arboreal_priestess | Dave's Fish and Strips, Verity's Baltimore, Wednesday Evening (Reply)

Fireworks for the Fourth lit up the night sky, but neither Verity nor Liam were in a mood to celebrate. "Well, this is going to be a whole lot of not fun," Verity sighed, standing outside of Dave's Fish and Strips, an unimposing building that was surprisingly hard to find unless you knew exactly where to look for it. It was a 'gentleman's club' that included live dancers who got down to absolutely nothing on the front stage. That didn't make it special; any city of size included at least a few of the same kinds of places. But Dave's was the only one that Verity knew of (in Baltimore anyway), that catered specifically to the cryptid set. Both the staff and the patrons were majority cryptid, if not exclusively so.

But hey, everybody had to make a living. In another life, Verity could easily see herself waitressing here. Just waitressing--she hadn't been kidding about her grandma's reaction.

Verity	"I don't think it's going to come up, but don't sign anything or agree to anything that could be considered a verbal contract, okay?" Verity said, glancing over at Liam as they headed in. "You're no match for the bogeyman."
Liam	"My mother was from Ireland," Liam said drily. "Which means that even though we don't have bogeymen in the sense that your world does, I'm fairly certain she'd rise from the grave to slap some sense into me if the thought even crossed my mind."
Verity	"I bet I'd've liked your mom," Verity said. "Dealing with bogeymen isn't as bad as dealing with the crossroads--if for no other reason than Aunt Mary won't show up to slap some sense into me for even thinking about dealing with the bogeys--but they're still not fun." Verity looked at the entrance to Dave's Fish and Strips (a club for discerning gentlemen) and sighed. "You ready to see more of cryptids than you ever have in your life?" she asked and strode inside. There was an age-old question (at least among the Price-Healy family) of What does the bogeyman do when he’s not hanging out under your bed? If the bogeyman in question was Dave, an individual with little tact and less taste, he opened a tacky titty bar. A very tacky titty bar. The main room was decorated like the bastard offspring of a nightclub and a sideshow tent--a deeply patriotic sideshow tent with a serious longing to return to the United Kingdom, where it would doubtless be greeted with pitchforks and torches, because the British probably wouldn't want it either. If given a choice, Verity generally preferred to check in with Dave early in the evening, before the patrons got drunk enough to think that anyone female was up for--literal--grabs. Because she wasn't a customer (and certainly wasn't a regular), Dave didn't bestir himself to care when that happened. And because she wasn't dependent on him for wages, Verity didn't bestir herself to care too much about not hurting the assholes who tried to grope her.
Liam	Oh, Verity and Siobhán Beckett would've gotten on like a house on fire. Assuming, of course, that Verity would have been able to look past the fact that Beckett had been very much career military. And it was that military influence that had Liam carefully evaluating their surroundings for potential threats. That the spectacle of the place allowed him to disguise that action as gawking at the strangeness of it all was an added bonus. "Charming," he muttered sarcastically under his breath.
Verity	They might have clashed a bit, especially since Verity didn't take orders well, but Siobhán Beckett was the kind of woman who did what she thought was right, not necessarily what she was ordered to do. That was the kind of thing Verity looked for in a person more than anything else. "And Dave lives up to the decor," she mumbled, catching the eye of someone in the crowd and gesturing them over.
Ryan	A deceptively slim Japanese man caught Verity's signal and nodded, easing his way past the crowded tables to meet up with them. 'Deceptively slim', not because of the lithe musculature below his clothing but because Ryan was a tanuki and could shift into a monstrous raccoon dog easily two feet taller than she was at a moment's notice. Because fuck your conservation of mass, that's why! "Hey Verity," Ryan said, giving Verity a friendly smile as he got within speaking distance. "Hey, Verity's friend." Liam got a slightly more reserved nod; Ryan was a bouncer at a strip joint staffed by human-passing cryptids. Anyone Verity brought was probably cool, but keeping an eye out for trouble was literally his job.
Verity	"Ryan, Liam; Liam, Ryan," Verity said, getting the introductions out of the way. "Liam's my boyfriend and a part of the business," she explained. "Helped me take down those two ghouls killing party girls the other day. He's got a couple of skills that come in handy."
Ryan	"Oh?" Ryan asked, giving Liam a closer look--and a small smile as well. "Nice to meet you." Those 'couple of skills' could mean that the guy was anything from a routewitch to a sylph to a therianthrope like Ryan himself, but either way, Ryan was comfortable assuming Liam was in the know about cryptids and not, say, a member of the Covenant or something. Cool. "Heard through the grapevine that those ghouls never made it out of town," he added casually. "Real sad that."
