Felix nods, waiting until Shea's done passing tap beers to the new patrons before waving her over. "Okay, two kung pao - extra spice, and an order of jalapeno poppers," He quickly instructs, staying loyal to the jalapeno poppers. "And then I'll take another margarita and get another for Mae here." Felix quickly taps out a pattern on the bartop. Shea watches his fingers and nods.
"That it?" She scribbles their order down on a notepad.
"Yup," Felix responds with a loud pop.
"Swag," Shea replies with a small smirk. Through a small window, she slides the ticket to the executive chef in the back to call out to the line cooks. And then - in near record time the next two drinks are out.
Felix transfers the lime in his second one to his third. "Yours is non-alcoholic," He whispers quietly to Mae. As if he wasn't going to address the detective's hesitance towards the alcohol. Felix isn't an idiot, no matter how much he makes people believe so. Luckily, both he and Shea trained themselves well in Morse code during their early twenties.
There wasn't much about the tapping that caught his attention at first. But as Damian watched Herrera and his casual demeanor, he took a glimpse towards Shea and sighed. The detached detective wants to ask why Herrera bothered with learning such a thing, but he didn't have it in him to.
He looked at the drink then up at Herrera. He looked at Herrera then down at the drink. He looked at the drink. He looked at Herrera. A faint pinkish tint rose on his cheeks. Covering his mouth, he forced a chuckle then shook his head.
"Gae-sae-ggi." That was all he could manage to say. Now he wishes the drink was alcoholic. Soju would really be fit for the current state of everything. It probably would have been better for his pride to be anyways. If he wasn't so exhausted all the time, like right now, he probably would have pinched his "date" or something.
Nevertheless, he gave an insincere smile to Herrera. His hand touched the new drink, but then rested on the counter. "Does this make me the designated driver now then?"
Oho! Is the only thought and emotion in his mind upon seeing the faint blush on Mae's face. Shea is busy talking to the patrons at the end of the countertop. The two of them are fairly alone.
Felix had momentarily forgot about the fact that he had to figure out a way home. Usually he stays long enough for the alcohol to fade (Shea thankfully cutting his tab when it grows late) or drunkenly calls and Uber home, but he doubts any of those options would suffice this time around. "Ha, if you're willing to drive my car." He sips at his drink. Goddamn what makes these so good? Shea needs an Oscar for mixology if that's a fucking thing. "We might have to swing by to pick up my roommate if she's not staying the night at her girlfriend's."
Felix quickly checks his notifications on his phone, swiping away the junk emails and the one text from his sister that he knows is just a bunch of pictures of his nephews. (He really couldn't care less about his toddler nephews slurping at spaghetti.) And then there's another text: more formal in tone. From his lawyer regarding the last legal dispute Felix was caught in the middle of. He leaves it unread with the promise of responding later.
He hung his head, staring down at the floor. The blush persisted even when Damian tried his very best to move on from the embarrassment. Believe him, it wouldn't have gotten better if he was to some degree inebriated. He only mustered up some courage to look at Herrera once the lovely date started to talk.
"Okay." It's fine by him. Hopefully Herrera will be able to tell him the address of his roommate's girlfriend's place. On another note, he just realized he doesn't know what Herrera is like when drinking; Damian has only heard so much before they met. "Just don't get too crazy with the margaritas," He asked, "I might just take your car and leave you somewhere." If only he could, if only.
The little moment of silence is what made him feel better. Yes he did drink his now known non-alcoholic margarita, but it didn't help much. Yet it did remind him of why he's here now. Sitting up, he turned to face Herrera. Even though his date is on his own, Damian asked, "Are you feeling any better now?"
He smiles, holding back a brief snort at Mae's proclamation to leave him alone on the side of the street. If Mae wishes to deposit him in some gutter and steal his car, that sounds like a him problem frankly. "I'd like to see you try to get rid of me," He says into his glass. It's his third drink. He knows Shea's going to cut him off after this one. She's always had a talent for knowing when her patrons should stop.
