[attr="class","evantalk"]

"Christmas evan?" the voice comes from the kitchen, situated right behind the bar itself. As he often does Evan has been helping prep for the night, while drink and entertainment might be their primary draws the Stray has never skimped when it comes to good, home done food. Old school recipes that stand the test of time have fed people in the area for decades and Evan will not be allowing that to be lost now. If he's not serving people he's keeping the kitchen running until his employees run him out for getting in their way. "What does that even mean?"

A quirked brow greets her, the word perplexed dances across his features as his eyes settle on her. The look is even more exaggerated by the dark, red on black eyes and the piercings that accentuate the movements in his face. Head tilting in innocent curiosity because he's quite certain it's a little too early in the evening for him to be hearing this kind of nonsense isn't it? Normally he starts getting called silly names a few rounds in when the regulars are good a ready for a round of jesting and poking fun.

Evan sets down the towel he was using to wipe his hands, walking to the sink where a single glass still sits from the night before. An odd habit that few question now, having accepted it will simply be a part of him running the stray. A quick spray of water and a little soap ensures he's not spreading something across the building. "You haven't started drinking already have you?" he asks more for context than anything as he shakes the water from his hands. He debates if he should grab a new towel for a moment before shrugging at himself and wiping what little wetness is left on his sweater, a black turtleneck that hugs him closer than most of his clothing. It's a stark contrast to his usual wardrobe, often coming across sloppy with his baggy jeans and too old tops. The Turtleneck and new jeans almost makes him look sleek for once.

@maple

[attr="class","evantalk"]

His brow furrows and he narrows his eyes at her for moment before responding. "Don't. you. even! We just finished Halloween and I expect it to be treated with some dignity in this house." His hands move to his hips. "At least let the corpse go cold before you start talking about that." it becomes evident that he is simply playing at being dramatic when the facade slips a moment later as if he never meant a bit of it to begin with. "That's actually a good one though, very crafty of you." He chuckled.

Hands move, one to his elbow the other to his chin, tapping away just bellow his lip when he seems to look her over again. The man leans forward to get a better look at her over the bar, head tilting ever so slightly, a frown slowly making its way to his face as if he just can't quite seem to place where he might have seen her before. And besides, a lot of people know his name around here long before he knew there's so it was entirely plausible he didn't know her at all.

"Maybe you did have something to drink and you're just toying with me, because I don't recognize you at all!" He says it so nonchalantly it could almost be true. "Are you sure you've been here before?" he is, of course, teasing her as he retrieves a fresh glass and places it on the counter, turning his back to her and crouching as he retrieves a carton of orange juice from the cooler, grinning to himself. "It's going fine though! As busy as ever." he calls back over his shoulder.

@maple

[attr="class","evantalk"]

"A pickle?" this child made no sense at all and Evan leaves his face in the cooler for an extra moments to hide the look on his face from her. He didn't understand her line of thinking terribly well but at least it kept things exciting, no?

The rest is like second nature, despite the gaps in his mind and how easily he got lost in his own head his body seemed to function without problems. The muscle memory attached to the drink name in his head meant he didn't have to think about it. Hands reached absently for ingredients and a glass, the rest already up at his station behind the bar. His eyes are on her even his hands were working on something entirely different without him.

"What he choose you as a chaperone for a date or something love?" he laughs at himself for the comment, because how utterly ridiculous! But people do ridiculous things regularly. He especially knows it well. "What made it so bad you were a miserable and squeaky third wheel?" he teases, because he doubts she kept quiet about her predicament during the ordeal- whatever it was. He's sure she'll spill the entire container out on the bar in front of her once he's asked and the drink taps gently against the counter top.

His other hand reaches out next to it and he doesn't quite let it go. "ID for the camera so I don't have to make you sit at a table." she should know the routine by now, because even if Evan doesn't always agree with the rules he still obeys them well enough not to lose his establishment.

@maple

[attr="class","evantalk"]

She hands over the id and Evan holds it up while she speaks. He doesn't really have to worry about what's on the card so much as give it a cursory overview to confirm it's real. Or make it look like he is.

This is Maple though.

As such he makes a point to furrow and frown at it, turning it over, turning it sideways, looking over it at her as if to say he's not quiiiiite sure this is her before he finally hands it back setting the drink on the table in time for her to be done spilling the drama of her day all over his counter for him to help her pick up.

"To be frank dear, if you don't want to be looked at that way you need to work on not behaving that way. At least a little bit." there was nothing accusatory or offensive or even mildly negative or snotty about the way he said it. The sentence was just a simple observation on what she had said and a truth that may not have been needed to be pointed out but that she may have needed to hear out loud. He gives her a pointed look to go with it, the kind someone might expect from their mom more than the man at the bar.

He leans against his portion of the countertop, relaxing a little in her presence. "I can understand though, feels like you can't do a whole lot in those kinds of situation right?" because that's the root of the problem really, at least he imagines. Because he's sure she loves her brother and is willing to at last try and get along with this girl for his sake but that doesn't change the fact that if she felt so out of place she couldn't do anything without it being a problem that makes a problem.

"The best thing you can do about things like that is calmly explain how its making you feel. It may seem like the wrong thing but talk to your brother, tell him that you felt like she didn't give you much of a chance, or however it is you feel and that you want to be nice to her for him but it's going to be hard when you feel so out of place."

He gives her a moment to think about it before he asks another question. "What kind of things were guys doing? A lunch out?" context helps too, because he's sure it was something the girl wasn't very fond of that kind of thing just makes those sorts of situations a little harder.

@maple

[attr="class","evantalk"]

"It very much is your problem!" the laughter spills out from the cracks between the words, dripping from his lips with a genuine mirth that few can measure to. He shakes his head at her and her little bouts of nonsense. Sometimes he doesn't understand this child at all. "You have to live with yourself right?"

In a way they are just playing dramatics off of each other and Evan knows that, but he retorts all the same because there is often more truth to people's words than they want there to be. It's not like he expects her to make a total 180 in her behavior anyway, it's a bigger topic than that but not one to broach without the right build up. Right now, a little nudge is enough.

Evan leans forward on the bar top, elbows on the counter with his chin in his hands as they continued to talk. "If he feels bad tell him there's no need to feel bad."

The man sighs and looks down at the counter, taking a moment to think over what she's said and how he himself would deal with the situation. "It sounds to me that part of it is just you're different people with different preferences, which isn't anything to feel bad about and it doesn't mean you can't find common ground with each other. It just means you have to look for a common ground between you and them than what they have between each other." A hands reaches up to rub the back of his neck.

"I know it may not be what you were looking to hear today when you came by today but just see if you guys can do something more mellow like lunch or a movie next time?"

Because he has a feeling there will not only be a next time but he'll definitely hear about it too. Which is perfectly fine, but if the young lady doesn't give herself more of a presence next time it'll just be the same feeling all over again.

@maple