Liam	None of the above, actually, but Liam didn't generally lead with 'alien/human hybrid' when it came to introducing himself (Sarah being the exception of course, but she was Verity's family and also a telepath, so he hadn't seen much point in beating around the bush there). He also tended to avoid things like handshakes, so Ryan got a returning nod and a smile as well. "Can't say that surprises me," Liam admitted. He was all for giving people second chances, but if they'd decided to blow it, well. He wasn't going to lose any sleep over it.
Verity	"Ghouls generally don't like it when people get sloppy and start preying on the living," Verity murmured. "They tend towards real tetchy when someone does something that affects all of them." On the other hand, there was a member of the Covenant in town. Which meant that Verity couldn't just assume that it had been summary justice from their own. Another thing to ask Dave. Fuck. "Hey, Ryan, I need to talk to Dave. Can you see if he's in?"
Ryan	"Sure, Verity, I'll check to see if he's here yet." They both knew he was; it was still too bright out for a bogeyman to be out and about yet. Bogeymen were nocturnal and too much time in direct light caused them serious pain, if not actual injury. But Dave liked to play his games--and would need time to clear anything off his desk that he didn't want Verity to see. "Why don't you sit at the bar? Angel can get you drinks while you wait."
Candy	One of the waitresses swanned by them to the bar, holding a tray of empty glasses. She looked as dewy-eyed and fresh as a Miss America contestant getting ready for the swimsuit competition. Even the tawdry uniform Dave forced his waitstaff to wear was elevated by contact with her skin, somehow becoming raiment fit for a princess. Probably because that was exactly what she was, a princess. Cryptid royalty. Like any real princess, she didn't need fur or jewels to let her intrinsic nobility shine through. Her flaxen hair was long, smooth, and perfect, just like her hourglass figure and fashion-model face. Nothing human should look that good. Which was a good thing, because Candy was a long way from human. Her eyes flicked over to them and went cold, her expression creasing in disdain. "Verity," she said, lip curling. Out of all the girls working at Dave's, Candy liked Verity the least, which was to say, not at all.
Verity	Verity understood the root of Candy's antipathy and really couldn't blame her for it. Candy was a dragon princess and while cryptozoologists had no idea what service the princesses had provided for the dragons when they were alive, they sure as hell weren't providing them now. The thing was, dragons didn't go extinct. They were made extinct. By the Covenant. That was long before either the Healys or the Prices left the Covenant, and it turned out dragon princesses carried a grudge as well as the dragons supposedly did. Maybe even better. Ninety percent of the world’s cryptid population had forgiven them for what her family used to be, focusing instead on what they'd become: advocates, allies, and sometimes the only humans willing to put themselves in danger to save a cryptid life. The dragon princesses focused on what they used to be. Killers. Which made what Verity had to tell Candy all the more important. "I ran into a man from the Covenant last night while I was making my rounds. He seemed like he was planning to stick around for a while. Thought I'd check with Dave, see whether he knew anything about our new neighbor."
Candy	Candy's normally milk-and-roses complexion went waxen as her eyes widened. Composing herself with a visible effort, she licked her lips and said, "You--you're lying."
Verity	"Sorry. Wish I was." Verity shrugged. "His name's Dominic De Luca. I already called my folks, and Dad sent me the intel on his family. They're old school Covenant. Guy looks like he's legit."
Candy	"I...no. No, you have to be wrong." Candy shoved her tray towards Angel, the bartender, as she fumbled for balance against the bar counter. "The Covenant doesn't come here anymore."
Verity	"The Covenant comes when it's time for a purge, same as they come everywhere else," Verity said, voice quiet.
Candy	Candy's eyes widened again, but only for a few seconds; then they narrowed, fury suddenly radiating from her expression. "This is your fault," she spat. "You and your goddamn family couldn't just stay on the West Coast until they hunted you down, could you? And now they've followed you here. Well, I hope you're happy, Verity. I just hope you're happy.” "Candy--" The dragon princess didn't give Verity time to finish the sentence. Ripping off her apron, she flung it on the floor between them and turned to stalk out of Dave's entirely.
Liam	"So... on a scale of one to ten, how well did that go just now?" Liam had to ask, wincing a little as he watched Candy stalk off.
