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longislandcharm · 5 months

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TIMING: Mid-late November LOCATION: The Wormhole PARTIES: @longislandcharm and @animotoph0bia SUMMARY: Winter just wants to enjoy her wings when a disturbance in the bar catches her attention. Finn apparently is just asking to be hit. Too bad the girl puts a wrench in those plans. CONTENT WARNINGS: Drinking, mentions of unsanitary at the end

Wednesday nights were by far the best nights to be out on Worm Row, that much Winter knew for sure. It mostly had to do with the dive bar down the street from her hotel with the smell of fresh chicken wings wafting from it, something that always made her hungry for a late night snack. She’d never actually gone to the Wormhole before but for some reason this was the night she couldn’t quite resist the slight rumble of her stomach as she was walking to the Elysium to settle in for the night. So, in the bar she went, the girl almost turning right around when she saw what the place actually looked like.

It wasn’t until she actually tasted the food that her regret and slight disgust started to fade into contentment. The wings along with the shitty vodka tonic on her table were enough to keep her in place at her spot at the bar, scrolling through her phone before some kind of commotion started to break out and Winter looked up to watch as a man started yelling throughout the bar about anyone who would go near him.

Eyebrows creasing with confusion, she started biting into one of the wings as her interest started to peak. Winter wasn’t one to cause many scenes herself but she sure did enjoy it when someone else was going off their rocker. It always made for a good show. Amusement filled her, the girl continuing to snack as if she were watching in a theater full of other amused patrons even while other people were grumbling around her. It was only when he got closer that she clucked her tongue before speaking to him. “Dude, you might want to chill. I think the bartender is ready to hit you with a bat or something.”

—-

The ‘incidents’ had become few and far between once Finn had finally finished high school. Not because he’d gotten better at controlling… well, anything, but purely because he’d learned that solitude was the best prevention. It was a (mostly) solid plan, only really sidetracked when his own thoughts were doing a good enough job of driving him insane. A Wednesday night at some dive bar should have been quiet to a point of the place being almost empty. A few drinks, surrounded by other people’s wallowing, before heading back home had been the plan.

Finn hadn’t meant to piss off the bartender but then again, he hadn’t been prepared to get filled to the brim with annoyance and anger. Self-pity and sadness was what had been expected in a bar on a weekday. So of course, his usual sarcasm had taken on a snippy tone, infected by the surrounding feelings of tension. And maybe a little bit by the fact that he’d gone through three drinks fairly quickly despite his mother’s voice insisting not to mix the medication with alcohol.

“So it’s a problem that I’m in a bad mood when everyone in here is on the verge of murder for some reason?” he found himself saying, although shouting would have been more apt, moving to stand. It would have been more graceful if not for the damn barstool betraying him and the room doing a fun little spin. “Except for…” Bleary eyes roamed the space before landing on a believable suspect, “I’m guessing that guy. He just really wants to get laid. Sorry bud, not sensing any interest in this room.”

Hands reached for him and Finn backed away, bumping into a table. The wheels were spinning and even though it seemed likely they’d only stop once someone knocked his lights out, caring about that outcome wasn’t on the table. The girl whose dinner and drinks he’d almost knocked down was speaking and it took a moment for the words to register. Anger, and now violence, wasn’t quite as profound in this part of the bar. At least one person in here didn’t want to beat the shit out of him. “I would chill if that weren’t fucking impossible in here. No one in here has any chill, it feels like they’re all just waiting for an excuse to murder someone. Or fuck something in that guy’s case.”

Finn pointed once more at the man he suspected was to blame for the very loud emotions of pent up energy and oops, said man was on his feet now. Since common sense wasn’t exactly about to make its presence known now, Finn scrambled to put the girl and her table between him and the approaching incel.

—-

Winter was laughing. She couldn’t help it, really. It was so funny to her that this man seemingly picked the largest guy he could to call out while his own stature couldn’t quite measure up. Even after he almost ruined her meal she found him very entertaining. Too bad she was the only one enjoying the show. Everyone was staring, something she couldn’t care less about, but now the large man was walking towards them with a murderous glint in his eye and suddenly her laughter died in her throat. Well, this was just great. The guy could talk the shit but he had to hide behind a girl that was 5’3 once he got in trouble for it?

