( sigh no more ) OPEN

[MARIN ATHENA MURRAY]

this is not the end

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being a cocktail waitress really was a good job for her. marin, and her outgoing personality, were well suited for waiting on table full of mostly drunk, occasionally horny men. it gave her work around one of the only things that had been absolutely consistent in her life, alcohol, and chance to socialize with friends (or strangers) while getting paid. mare had no complaints. if there was something she was going to bitch about, it would be the fact that there was a slight uniform code she, and the few other waitresses had to abide by. but again, it wasn't anything that was a big deal. in fact, marin seemed to take pleasure in showing of her legs. whether in shorts, or skirts, her legs were the key to all the tips she got. 

again, there were no complaints. 

today had been a particularly slow day, for everyone. the first snow fall has just graced the town, and many of the inhabitants stayed inside to enjoy the warmth of their houses. because the business had been slow, the dirty shame's owner sent home the three other waitresses, and kept marin and the bartender. there was a few teenagers hanging around, taking a few shots like they'd been doing it for years, as well as a very miserable wife with her overly obese, drunk bastard of a husband. marin had spent the last two hours serving the minors their shot glasses of whiskey, and staring at the couple from behind the bar. even after however many hours, the wife did absolutely nothing to stand up, and leave. she just sat there, on the verge of tears like she was helpless. 

and there marin was, behind the bar, elbows on the surface in front of her, chin perched lazily on her hands. her brown eyes looked glazed over, while they were actually fixed on the couple. without changing her expression, she turned to the bartender, "sad, isn't it? fat, old, abusive shit head. the poor woman doesn't look like she fucking eats anything either." a grunt and a nod was all she got as a reply. marin shot him a look, then continued prattling on, " you think i should go tell him to leave, and give her fuckin' burger? honestly, i think it'd do her some good, cause honestly, what ever is going on now, definitely isn't doing her good." she was pleasantly surprised when she got more than a nod and a grunt. he turned to her, with a slightly smirk on. 

"okay, go tell the shot head to leave. tell the boss i'm going to that burger joint. whatever burgers we have here - if we have any - are just going to make her kill over, yeah?"

marin practically shot straight up, and with a big grin, gave him a huge hug. "you're the fuckin' best mate!!" she exclaimed silently into his ear. these two hadn't always gotten along, and she was more than excited to have him listen to her about something. as soon as he left, marins strode to the couple's table in the far corner, head held high. she hope this asshole would listen to her... if he didn't, she was a bit more than screwed. 

"excuse, mister. you've been sitting here with your wife for the past two hours, drunk off your rocker, hogging every single hot wing and nacho i've brought to this table," she started off, looking at him with the occasionally glance to the meek woman beside him. "now, if you will please leave this establishment without any hassle, it would be greatly appreciated... and, before you grab this lovely lady here, she's staying with me. she obviously didn't get those bruises from her own fists." of course mare was a little nervous - but if anything, she could out maneuver him anytime, and just hit him over the head with an empty beer bottle. but she knew she was doing the right thing - to woman had a mixed expression of terror, and relief. the relief was enough to keep marin planted to her spot, unmoving. "please, get out now before i call the authorities."

notes - if you reply, you may totally include how you think the fat man reacts, yeah? like, roleplay the guys part out. (: i give you permission to do with this what you will!

[FLETCHER JAY COLLINS]

you stood too close to the sunset --*

the dirty shame. possibly the most appropriately-titled establishment in all of indian hills. the place was definitely dirty and shame was definitely involved in entering such a place. and yet, none of that stopped fletcher from going at least twice a week. partly because his friend marin worked there, but mostly because it was literally the only bar in town. for that reason, it was pretty crowded on most days. there was usually a good mix of old, grumpy alcoholics and minors. fletcher fit in there somewhere in the middle. he wasn't an alcoholic or a minor. he was simply a young man who enjoyed a drink every now and then. not to mention that he always ran into someone he knew at the bar, or met new people. he was an extremely social person, and the people at the dirty shame attracted him to the place more than the drinks. he never got anything fancy anyways, just a beer every time.

on this particular night, fletcher found himself with nothing to do after work. which was a rare occurrence, he almost always had plans with somebody. so he figured, why not go to the bar? marin would most likely be working, and he hadn't seen her for awhile. so after closing up the shop, he drove straight to the dirty shame. because of the icy roads, it took twice as long to get there. but on the bright side, the bar would be practically empty. every year when the first snow came, the residents of indian hills usually stayed in their homes as if they had forgotten how to drive in the snow. by the second or third snowfall though, everyone seemed to get braver and venture out again. and it just so happened that no one really wanted to get tattooed with a foot of the white stuff on the ground, either. second love had been so dead today, fletcher hadn't even done a single tattoo. but he had gotten to catch up on some computer work and cleaning. unfortunately, with mostly guys in the shop, cleaning was on the very bottom of the list of priorities. so today had been beneficial, even if it was extremely boring.

