itsastretch | At Warriors

At Warriors

Ralph is in an unusually sober mood as he enters the bar. He's not sure if Ollie has told anyone else the reason behind the gathering, and it really doesn't matter. He just needs to get out of the house for a while. People are greeted with waves, small nods, or the occasional slight smile - though his heart is obviously not into the latter. "Thanks for coming guys, glad you could make it."

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Hey Ralph!

Whatcha havin?

"Hey Guy. Just a beer, then keep 'em coming. And break into the European stuff, ok?"

No prob stretchy. Guinness a good start?

"Yeah, Guiness for me. All around actually. Except Wally. I'm not sure he's old enough to drink beer, so he'll just have a Miller Light."

* In addition to the varriety of beer and booze available, Guy has thrown in a greek buffet supplimented by several pizzas.. free of charge.

The pool tables are free tonight as well.

Music is at the bartender's whim, although he's good with requests. *

All around it is!!

So, what's up Ralph? Why the long face.. well you know what I mean.

Ralph takes a deep breath, sitting down heavily. Its followed by a drink from his mug, and he finally manages to speak.
"Sue left me a dear John letter. She just can't handle the super hero life and the risks that come with it... and I can't exactly blame her. She's... seeing Ted, now that he's retired from the business, and doesn't have any powers or anything."

* Guy's jaw drops.*

"oh holy crap... man that's.. I'm realy sorry.

Look I gotta tell you, I recently saw Ted and he was all weird about something. He didn't want to talk about it, makin it sound like a secret mish or somepthin. He mentioned woman trouble and.. aw Ralph, I'm sorry.

I can't believe Ted... aw jeez."

* Guy awkwardly does the 'pat on the shoulder comforting thing'. *

"Look if you want you can totaly crash here. I've got a spare bedroom you can use. It just got remodeled.

...gawdamn.."

*There is a short change in bartenders when Guy has to step out to run an errand for Oracle.
Mike, a blue collar buddy of Guy's, is the temp bartender till he gets back.*

Ralph looks at Guy with genuine gratitude, then nods. "I might take you up on that... but later. There's too much going on to take more than a short beer break with the guys... I think Ra's al-Ghul is up to something... been going over current reports... Scarecrow was up to something, just too random... and some of the other things. Trying to tie them all together, but there's something big going on... I wish I could talk to the Scarecrow... not sure why... but I think he could clear a lot up."
He pauses, then sighs. "I've been kind of throwing myself into detective work as a distraction... and yes, Ted is doing important work. He's still a good guy... I know it. Just kind of blind sided me. And.. well... he's Ted. you can't hate Ted."

Dude. I'd be outa my mind. This is serriously f-ed up.
Ted's my friend too but...damn. I never figured Sue to be such a bi.. well ah you know.

Well my house is open if ya ever need buddy.

*Guy has managed to clean several glasses, serve drinks, change out food platters and sell cigars without loosing a beat in the conversation. All without the help of the ring.*

Ras freakin Al Ghul?? Wait a sec. Batman's super satilted got pinched and Ras is up to something??? Doesn't this sound familiar to you?

"Oh, I am about out of my mind, believe me. Just... kind of burying myself in work to try and not go insane. As for Ted... I'm upset. As long as I've known him and all... but he's still Ted. As for Sue... I don't have to like it, but I have to say I understand. The work we do is dangerous... she's died, and only came back due to a supervillain, of all things. That's a lot of pressure. So I'm just trying to kind of make my way through it, since I can't really be upset at them... at least while I'm sober."

He pauses, considering. "And yeah, it does sound kind of familiar. I just know Ra's has something really big going... big enough to fake his own death... again, disappear and abandon a hideout and a lot of people without a second thought, including the mystic stuff he had used on his grandson... seems out of character, unless all of that is comparitively small. So I'm trying to find likely henchmen, patsies and distractions... active of late, that points me towards the Scarecrow."

I can fix the sober part.

* A strong German beer gets put out in front of Ralph. *

Grandson? Ras has a grandson? Man, no one tells me nothin.

Hey, buddy.

Y'know, I thought Hal was crazy for suggesting Gardner's place, but this is a nice spread.

How are you holding up, Ralph?

"Like I told Gardner... I'm managing. Mostly by throwing myself into work. Maybe it all just hasn't hit me yet... but I'm coping as best I can. I'm glad you could make it though."

"Thanks Guy, you're alright. And yeah... Ibn... long story. That's what I was working with Nightstar on."

Hey, for an old pal, no sweat.

It really came out of the blue, huh?

*is clearly digging*

Ralph casts Ollie a more serious look, just for a moment, well hidden from any other viewers, before giving a sad nod.
"Yeah... I mean, there's been signs I suppose, given the stress of the hero life, but I didn't see it coming."
After the reply, he takes a drink from his beer mug, only the extremely observant might note he's using an old showman's trick - a big, obvious motion to pull the eye away from a quick bit of jotting on a napkin, quite able to write, at least a little, without looking.
The final note on a bar napkin, turned to Ollie absently, again, Ralph's eye never straying, says 'not here, play along'
The napkin shortly thereafter disappears forever after being used to blow the world-famous nose.

I know how that can come. *Ollie nods seriously* Dinah's caught me with that once or twice.

She'll come to her senses, buddy. She's just freaked out right now is all.

Ralph sighs, then nods. "Maybe you're right. I don't hold out a lot of hope on that. But then what happened was pretty drastic too... Right now I'm trying to just hold things together and still do my job. Too much at stake."

Well, don't worry about that tonight. Tonight we're going to kill the pain.

*checks Ralph's glass, signalling the barkeep*

Of everyone present, Ollie has spent the most time drinking with Ralph - though its been years since the drinking buddies of the JLA hung out quite like this. So its likely obvious to the archer, but probably no one else watching, that Ralph, while he drinks, doesn't drink nearly as much as he's capable of, and is slurring just a touch, and a little unsteady on his pegs well before he ought to be. Right along with the other hints he's dropped here and there. Tonight is all about appearances, selling a show that he knows *someone* is watching out there, and that means getting it past his friends too. If they believe it, it makes Sue and Ted's gamble more likely to succeed.
The one person here he can't fool, and he knows it, is the guy who's known him for ages. That's the other reason not to have Carter along - not only would Ted get a mace shoved somewhere uncomfortable if Carter bought the story, but Carter also knows Ralph enough to know when something's not right. So Ralph has to quietly make sure Ollie is in on the act, but without knowing enough to be dangerous, at least until they can talk somewhere he's sure is quiet.
This place, he's extremely sure, is being watched still.

"Thanks Ollie, knew I could count on you."

*nods at the bartender to fill Ralph up, even though he's not empty yet*

Keep 'em coming, barkeep.

Perfect. As long as his glass keeps getting refilled, it looks like Ralph is drinking a /lot/ more than he really is. He's going to owe Ollie after this one.
After a while, Ralph falls silent unless spoken to, just nursing his beer between refills, and playing the part of the heartbroken drunk.

*smiles weakly, giving Ralph a gentle pat ont he back* I'm just happy to be here.

It's been a while, Ralph.

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At Warriors

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