She took her time in wiping her hands clean with a napkin, a sigh escaping her as the big guy trekked across the bar. But when he was right in front of her she stood and put her hands on her hips, making sure to block his path to the drunk one behind her. “Look, it’s not like he’s wrong. You reek of desperation and nobody here is interested. Learn to take a shower and maybe the next time you're in here you’ll get lucky.” The guy grunted at her, his head leaning down so he could actually get a good look at Winter and she shrugged her shoulders. “He’s drunk and half your size. Don’t be even more pathetic. Let him be.”

He continued to glare at her until she made a gesture trying to move him along, shooing him with her hands. Another grunt was made before he turned and walked away, hopefully out of the bar altogether, and she turned to face the one who should have had his face smashed in by now. “That was really nice. You’re such a charmer, I can’t believe you’ve managed to piss off everyone in less than twenty minutes.”

She had no room to talk, really. Winter could do the same on most days but it seemed like he had been on a mission. “Maybe you should eat something…something greasy, soak up some of that alcohol.”

—-

The room was starting to tilt, heart pounding with the immense turmoil of emotions mixed with alcohol. Finn hadn’t meant to lash out, obviously. Did he look like someone who regularly got into fights? He was wearing glasses for fuck’s sake. Even so, this always happened. Put too much anger in a room, put too much anger into him and the stupid shit just started flowing from his mouth. It was too late to back out now - maybe letting himself get knocked out and taken to the hospital was best for everyone at the moment. Maybe Wicked’s Rest had a decent ER.

Before the man he’d antagonized, or the woman he was currently hiding behind for that matter, could punch his lights out, it seemed a rescue mission was underway. One hand bracing against the back of a chair, Finn watched the conversation with intrigue, managing a brief focus on just the girl. Confidence. Still a bit of mirth and these were much nicer emotions to revel in.

Miraculously, the man backed off. Finn slumped into the chair previously being used as his one point of balance, a sarcastic smile to match her tone sliding onto his face. “That’s not even close to my personal record.” Sometimes, it only took a single sentence to piss off his mom. His teachers had entered a state of being constantly pissed, always waiting for the next outburst of him shouting at one student or another.

“You should have let me get punched. Honestly more bearable than being in here,” he sighed, words slurring slightly together. It was a bit better now, the sarcastic stranger’s mood almost managing to balance out the rest of this reeking shithole. She mentioned something about food, Finn didn’t really catch the whole thing, but it was invitation enough for him to grab one of her chicken wings. Had he eaten today? Probably not, which explained the state of him after only a few drinks.

—-

“Are you proud of that fact?” Sure, his sarcasm matched hers but the words alone were enough to make her think he was. He’d obviously not done anything to change his ways so it could have been something he was trying for on a daily basis. She was prone to agitating some people on purpose herself so there was no judgment in her tone whatsoever, amusement still the primary emotion welling up inside of her. “Because you sound proud of that fact.” Winter took a seat next to the man, noticing that he’d slipped into her previous one, and grabbed the drink to slide it over to her new location. She had a feeling she would need it to get through the rest of the night without getting annoyed. She’d done well so far, why tempt fate?

“You’re right, I should have. It would have been a lot more entertaining, that’s for sure.” She took a sip of the alcohol before continuing. “Funny thing though, I thought you might appreciate a stranger stepping in to save your ass. My mistake.” Winter watched him reach into her basket of wings, the first tinge of actual annoyance that night briefly cutting through her calm demeanor but she pushed it aside. The medium had been the one to mention food, she should have known that he wouldn’t have a second thought about hers in his state. “If you hate it so much in here, why are you hanging around?”

Rich. It was a question she asked herself on most days when walking through town, especially when her eyes landed on the ghost that wouldn’t leave her alone, reminding her of the many things that went bump in the night around here. Luckily tonight he’d grown bored of her phone excursions and started walking around the place to people watch and she hadn’t had to worry too much about him. Still, there couldn’t be something important keeping this guy in the bar, right? Or had Winter walked into something else that would scar her for life? “This better not be some sort of eatery for zombies or something.” She mumbled the words, hoping he hadn’t caught them as her eyes cut around the bar.