Verity	"Are we doing that on a scale of normal interactions or ones with Candy?" she asked, resigned. "..She's not my biggest fan. Worse, she's the one person in her Nest that likes me the best." Candy would just blame Verity. Her sisters would blame the whole family.
Liam	"I'm sorry," Liam said quietly, reaching over to thread his fingers with hers. He'd been on both sides of a similar argument himself, in the past, so he knew how much it sucked.
Verity	"It's the job," Verity said, heaving a sigh. "She doesn't have to like me. So long as she passes the information along to her sisters, I'm happy." She drooped against Liam for another few seconds and then shook herself. Her back straightened, her shoulders rose, and she was once again the badass cryptozoologist that the world needed her to be, especially now that the Covenant was there.
Verity	Liam nodded; it was a feeling he had plenty of experience with from his time as a Companion-Protector. "If you only helped the beings who liked you... well. You wouldn't be the Verity I know and like."
Ryan	Before Verity could reply, Ryan came back, giving Verity a nod. "He's in," he said, pointing backwards towards the stairs. "And is willing to see you if you still wanna go up."
Verity	"'Want to' is pushing it," Verity muttered, "but duty calls. Thanks Ryan." She gave him a wave as she led Liam towards the back stairs, biting back the urge to warn him again. She knew he was capable and competent--they wouldn't have been dating if he weren't--but this was her world and not everything played by the same rules. For example, the darkness filling the office from side to side, solid enough to defy the standard laws of nature and trickle several inches out into the hall. Verity stopped in the doorway with a sigh. "Dave? You know I won't come in when you’ve got your darks on. Put on some damn sunglasses and turn on a light already."
Dave	The manager's dust-dry voice drifted out of the dark. "What, a Price afraid of a little darkness? What would your father say?" Every word dripped with sepulchral menace.
Verity	"My father would say that a Price who won't walk into a bogeyman's lair when he's got his darks on is a Price who plans to live long enough to continue the family line." She rolled her eyes. "You know the rules. I don't disturb your customers, you don't try to bait me into your clutches, everybody walks away happy."
Dave	"And who's that with you?" Dave asked. "I know I haven't any rules that cover him."
Liam	"Liam." It probably would've been safe to give his last name; after all, it's not like he existed in this world, but- why give more information than he had to? "Do I need to start reciting ancient poetry?" he asked Verity.
Verity	"We're good," Verity said, though was twitching a grin at that. Good code, Liam. "Dave just likes putting on a show to remind me that he's a bigshot. We about done with this yet? I promise, Liam's very impressed."
Dave	A long-suffering sigh answered her, followed by Dave muttering, "You never let me have any fun." The solid shadows clicked off as he flipped the switch controlling his darks, allowing light to filter into the office. Verity stayed in the hallway, waiting patiently. Dave grumbled and flipped another switch, turning on the lights proper. The office was small and cluttered, and the low-watt bulbs that were all Dave was willing to use did little to disperse the natural shadows cast by packing too much stuff into not enough space. It was still substantially better than it had been with the darks turned on.
Verity	"That wasn't so hard, now, was it?" Verity asked, sauntering inside.
Dave	"Spoken like a true day-dweller," grumbled Dave. His garish Hawaiian shirt was the brightest thing in the room. Leaning his elbows on the desk, he asked, "Why do I keep talking to you?"
Verity	"Because I'm useful and I trade for good information," Verity reminded him. "Which is why I'm here, in fact. So if we could...?"
Dave	Dave didn't take the bait. He'd gain more if he played it cool and he knew it. "I'd be more inclined to be lenient if you’d agree to dance for me," he said, leaning back in his chair like he had all the time in the world.
Verity	"I'd be less inclined to stick a high heel up your ass if you'd stop asking," Verity answered cheerfully. "Answer's 'no,' Dave. What would my grandmother say?"
Dave	Dave paused. Alice Healy Price was not a threat to be taken lightly. "She out of Hell this week?" he asked warily.
Verity	"Not until Equinox, but still. She wouldn't understand."
Dave	Dave relaxed. "She'd understand that you needed information that I could provide."
Verity	"I think it's a little more likely she'd understand that you can kill a bogeyman in a lot of different ways, and come riding in to avenge my honor." Dave glowered. Verity suppressed the urge to laugh to glower back. "Not to mention, whoever took over your territory would probably appreciate the assist and I'd get my information without all this song and dance." Fascinating first look into the world of cryptids, wasn't it, Liam.