when fletch finally reached the bar, he carefully stepped out of his car onto the sheet of ice covering the parking lot. zipping up his coat, he hurried into the warmth of the bar. as soon as he opened the door, that familiar stench hit his nostrils. a bar that had been in business as long as the dirty shame definitely picked up it's own trademark scent. this one smelled like old wood, smoke, and water damage. actually not that unpleasant, surprisingly. fletcher might even venture to say that he liked it. as his eyes adjusted to the gloom inside, he scanned the room for anyone he knew. and there marin was, right on cue. she seemed to be actually kicking a customer out. fletch was instantly curious, and stopped to listen in. he caught just the tail end of marin's sentence, she was threatening to call the five-oh. the man she was speaking to looked absolutely horrid. even more horrifying was the woman beside him. she looked scared, skinny, and helpless. fletcher had a theory for the motives behind marin's current actions. most likely, the man had been mistreating his wife and marin was sick of it. fletcher couldn't help but smile at that.

after marin's threat to give the police a ring, the man's face clouded over. he set down his food slowly, a dumb look of confusion and speechlessness on his chubby face. "well, who the hell do you think you are? i'll leave the bar when i damn well please. and my wife ain't none of your business. where's your boss?" as the man spoke, his voice got slowly louder and his words came quicker. by the end of it, he was livid. he stood to his feet, glaring at marin. his wife simply sat shriveled in her seat, watching her husband with wide eyes. the way the man was standing, he looked like he was about to raise his arm and backhand marin. a little flare of anger went through fletcher at that point. he took a few short strides toward her, acting out of instinct. before he knew it, he was next to her, facing the giant man. and now that he was here, he realized that if things came to blows, he and marin would be out of luck strength-wise. but he was fairly certain the two could easily dodge anything he threw at them, he didn't appear to be a fast mover. fletcher stared straight into his eyes, "come on man, nobody wants to cause trouble. just leave for tonight, and you can come back another time. no biggie." the man shifted his gaze to fletcher. the look in his eye told fletch that he was feeling a bit cornered. now he would either panic and fight back or listen to fletcher's rational and calm words and leave. he could only hope he would go for the latter.

[MARIN ATHENA MURRAY]

this is not the end

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"well, who the hell do you think you are? i'll leave the bar when i damn well please. and my wife ain't none of your business. where's your boss??" while the man was talking, marin was shaking she was so upset, and had hardly noticed that fletcher was standing a few yards away.  even though when the man stood, he was as tall as he was fat, marin looked him in the eye, and didn't budge. she wasn't going to, ever... when the man loomed over her, and lifted his hand as if he was going to hit her, she did not budge or move a single muscle. of course she scared out of her mind: being hit by a five ton man was not her idea of a good time, and it seemed that that was what marin had coming for her... until she felt someone step beside her, and heard a familiar voice. 

fletcher's appearance was to marin like the appearance of jesus to a christian freak. she was overwhelmed with relief, and again, did not move while he spoke. his words were calm and logical, as always. it was a gift of his that she'd never really know. whenever she tried talking sense into someone, it only seemed to pissed that person off more. her point was proven in this moment in time - the man lowered his hand, and grumbled a bit. "fine. but i will be back for my wife... she needs to do the laundry still. i need me some clean boxers." he mumbled a bit, and waddled away, spitting at the groups of teenagers that had huddle together the moment he'd started yelling. marin kept her eyes on him until he was all the way out, then allowed herself to relax, and look at the woman and fletcher. 

with a soft small, she addressed the woman first, "my friend will be back with some proper food for you, yeah? the shit we've got here is as deadly as rat poison. stay right there while i help my friend here out, okay?" the frail woman nodded, and squeaked a small thank you, to which marin responded with another smile. 

this time, she turned to fletcher with a big grin. she walked straight up to him and gave him an extremely large hug, not bothered by the fact that she was probably choking him. "thank you so much fletch, i would have been knocked to the god damn floor if it wasn't for you. " she pulled away from him, only to peck him lightly on the lips. smirking, she pulled him by the belt loop towards the bar. "i'm no bartender, but i do know how to make a couple of drinks. what'll it be tonight, my knight is shining armor?" she let him go, and twirled to the other side of the bar, still extremely happy. not only had someone managed to get that asshole out of the bar, but that person happened to be one of her closest friends. "what ever you get is on the house, baby boo." marin said the last part with a sickly sweet tone, while leaning over the table surface towards him. 