—-

The question caught him off guard because obviously it wasn’t something to be proud of, knowing you were usually the person most likely to incite a riot in every room, but of course this woman had no way of seeing through the bullshit his mother would call a ‘defense mechanism’. Sounding proud was much easier than letting someone see just how shitty being the way you were made you feel. “Not proud, just saying that it’s not my best work,” Finn doubled down on the attitude, answering around a mouthful of chicken.

As if to prove his own point, the stranger was now joining the rest of the bar in their annoyance, hers more muted but still very much present. Finn tried his best not to mind. “I am grateful, I can’t pull off a black eye for shit. Just think it would have been better for everyone if the EMTs had to deal with me.” And then, another very valid question from her, proving that she was clearly insightful and not rolling with the shit coming from the empath.

With a sigh, Finn leaned back in the chair, the motion making the room spin again momentarily. “Because it’s still better than hanging out alone in my apartment, again.” It was an honest answer, the words laced with annoyance and he couldn’t tell whether it was his own or influenced by hers. The baring of his soul clearly wasn’t more interesting than whatever she was currently looking around for and as he caught onto a mumbled word, Finn had to agree. “Zombies?” he blurted out, leaning back in, palms stretching out over the sticky table. “You think there’s zombies in here?”

—-

”Best work would imply pride, would it not?“ She raised an eyebrow at him, suddenly wondering what he meant by his best work. What exactly did he do for something like this to gain that particular title because he'd made a huge mess of things in this bar. Winter wanted to know. ”What was your best work, exactly? Has to be something big to top almost being beaten to death in a sketchy bar...though I guess it wouldn't take much in here for someone to want to beat on someone.“ She looked around again. It wasn't the first time that she had noticed how seedy this place was but she wasn't usually sitting with someone who could cause riots, was she? Did she like danger or something or was it just attracted to her like some messed up magnet?

Abandoning the first basket of chicken wings, figuring he would want more than one, Winter motioned for the bartender to bring another for them. They were good, he seemed hungry and needed to sober up, she'd be generous for tonight. She laughed at his EMT comment, sipping on her drink before she decided to answer him. ”I wasn't here for that drama tonight. I've seen enough...injuries lately to last a lifetime.“ No more trauma for Winter, at least not tonight when she had a chance to help the situation die down. “Besides, I think you could pull off the black eye. Could probably pull off more than you think.”

Her attention was brought back to him as he leaned back in his chair, the girl raising an eyebrow at him. ”Gee, I wonder why you're not invited out more often. Maybe if people didn't come close to calling EMT's when you're around you would have more friends?” It was a lighthearted tease, meant to try and lift his mood a little, but there was an air of truth to her words. He didn't seem like that bad of a guy when he wasn't going around and pointing out fucked up assumptions about everyone. Or stealing her chicken wings.

Crap. He'd heard her and he was awfully attentive now. She couldn't figure out whether his question was a serious one or if he was mocking her and Winter decided to go the safe route even as her heart started to beat a bit faster. “It was a joke.” The words were matter of fact, her tone indicating that he was stupid for thinking anything else even if there was no heart to it. “Why? You're not a zombie, right?”

—-

His best work? God, there was a lot of shit to sift through if he had to go around choosing his greatest fuck up, not counting the obvious answer where he’d been completely useless and missed all the signs but no one wanted to hear about that. Finn had done enough talking about it anyway, filling up pages and pages of scribbled notes at every psychologist’s office, inevitably getting the ‘it wasn’t your fault’ package they all seemed to recycle and… wait, what had she asked again? “Anyway, I’m Finn.” A very smooth save, indeed.

Finn wasn’t too proud to accept the donation of chicken wings, not after already probably ruining the basket for her, so he started chewing on another piece while mumbling his thanks. It didn’t really make sense why this stranger was being so nice to him but he couldn’t really muster up the effort to care at this moment. Something dark swooped across the table when she mentioned the witnessed injuries and his eyebrows creased. No further context was given because yes, normal people could generally go around without inflicting their trauma on everyone and everything. Finn wondered what the fuck that was like.

