Passover: Act 1, Scene 2
Present Day: Seacouver- Joe's
It was turning out to be a slow day. Joe only had one customer that lunch time. Richie was sat across the bar from the Watcher, playing absently with the scotch resting on the counter between his fingers. Joe glanced down at the hard liquor, an unusual choice for the young Immortal at such an hour of the day. Richie caught the meaningful look and shrugged a little defensively, "I've had a rough week."
"Wouldn't have anything to do with a young lady name of Denise, would it?"
"How do you know?" the youth frowned.
"Not that way," Joe was quick to deny the insinuation of Watcher involvement in his friend's stare. "She came into the bar last night looking for you. I told her you were with Maria."
The elder raised an eyebrow as Richie's head hit the bar, and the muffled explanation came, "So that's why she slapped me!"
"I'm sorry, Rich," Joe apologized, but was unable to stifle a chuckle, "I thought you'd have mentioned to your girlfriend that your sister was in town."
Ryan looked up at is companion, trying to seem annoyed, but the grimace didn't last long. It softened into a nonchalant smile, and he returned, "It's okay Joe, the bruise didn't last that long, and you saved me one of those awkward moments; we weren't going anywhere anyway."
That kind of dried the conversation a little and the two men moved into one of those comfortable silences of friends. However, there were a few things on Joe's mind other than Richie's love life. The pause gave the man a chance to re-route the conversation a little, and he started again with, "So how's the," he got stuck and tried again, "the -- what are you doing now anyway?"
"Stuff," Richie answered a little too fast for comfort, "y'know, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that."
It was obvious he was hiding something, and that slightly worried Joe. The bartender frowned and wiped a beer glass harder than he should, but Richie seemed to have chosen to ignore the body language. Joe was considering whether to push the matter, when suddenly, the youth sent out signals which said 'don't ask'.
"So do you know where Mac is?" the young Immortal wasn't subtle in the way he changed the subject. "He wasn't there when I dropped by the dojo earlier."
For a moment, Joe was on the verge of confronting the issue, but what actually came out of his mouth was, "Something about gutters and Anne needing help."
The older man was a little disappointed in himself as the opportunity passed him by, but it was too late now. He made a mental note to speak to Richie's Watcher later about his young friend's movements, and then carried on with the easier subject.