[FLETCHER JAY COLLINS]

you stood too close to the sunset --*

fletcher kept steady, having somewhat of a face off with the ignorant man. fletch wasn't exactly a fighter, but he had always had an incredible sense of confidence and courage. absolutely nothing in the world scared him. he almost had an inability to feel like he was in danger, which had gotten him into bad situations over the years. but somehow, he always seemed to make it out on top. this man could have easily resisted and given fletcher and marin a hard time, but the look in his eyes said that he was too lazy to fight back much. at that point, fletcher knew that they were in the clear. "fine. but i will be back for my wife... she needs to do the laundry still. i need me some clean boxers." the man left, just as fletcher knew he would. the look on his poor wife's face was enough of a reward. he always felt a sense of accomplishment when he stood up for someone. he could practically feel the tension leaving marin's body as well, she relaxed right away.

marin could be quite the feisty little girl, but she put that to use to help people just like this woman and fletcher admired that a lot. he smiled as she assured the woman that she would get some fresh food for her. it was incredibly sweet of mare, taking care of a random stranger like this. when marin turned to him and threw her arms around him, he returned the enthusiastic hug, laughing when she kissed him right on the lips. that was mare for you, always keeping you on your toes. "no problem mare, i was prepared to take that fucker down." next thing he knew, he was being pulled pelvis-first to the bar. he followed willingly, wanting a good drink even more after that little ordeal. he took a seat on one of the stools while marin made her way around the bar. he rolled his eyes at the use of the nickname baby boo. "well, sweet cheeks, you know i usually stick to beer. but surprise me this time." fletcher got the same thing time after time when he came to the bar: ranger. it was just such a delicious brew, made right here in denver, colorado. this state had some great breweries, living here had turned fletch into a bit of a beer snob. today though, maybe he would go for some sort of mixed drink. or maybe even do a few shots. whiskey was sounding pretty good right now. of course, there was the problem of driving home. he could let himself get tipsy, at most. when fletcher got wasted, he got wasted. there were several nights he'd done things he wasn't proud of and preferred not to remember. maybe trusting marin to cook him up whatever concoction she pleased wasn't such a good idea. she'd most likely give him whatever had the most alcohol.

now that he thought about it though, getting drunk sounded pretty fantastic. it had been awhile, and he didn't have anything too important to do tomorrow. so a hang over wasn't any concern, he could just sleep it off. maybe marin would be down to chill with him. it had been too long since they'd gotten drunk together, anyways. he met marin's eyes, a scheming look in his, "what time do you get off?" he absentmindedly took his coat off, laying it on the bar beside him and taking his phone out of the pocket. according to the time display, it was almost eight pm. almost time for parties to get underway. fletcher had always assumed that by the time he was twenty three, he would have grown out of parties. but the career path he had chosen kept him in a circle of partying friends. for some reason, tattoo people generally liked to party as well. it sort of went with the territory. so fletch didn't fight it, and went with the flow. he figured he'd be ready to quit partying when he got married. maybe not even then. maybe when his first kid was born. maybe.

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[MARIN ATHENA MURRAY]

this is not the end

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marin raised her eyebrows high at fletcher's decision - never once had he ordered anything besides a beer from her. not even when he was over at her small flat did he asked for anything mixed. "no ranger today?" she questioned him, as if she were questioning his entire existence, "well then, don't get too mad when i make you something entirely too fruity. or too alcoholic." she graves a few shot glasses, and started pouring different substances into one another. too be honest, she was still a bit surprised that she wasn't just pulling out an ice cold beer for him. mare knew fletcher as well as the back of her hand, and thought she had him down pat... but as a good friend, she had to realize that he wasn't going to be predictable most of the time. as much as he was calm and logical, there was something wild, and, just like marin, something feisty. 