At the question, Felix holds the alcohol in his mouth for a moment before swallowing and savoring the burn that carries down his throat. "Yeah." He nods. "Not thinking about it helps." He smiles, close-lipped, and fiddles with the lime on his glass. "Everything will work out eventually." He shifts a little on his barstool, the watches inside his jacket clinking with the movement. "I think it all just came down on me when I wasn't expecting it." He sighs, drumming his fingers on the table. It dawns on him that Felix doesn't know jack shit about what Mae's been feeling during the case. But it's not like he really cares or any- (Felix cuts himself off right there knowing he sounds like some shitty tsundere anime love interest that Rhyda's constantly making fun of.)
"How's this case been treating you?" Felix asks, nonchalant, as he stirs some of his margarita.
Damian laughed, seeing as Herrera smiled. Thankfully the guy finds what he said funny. "Lake Meade isn't too far from Vegas," He deadpanned. Once he finished saying Vegas, he gave a wide smile just for a mere second. Eh, he's too tired to do anything needing more effort than whatever he's doing right now.
His eyes couldn't stay in one place for too long. They watched Herrera talk then the way his body moved while shifting in the seat. Afterwards, he watched the drumming of the fingers. There wasn't much for him to say, yet he felt the need to say something somewhat positive. "Everything will work out. Just ride the waves, even when they become tsunamis."
If there was one thing Damian was terrible at (aside from drinking alcohol), it would most definitely be talking, or answering questions about, himself. He sure does fulfill the stereotype of the emotionally closed-off detective. It's just too much. No one really wants to listen to a detective who has the facial expression range of a rock. Sometimes not talking about anything personal (better yet, emotional) makes things easier on him.
He hummed. "So so….." Damian mumbled. He's had some cases during his days in Virginia that were better than this. Of course, there was less blood and sleepless nights, but he'd rather not get into it. "It's the same old same old like any other. Nothing much. That's all."
Aha! Emotion! Felix nearly feels like a birdwatcher sighting the rarest woodpecker or something listening to Damian's laugh. (Honestly, it's wild to think that Felix started off so hostile to the detective; he tried to get him to break and scream and yell and implode but now all he's searching to do is make him show… something other than stony indifference.)
Felix swipes his tongue over his teeth, noting exactly how closed off Mae tends to be. Skirting around himself, building up some walls, avoiding the topic, et cetera, et cetera. Damn. If Felix was literally any other man, he'd be discouraged and sad and moping that his newest friend (is that what they are?) is an emotional shut-in. But Felix is not literally any other man and he will be so annoying and persistent until Mae has no choice but to open up to him.
"Wow, don't wear me out with all the details." Felix snorts and rolls his eyes, tapping the bar to signal for some water. Not even a few seconds later, two glasses of iced water come sliding down the smooth water. Felix catches them both in a practiced manner before handing one over to Mae. "Same old, same old, huh?" He takes a sip of the water. "How long have you been a detective?"
"Don't you worry about me. I won't bury you with the details." Damian looked up. While Herrera seems to have a routine down to a T here, Damian muttered a thanks when receiving the glass of water.
"Pretty much." That's how he wants to leave it at best. Of course, he knows that a lot of people want to hear more. Herrera probably does, and will he say more? No, not really. Not for much to say; that's what he believes.
Biting the inside of his cheek, he tilted his head back. He crossed his arms in front of him. If the twins are turning five, and he'd already been living here for a year- Oh he remembers now. "Six years. I was a forensic scientist for seven years out in Virginia…." He dragged out the last "a" as if he was going to say more. Damian didn't. In fact, he cringed a little thinking about Virgina. He hummed, "Yeah, six years."
Sure, it's marginally frustrating to get such little out of Mae, but Felix knows that things take time. Step by step, he tells himself knowing that Mae will one day be bearing his life story to the gambler. It's gonna happen, even if Felix has to make himself the most annoying and persistent person on the planet to do so.
Felix sympathy-winces with Mae at the thought of living in Virginia. "Really, Virginia? That's almost worse than Texas." He laughs, hiding the bitter tone in the sound, and takes another sip of his drink. Mae has a forensics degree, right? (Felix prays the alcohol isn't screwing with his filing cabinets.) That means with college, seven years of forensics, and then six years, two kids, a dead wife, a couple mid-life crises… Felix runs out of mental fingers to count on. Jesus, how old is this guy? "That's cool. Bet you saw a lot of blood and guts." Another sip of the water. "Halloween every day, baby." He purses his lips slightly. "What brought you across the country?"