“You’re just saying that because you still kinda want me to get punched,” Finn argued in response to what was maybe a compliment? Or an insult, he wasn’t really sure. All he could tell was that yeah, she was still just a tiny bit pissed at him, with good reason. “But you’re absolutely right.” The stripped bone of the chicken wing was pointed in her direction as he continued, “people really just can’t handle all of this, y’know?” That, and the whole ‘I know what you feel at every given moment’ part.

His heart started to pound the moment hers did, brown eyes widening even as Winter’s mask of calm and collected settled over her features. “Not a zombie, definitely weirder than that, though but no brain eating, which I guess is a plus,” Finn rambled, attention quickly shifting somewhere else as he started to shrug off his jacket. Shit, was it getting hot in here or just the combination of his companion’s sudden worry, the booze and his new friend still trying to glare holes through his face from the other side of the bar.

—-

“Deflecting seems to be another thing you’re not very good at. But I’ll take that as you don’t want to talk about it.” Wow, she really was feeling generous that night. Usually she’d push until the other person gave in, especially if Winter wasn’t enjoying their company that much, but she didn’t feel like fighting with him. She wanted to enjoy her drink and those fresh wings she could smell being cooked in the back. “I’m Winter.” Her usual ‘nice to meet you’ was on the tip of her tongue but at the last minute she decided to forego that part. It hadn’t been nice up until that point.

Winter did laugh at his next comment though, not expecting it and also not expecting him to be so right. She’d been trying to be nice and give a compliment but he saw right through it. “Okay, so you caught me. You are a perceptive one, aren’t you? And one with a very punchable face.” The medium watched him as he pointed the chicken bone at her, shaking her head but still highly amused. “You’re definitely not for the weak, that’s for sure.” Giving him a pointed gaze, she continued. “Just gotta find the strong willed. They’ll keep you in check.”

Why did he look like he was also nervous now? She didn’t even notice it until he took his jacket off but his expression wasn’t helping much either. “Weirder than a zombie? I didn’t know it could get much weirder than that.” She did know that it could, she’d just never met anything that could be considered weirder while out and about. Winter had to wonder whether he was being honest with that statement or not and it struck her how she’d never had to wonder about that before. There had been plenty of times throughout her life that jokes like this had been made around Halloween and now she knew that some of those definitely weren’t joking. “So…what are you then?” She tried to keep a semblance of the teasing in her voice but now she really wanted to know if he was something different.

—-

“I swear I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Finn replied back, mostly in a joking tone of some friendly gaslighting but also because keeping track of conversation really was a bit hard. Especially once she gave her name and all of his attention shifted towards that. “Oh, holy shit. Winter, the one I’m gonna block during Christmas? I swear to god, if there are two Winters in this town then some parents need to chill the fuck out.”

The realization was a fun one, even though it reminded Finn that he’d also accidentally been a bit of a dick to her online what with saying her job was basically trash. Oops. “If you let me finish the wings then you’re definitely entitled to a punch, I think,” he sighed, grabbing the last of the wings, thankful for the fact that they were making the bar feel a little less… spinny. Snorting a bit at the idea of someone keeping him in check when his own mother had failed, Finn simply shrugged. “Well, still waiting for some masochistic volunteers to accept the job.”

Nerves seemed to give way to curiosity, albeit with a bit of skepticism which Finn couldn’t blame her for. He’d been spouting bullshit all evening, how in the hell was Winter supposed to tell if this was anything different. “I’m human, obviously. Maybe not obviously in this town, I’m kinda starting to gather but, anyway, fuck it. I can feel emotions. Like, other people’s, not just my own. Obviously. Like the way you still kinda wanted to punch me and that guy not getting any for months, maybe even years.” His head nodded towards the bar before he finished off his wing, waiting for Winter to inevitably leave or question his sanity.

—-

“Wait.” She was staring straight at him for a second before she let out a sudden, loud laugh. “You’re Phenergan? Why do I feel like I should have known that?” Their conversation of bullies and nerd games should have given the clue that this was the same guy but to be fair he hadn’t been this obnoxious online. At least not until he’d insulted her show. Okay, now Winter knew this was the same guy, the girl finishing off her drink to give her the strength to not start an argument about it. “Hey now, Winter isn’t as bad as some of the names you hear these days. But agreed that it’s not common. Would have been weird if there were two of us.”