Liam	Liam, for his part, was also suppressing the urge to laugh. "Verity's grandmother's a busy woman," he commented mildly, "so it's probably best we save her the trouble of coming all the way out here, don't you think?"
Dave	Dave gave Liam a long, considering look. He was the unknown factor here, after all. "I'm just saying," he said lightly. "If Verity's family is conservative enough to get a little touchy about some dancing, I'm the Easter Bunny."
Verity	All desire to make light of the situation fled. "Don't even joke about that," Verity said, in a voice that had gone completely flat. "The Easter Bunny's no laughing matter."
Dave	"Sorry, sorry!" said Dave defensively. "I didn't know you were that touchy."
Verity	"There's a lot you don't know. And you're already on thin ice," Verity growled. "You have no idea how close I am to letting you find out why I bring him along." She jerked her thumb back at Liam.
Liam	"And what's this guy got that's got him in the back pocket of a Price girl, huh?" Dave asked. He didn't have an eyebrow to raise, but his expression suggested he was doing something similar. Of course, if Liam showed him what he could do, that tidbit would be on the market just as soon as they left his office.
Liam	Liam absently rubbed at one palm with the thumb of his other hand. "I can just bet you're curious," he said, "but trust me when I say you probably don't want to know." Vague enough to sound like empty posturing... but also true.
Dave	Dave frowned. That did sound like empty posturing, but Verity was looking confident enough in the bluff to give him pause. Of course, that was the only way to approach a bluff or else everyone would know it was bullshit, so maybe-- Rather than tie himself up in knots of reverse-reverse-reverse psychology, Dave decided to let it go. After all, they'd come for information and it was a poor bogeyman that let curiosity get in the way of business. "So you said you were interested in information," he said, turning back to Verity.
Verity	"I have information," she corrected. "But I'm interested in a tidbit, first. Who killed those ghoul kids?"
Dave	Dave shrugged. That was minor enough he was willing to let it go for free. "Their own," he said. "Too much heat. Everyone knew that you gave them a beating for eating all those kids and told 'em to leave town. But that's still too much visibility for the ghoul elders. My sources say they were met outside one of the old warehouses the ghouls had claimed and they started screaming before they even got inside. Why? Shouldn't you be glad they're not going to be a problem anymore?"
Verity	Verity ignored the question; other than a sudden release of tension in her shoulders, she looked unmoved. Ghoul-on-ghoul justice was one thing. A Covenant hit on a sapient species was another. Only one of those things could she ignore. "Candy went home," she told him. "It was a personal emergency."
Dave	"Now who's playing cryptic games?" Dave muttered, visibly trying to fit that statement into any sort of logical conversation. "What sort of personal emergency could possibly make a dragon princess give up her tips for a whole shift? Is she gonna come in here black and blue after her Nest-sisters kick the holy hell out of her for missing work?
Verity	Now that he was distracted trying to figure out Candy's deal, Verity could drop her bombshell. Watching Dave's expression closely, she said, "She had to go make sure the Nest was aware that there's a representative from the Covenant currently resident in Baltimore."
Dave	To Dave's credit, he managed to school his face almost instantly into a neutral state. Sadly, 'almost' wasn't fast enough to keep the skin around his mouth from tightening. It was a subtle tell, but it was was there. "Is that so?" he asked. "That's a pisser. We'd better make sure the rest of the staff knows. How'd you find out, Very? Has this guy been bothering you?" He glanced at Liam. "It's not this guy, is it? That won't look good, you bringing a Covenant guy into my place."
Liam	"Funny," Liam drawled, "but I don't remember her mentioning the gender of this particular agent," he pointed out. "And I know you know that I'm not said agent," seeing as he was an even newer player in this particular game and all, "so I'd appreciate it if you could stop playing games."
Verity	"You should listen to the hot not-a-Covenant agent," Verity drawled, stepping forward until she could rest the heels of her hands against the desk. "Or else you're gonna end up pissing me off. Why didn't you tell me he was in town, Dave?" "I don't know--" Verity slammed her hands on the desk, aware she was pushing him, but not in the mood to care. This was the Covenant, and people were going to die. "Uh-huh. Let's go again. Why didn't you tell me he was in town, Dave?"
Dave	Scowling now, Dave crossed his arms. "Aren't I an information broker? Thus making me the man with the power to leave your pretty little ass high and dry if you go around accusing me of things?"
