him. "Him too." "Oh," says Marinov, squinting at Eric while taking a long drink from the Coors, "Yeah, I'm at Evolve like a ton. You mighta- Hm. I mean, I was there when it got, you know, sorta firebombed the last time... Now that you mention it, yeah, I think I've seen you around. Not a lotta badges spend time there, you know?" Their eyes turn back towards Liv and they open their mouth as if to speak, then notice that someone has taken over the pool table. "Aw fuck! Maybe I shoulda been a better guard. I guess we'll have to wait for it to free up again..." "I've been to Evolve. The coffee shop part. It's nice. Haven't been back since the whole...firebombing thing." Liv takes another sip of her beer, glancing towards the pool table was it's claimed by another group. "Dammit, I really wanted to play, too," she says, frowning slightly. She glances back over to Eric again, eyes flitting him over curiously. "So you're a cop then?" Eric glances over at the pool table, between Marinov and Liv, and stands up. "Yeah, I am. On the Freak Squad. That's one a' my officers back there. Kelly. Excuse me," Eric says, brightly, leaning on the side of the pool table. "My friends and I were playing here. D'ya mind?" He gestures towards one of the other pool tables. "One of the others should free up soon." A pause. "Thanks." Eric turns towards Liv, continuing the conversation -- a little bit louder, for the benefit of the usurpers. "Yup, Enforce the laws, preserve the peace, n' all that jazz. I'm the sergeant that leads MID." "Freak Squad, yeah, makes sense why you'd be at Evolve," says Marinov, following towards the pool table. They scratch the back of their neck when the table is ceded again, tail curling up in interest. They re-rack the balls. "Spasibo." Their ears flick slightly and they comment, "Wow, sounds like you're a big deal no less. King of the weirdos. Or sergeant of the weirdos, I guess." "Freak Squad? So...you're a mutant? Obviously not a physical one," Liv says, follow Eric back over to their newly reclaimed pool table. She listens as Marinov begins handing out titles and grins. "Sergeant of the Weirdos? Yeah, we'll work on that." She reclaims her pool cue and takes a longer chug of her beer. "I've heard of you guys. The MID. You guys don't seem so bad." Eric laughs, shaking his head. "I think kings get paid a lot better than I do. Sure hope so, anyway." The police officer steps off to one side to lean against the wall, just outside of pool-cue range. "Yup. All a' us are mutants -- and ones who can pass, too. We all had regular police jobs before registration happened, and we got canned. Until the Mayor set up MID, that is. That lady has my vote for the rest'a time." He presses two fingers to his lips and raises them up into the air, lips twisting into a large smile as he does so. The cop glances over towards his comrade, still sleeping at the bar, and takes a gulp of his beer. "We do our best." "Heh, yeah, not exactly a lot of physical mutants on the police force," says Marinov to Liv. They place their beer on the nearest flat surface that they can get away with and then lean over to table to break. Balls go all over the place! Marinov's wide eyes can't help but to follow all the movement with great interest, even though nothing actually comes of it. "Not a lot of obvious mutants in any job, really." "That's got to be an interesting job. Not just a cop but a cop that deals with mutants. I'd bet the hate crimes alone fill your schedule," Liv says, positioning herself and leaning over the table to take an easy shot that's practically lined up for her. It only just barely makes it in. "Yeah. It sucks. Even hair color is a headache. I even can't imagine...you know," she says, glancing over to her furry friend. "Takes up a lot of it. Not as much as you might think -- just aren't enough mutants obvious enough n' safe enough around to be attackin'. But, it's still enough ta keep our schedules full. Fuller than I'd like," Eric adds, sipping at his beer consideringly. "Certainly is an interestin' job, though I gotta say, sometimes I miss just bein' a regular cop." The officer shrugs his shoulders. "Still, I can't exactly complain. It's good work. Hard work, but good work, ya know?" "I got boo'ed at during karaoke. You should arrest those fuckers on the grounds of bad taste," says Marinov, giving a thumbs down gesture before leaning forward slightly on their cue. They nod to Liv and remark, "Obvious mutant friend of mine got beat up by some people awhile back. Dunno if she reported it or anything. Like no offense or anything, but I sorta expect if I reported people giving me guff on the street that shit-all would come of it, even if it's legit assault. And I've been ticketed for little things before, like climbing a tree. So I feel like... what's even the point of that? Best to just say, well, fuck it." They take a long drink of the beer. "They booed you? Monsters," Liv says in a half-teasing manner. Her smile does fall as Marinov describes their friend's incident. "Yeah, it's crazy. Wait, climbing a tree? Geeze, that sucks. Hell, I've climbed trees around here." She pauses a moment, pondering her words before she continues. "Well, I mean, it sucks now. But stuff like the MID is trying to right things. And it might be going slowly but at least they're trying. And who knows, maybe in twenty years things won't be so shitty for mutants." "Sadly, bad taste isn't a crime. If it was, I don't think we'd be able ta' be build prisons fast enough to put everyone in." Eric shrugs, finishing his beer with a large swig and putting the glass down on the windowsill. "I hope so. But we're just cops. We don't make the laws, just enforce 'em -- whether we agree with 'em or not. I've arrested friends before, ticketed people just tryin' to help." Eric gestures with a hand in the air, a little tossing, dismissive motion. "Still. I hope ya're right." "Yeah, climbing a tree. Public display of my mutant powers, see? 'cause climbing a tree is cat powers. But at least I haven't been ticketed for, like, swaying my fucking tail or whatever, so I consider that a checkmark in the win category," says Marinov, nodding once, gesturing towards the table with their cue, "Still your shot. You get to shoot again when you sink one." Their slitted eyes turn towards Eric and they nod, "Seems like it'd suck to have to enforce unjust laws." "Well obviously you should have climbed it more human-like," Liv retorts. She leans over the table again and tries for another apparently easy shot, this one not even close to making the hole. "Then again, who's gonna argue if a cop lets someone off with a warning or slap on the wrist? And the MID and can arrest the human bigots as easily as the human cops. Probably the only ones who do actually." Eric glances between the two of them and gives them a smile - though it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah, we can. Don't get many cases that go to trial, though. Witnesses are hard ta' come by, for some reason." Eric straightens up, glancing over at his friend. "I better bring Keeley back home ta' his wife before she comes after /me/." He nods to each of the two teenagers in turn. "Was good meetin' ya. I'm sure I'll see ya around. Big Apple is a pretty small town." With a wink, Eric turns to head back to his friend back at the bar. "I don't know what it means to climb something humanlike!" says Marinov, throwing up their hands in exasperation, "Does that just mean doing a shitty job of it and falling on your butt?" They line up to take their own shot, sinking one of the solids. "Yeah, seeya, I'll probably seeya 'round Evolve some more. And actually recognize you properly now." They watch Eric go and then look back towards Liv and offer a helpless shrug, "Sorta seemed like it woulda been rude for me to say, 'Eff the police' to an officer. But based on my experiences, well. Eff the police." "Yeah, that sounds about right." Liv finishes her beer and sets it on the nearest flat surface. "See ya around Officer. Maybe next time we can actually play." She waits til Eric's out of earshot before looking back towards Marinov. "Yeah, might have been rude. But he seemed nice. It helped he wasn't arresting us."