Dark Stranger

Avriel - Part 2

Thanks to the Lovely @Sweetstuffng for the shout out on their Profile. Hugs!

Case 3 - "Dragonfire"

When we got to Rusty's I saw the types of pick-up trucks parked out front. There were a couple of Harley's and a lone compact that had a pair of fuzzy pink dice hanging from the mirror, which was parked off to the side. I was guessing the waitress's ride.

Before we headed into the bar, I put in a quick call to Gordy and gave him the heads up on our location. I also told him about the Dragon issue we were probably facing and told him to go see Kevin if my GPS tracker stayed in its present location longer than a day.

We headed inside and blinked as our eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the small bar.

I immediately went into predator mode. I identified the most likely threats and the most direct routes to intercept them. I could feel my desire for the taste of blood rise up and clutch my throat like a large meaty fist.

"You boys lost?" Came a deep, rough, pack-a-day voice from the direction of the bar. The owner of that voice was a burly looking guy who was rubbing a glass with a cloth, a cigar clenched between his teeth. All eyes looked at us as Scott stepped forward. The waitress eyed off my Fiancé with an approving leer and I was tempted to go tell her who he belonged to. Until Scott spoke and I just let him spin a story for the listening ears present.

"Oh Hi! I'm Scott and this is... Mitch. Actually, my friend Cassie told me that there were some decent craft beers around here. She told us to check a few places out. Mitch's father owns a Craft Pub off The Strip and we thought we'd check out the tip in case there was something he could include on his list."

"Do we look like a microbrewery?" Came the gruff reply.

"I don't judge a book by its cover Man." Scott replied. "Surely you've got a decent local brew on tap? I'll try anything, but if you have a decent Porter or a Stout I'll knock a few back." He retorted.

The expression on the guys face relaxed slightly. He put a couple of clean glasses on the bar and we walked over. Miss Tight Shorts got back to collecting the empty glasses from the table she was standing next to and everyone else got back to their conversations.

"Actually I do have a couple of decent things you could try." The Bartender said and stuck out a large calloused hand for us to shake. He nodded before saying, "Names Rusty, it's my place."

"Pleased to meet you Rusty." Scott said and I gave him my best Bro nod. "So what have you got in a lager to start me off with?" Scott asked.

"Try this one." Rusty said and pulled an unlabelled pale beer on tap before pushing to towards him.

Scott did a bit of what I'd call a 'Wine Snob' dance with it. He looked at it under the only good light and examined the colour, then he sniffed it before taking a sip. Then another, the third he rolled around on his tongue and sucked it between his teeth as he swallowed. "What's that a Coors?" He asked. "Come on give me something with a bit more bite."

Rusty made an I'm impressed face and poured him a different one to try, this time from a bottle.

After repeating the same routine with this sample, Scott said, "Hints of salt, dry finish, is that a cranberry backnote?"

"This question changed Rusty from the cantankerous back of nowheresville bartender to an enthusiastic purveyor of alcoholic beverages extraordinaire. Scott and Rusty got down to discussing the pros and cons of hops, different flavourings and Stout vs Lager. I'll admit I didn't join in with much of the conversation, but I heard Scott whisper 'Bourbon' behind his hand and asked for one.