She was going to let him finish the wings anyway but the offer was enticing. Winter couldn’t hit for shit though so she knew it would only be embarrassing herself if she even attempted. “As tempting as that is, I just got a manicure and I’m not ready to ruin it just yet. Maybe I’ll give jumbo shrimp, still eyeing you over there, his shot if you really want to get hit that badly.” Speaking of masochists. “Also not one to enjoy the pain and misfortune that you apparently adore but I’ll keep my feelers out for you. There’s always one, right?”

His explanation was more than enough to catch her off guard. She wasn’t even sure if he was messing with her or not but things made more sense if she factored in that fact about him. Wings were placed in front of her but they sat forgotten as she sifted through the many thoughts now racing through her mind and what to say to those words, whether she should believe him or not. There were a lot of questions but really being able to feel others emotions wasn’t so out of the question here. In the end, Winter settled on one thing. “And you think that’s weirder than being a zombie?” Yea, it was weird but there were a lot of things in this town that topped it. The comment also left things more open for him to interpret instead of her outright saying she believed him even if she was inclined to do so.

—-

Hearing his new nickname spoken out loud drew a genuine laugh from Finn, matching Winter’s aside from his maybe being a little bit more… drunk. “You really should have. I’m very memorable,” he countered, grin now plastered on his face, his companion’s enjoyment of the revelation doubled in his own mind and soaked with alcohol. “Wait, do you want to hit me more or less now?” he added as an afterthought, the question mostly genuine. Hopefully, he managed to be slightly less obnoxious online and sober. At least, he was pretty sure he’d been sober for their conversation, it was a bit of a blur at the moment.

Snorting at her excuse of protecting her nails, Finn gave a shrug as if to say ‘your call.’ Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t really expected her to hit him. He’d experienced the feeling of ‘I’m going to hit that jackass’ enough times to have it seared into his brain and Winter seemed to be slightly more of a pacifist. Her passing him over to the man who definitely wanted an outlet for his anger, though… “Hey, he doesn’t get a free pass, that was only for you. Even though you don’t want to ruin your life by being in my sunshine company.”

It took Winter longer than he’d thought to respond, one emotion jumping over the other in a race to come out on top. Maybe they weren’t that confusing and maybe she wasn’t taking that long but it was getting harder to focus again, those last shots of the evening most likely sneaking up on him now. “People aren’t exactly making blockbusters about me, are they?” Finn argued back, pausing for a moment as the sudden excitement of his comeback made the room swivel.

“Sorry, just-” Finn swallowed thickly, opening his mouth to add something but snapping it shut just as quickly, shaking his head. “Nope,” he muttered as he clambered to his feet, chair tumbling to the ground in the process as Finn bolted in a very not-straight line for the exit. Thankfully, he made it outside before elegantly portraying just why alcohol was bad for you, waving his hand at people that passed by with smug emotions and laughter at the pitiful state.

—-

She took a moment to think about his question of hitting him before shrugging a shoulder. “I don’t think my want of hitting you has lessened or worsened. It’s about the same. Question though, is this free pass good for any time or does it have to be used tonight?” Winter finished off her drink after the question, waiting patiently as she noticed his face going a little more pale than it already was. That wasn’t a good sign. There was no way for her to know how much he had drank that night but the man had been becoming a menace before she’d noticed him so she assumed quite a bit.

It was only confirmed as he got up and ran out of the bar, the girl rolling her eyes but not moving from her seat. “What’s with him? Make him cry or something?” Henry’s voice cut through the noise of the bar and she shook her head at him. “Someone can’t hold their liquor.” To anyone else the comment could have been seen as her making a judgment to herself, nothing out of the ordinary, but Henry nodded to confirm that he’d heard her even with a loud commotion starting at the other end of the bar. “You just gonna leave him out there?”

Henry’s bleeding heart outweighed hers any day of the week and she had to roll her eyes again. The ghost could be annoying when it came to how she treated other people sometimes. “Of course not. I’m going to call an Uber for him because why would we let a drunk walk home alone?” Winter waved her phone at the ghost sarcastically before she opened the app. She had no idea where the dude lived but they could figure out the logistics of it all when the car arrived. He wasn’t her problem anymore.

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