while she started to pour the drinks out, she glanced up to see a familiar gleam in her friend's eyes. in return, she grinned just as devilishly. "well, actually, i suppose i could leave right now and no one would really care. beside the missus over there." she gave the woman a happy glance and wave, before looking back at fletcher. "and even then, i'm sure bud would take well enough care of her. right bud?" she turned to the door that just opened, and winked at the bartender whose arms were piled high with different foods - healthy AND greasy. when he saw her hands on the drinks, he cast her a disapproving look. "marin, you're only twenty. that's not legal yet." he chided her with a stern face, before sliding over to the woman. marin made a face at him and gave fletcher his drink. "shit, buddy, it's the holidays, and i work as a god damned cocktail waitress. my birthday is in a few days, and i know you started drinking way before it was legal for you," she explained to bud enthusiastically, "give me a break... of that kit-kat bar." the last part was sung as a mutter, barely audible, like it was an afterthought. bud just grunted and proceeded to feed to woman. before taking a sip of the drink she'd just made, marin smiled over at them, glad that she did something useful with herself. it wasn't often someone got to do something heroic here, seeing as the place was so dull, aside from parties. after a few more sips, she nodded at fletch, "want to stay here and get plastered, or do want to drive yourself, and myself, back to my place so we don't have worry about driving tipsy?" 

marin wasn't  like fletcher when it came to be cautious about drinking and partying - unlike him, she didn't care of she needed to drive, because she almost always had someone to drive her (many a times it had been fletch), and because she'd always be able to charm her host into letting her stay a night. but what they did have in common was how hard they did party when there was nothing to worry about. countless of times the pair had crashed someone else's party, been thrown out still laughing, and then gone to go walk somewhere to find other friends to drink and dance with. "come, bunny boo," she said again with that sickly sweet tone, "i've got two shot glasses, an entire bottle of absolut, two packs of rangers, and three bags of nacho doritoes with our names on them." with an expert gulp, she down the rest of her drink, made a sour face, and slammed the glass down. "fan-fucking-tastic. just leave the glass there, bud'll pick it up, yeah?" she didn't wait for amyloid of reply, not even the famous nod and grunt combo. marin hoisted herself over the bar, and onto the other side with fletcher. "let's go dance with jim morrison and james dean." she laughed, giving him another devilish grin. she pranced over to the coat rack to retrieve her own grey coat and scarf. besides those two items and her boots, her attire had hardly been fitting for snow. she eyed her friend enviously, and stuck out her bottom lip, "you look warm. could you please share, and drive me home?

[FLETCHER JAY COLLINS]

you stood too close to the sunset --*

fletcher watched as marin chatted and mixed his drink. it almost seemed to him as if she was just carelessly throwing liquids into a glass. which was probably exactly what she was doing. he'd just have to drink it fast and try not to taste it too much. "marin, do you even know what you're doing?" he laughed, finding the whole thing humorous. mare was always off in her own little world, doing whatever she wanted. fletch loved that about her. when his glass of marin's concoction slid toward him, he stared at it skeptically. with a shrug, he grabbed it and held it to his lips before throwing it back. wincing, he set the glass down. "that is probably the most disgusting thing i have ever tasted in my entire life. excellent work, mare." the drink practically tasted like straight up rubbing alcohol with a splash of fruit. a shiver ran down fletcher's spine as the after taste burned in his mouth. for someone who thought alcohol was so repulsive, you wouldn't guess that he liked to party hard. but he had discovered that with a few beers in him, the hard liquor got easier to drink.

fletch watched the whole interaction between mare and bud. she was the only person fletcher knew who could get away with mouthing off to her boss like that. not to mention get him to bring a random woman tons of free food. that was marin's thing though, talking people into doing things. she was so persuasive, it was hard not to give in. fletch knew that from personal experience. she had managed to get them a place to stay while they were drunk on several occasions. the two of them together were pretty unstoppable. which was why drinking with her tonight sounded so appealing. fun stuff never failed to take place while they were plastered in the same house. and once mare suggested that the two head back to her place, fletcher knew he had no other option. once she got an idea into her head, there was no talking her out of it. he hopped up from the bar, not feeling any effects from the potent drink just yet. grabbing his coat off of the bar, he tossed it to mare. she did look rather cold, and fletcher had a hoodie on over his t-shirt, so he'd be fine. "ok fine, you've convinced me. let's go party at your place. all of the doritos are mine though."

when fletcher got into a certain mood, he got very silly and goofy. and he could feel one of those moods coming on right now. luckily, he was with marin, so she wouldn't mind. some people got just straight up annoyed with him when he got all crazy. thankfully, mare appreciated his silly side. a devious look took over his expression again. he ran toward marin and picked her up, carrying her like a sleeping child, her head resting in the nook of one elbow and her feet slung over the other arm. "come, princess. as your knight in shining armor, i wish to sweep you off your feet and whisk you away to the castle!" he pushed the front door open with his back and carried marin to his truck. "here we are, my lady." he gently set her down and opened the passenger door for her, bowing as he did. he looked up at her, grinning and barely holding in a giggle. this was gonna be a fun night, that was for sure.

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