Verity	Verity smiled. It wasn't a particularly nice one. "Aren't I the one who could walk out into your bar and tell everybody you've been withholding information that could get them killed? I don't think I'll need to worry about the quality of your information after you've been slaughtered by your employees."
Dave	There was a pause as Dave measured out her statement, trying to once again to figure out whether she was bluffing. The fact that she made no move to hurry him along suggested she wasn't. She was prepared to inform the locals that the Covenant was in town and, possibly, that he'd known. He settled back in his seat and gave her a wounded look. "How did you know?" She looked unmoved. "About the Covenant," she asked, "or about you having prior knowledge?" "Both?"
Verity	"I know about the Covenant because I need a new pair of socks, which you, having been previously aware of their presence, will be kind enough to supply me with. I got caught in a lovely little rooftop snare last night," Verity said, leaning back to glare. "Not sure whether our boy was hunting Jersey devils, harpies, or just whatever happened to wander by, but he got himself a cryptozoologist for his trouble. He nearly got a bullet to the forehead to go with it. He's already killed at least one ahool. I don't know what else he may have done."
Dave	Dave didn't look appreciably upset at the loss of an ahool. "What stopped you from shooting him?" Dave asked. "Saved us all a lot of trouble."
Verity	"Didn't want to waste the ammo." Verity kept smiling, like that question hadn't been bouncing around her head all night. "As for how I know you were previously aware, well. You're a bogeyman who runs a strip club. If anybody would have heard it through the grapevine, it's you. And you let your niece go on tour with her boyfriend's band."
Dave	"Wanting my employees to succeed in their chosen fields of endeavor makes me the bad guy now?" Dave asked, trying to look innocent. It was a pretty weird look on a bogeyman.
Verity	"You're not the only one who knows the value of information, Dave. Or how to talk to people." Dave fixed her with an eye, giving Verity his best piercing glare. It looked much better on him than that faux-innocence, all supernatural menace and the promise of nasty things lurking in the closet. Verity met it with an even sweeter smile. "Kitty's one of the only girls you have who's always willing to work the overnights, doesn't complain about the skanky little uniforms, and puts up with you being a lech. You wouldn't let her out of the building at the end of her shift if you didn't have to. That means the only good reason for you to let her go on tour is getting her out of the line of fire. What do you know? What aren't you telling me?" The smile widened. "Telling the community at large, I should say."
Dave	Dave knew when he was beat. He sagged, and said, "He got here about a week and a half ago. Boy's been keeping his head down. I wouldn't even know if he hadn't flown through Dulles rather than BWI."
Liam	Liam frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?" he pressed. Planes had been phased out in his world in favor of Portal travel shortly after he'd been born, so maybe there was something he was missing here.
Dave	"Oh look, pretty boy''s more than just meatshield backup," Dave snorted. "I have some friends in the TSA. Dulles is bigger than BWI, so that's where I focus. Most of the agents spend their time looking for signs of human terrorism. These folks are looking for a different sort of terrorist--the sort of terrorist who starches his socks and keeps silver flasks full of holy water in his checked bags." Dave shrugged, looking slightly smug. "They caught him coming in, passed me the info, I did some checking, and bingo, we've got us a tasty little piece of intelligence."
Liam	"Uh huh," Liam nodded, frown still creasing his expression. "Believe me, I'm real happy for you that you've got such a great network of informants, but when, exactly, were you planning on letting Verity know what was going on? Before or after she got herself killed looking out for the cryptid community?"
Verity	If this were anything less dire than the Covenant, Verity probably would have told Dave to forget about it and dragged Liam into the hallway where she could make out with his face until they were both gasping for air. Instead, she had to content herself with thinking about it and pinning Dave with a hard glare because, yeah, Liam had a fricking point. "I'm a Price and a cryptid sympathizer," she said, voice like ice. "I might even be up against the wall before you are, this asshole gets his way."
Dave	Holding up his hands, Dave said, "Hey, now, Verity, that's not how this works, now, is it? You want information, you gotta come get it. That's our deal, remember?" A smile wormed its way across his face. "Of course, if you wanted to add a little rider to your contract, maybe something about dancing for data--"
Verity	"You go to hell, Dave," Verity said pleasantly. "Fuck our contract. If you hear anything else about this guy, I expect to be informed. Got me?"
Dave	"Or what?" Dave's smile had gone uneasy.
Verity	Verity took her hands off the desk and straightened, still smiling. "Or I become the monster under your bed."