His fingers softly wrapped around the glass of water. Damian kept his head straight forward, but watched Herrera from a side glance. The corner of his lips turned up into a light smile, observing the man next to him laughing.
What is this guy trying to dig into him for? Why? All there is to him is bitterness and all else that follows. Not really much for a conversation. Then again, despite being one who studies the body and mind, he isn't much for conversation. Can't really get out of this one, can he?
He rolled his eyes. "Halloween is an understatement," He mumbled. Damian pushed the glass away from him, making stand next to the margarita. Still he wishes it was alcoholic. Maybe he'd be better at social interactions. Maybe he would be less tense to answer questions.
"A colleague in Fredericksburg knows a few guys here and somehow got me an offer I couldn't refuse. I was going to. He treated me like the kid he never had and told me to take it, and so I did," Damian explained, "Plus my mother-in-law lives here."
Felix smiles and takes another sip of his water, briefly swishing it around before swallowing. A thought pokes at his mind. How much as Mae seen? He wants to know. Prod him a little further, discover what vast sort of horrors and mysteries he's had to solve - But nope. Felix will absolutely not do that at this current moment. Without a doubt, getting the gruesome details out of the detective will only result in a more closed-off manner and that is the absolute last thing Felix needs at the moment. He's trying to break into this detective's mind, not build a stronger wall around it.
"So you were just gonna stay in Virginia?" Felix raises an eyebrow. "God, why would you do that to yourself?" Truth be told, Felix has actually never been further east than Texas but he's just going off of assorted stereotypes he's heard from his friends' long rants. He bites the inside of his cheek. Mother-in-law. That's who watches his kids when Mae's not home. Oh shit, is she with the kids now? Or they could be somewhere else without their father because he is sitting right next to Felix in the gambler's favorite bar off the strip.
Before Felix could think too much about turning Mae into an absent father (though he already knows that he's just overthinking), Shea pushes through the back doors leading to the kitchen - a metal platter in hand. She sets the dishes down in front of the men and then twirls the platter to sit between her arm and torso. By no means is it Caesar Palace's absolute fine dining with caviar and filet mignon or anything, but it's still leagues better than an Olive Garden. "All good?" Shea asks quickly.
He could only assume why Herrera is doing this. All this talking and attempted digging into him. What is the purpose behind any of this? Damian cannot think of any sort of gain that can come from this. He's an almost 35 year old detective who has been wanting to quit for a year now, but stopped because some dumbest decides to murder a poor woman. Obviously a lot has happened to him for him to be at this point, but he still doesn't see the use in telling someone all of this.
"Mhm…" That's pretty much it. He drank some water and held the glass in his hands after stopping. "It paid well. Probably pays better than what I get paid now." He chuckled a little; mostly at the thought of his paycheck. "No, even with Quantico being in an arm's reach, I would've moved either way. We wanted to start a family and my mother-in-law lives here."
The feeling in the air changed. It's not necessarily a professional way for describing change, but he could feel it. He could see the tension twisting in Herrera's eyes and face. It has to be because he is talking now. What? Is the guy feeling pity or regret? A sigh rolled off his tongue. "Look…Felix, you don't have to-"
The sight of the plate made him wonder if he was hungry or not. His appetite always changes and talking about himself (regardless of how personal). Let's not forget how it affects his overall mood and mentality. He fought with every single bone in his body to smike at Shea's performance.
Damian looked at Herrera in the corner of his eye before looking at Shea. "Yep! All good."
Don't get him wrong, starting a family is a valid reason for doing anything. Hell, it's why Felix's older sister got married so young and had her triplets. A family was all she wanted in life. Her pathetic husband (freaking Patrick) has a steady income and Miranda is happy with her little family. Felix has known since he was thirteen that a family for himself is out of the question. With his father and his abuela and his emotional sisters- Yeah, no thank you. Felix doesn't have the emotional capacity of that.
Felix raises an eyebrow. What was he going to say? Look… Felix, you don't have to be the coolest person I know. Look… Felix, you don't have to slowly draw me out of my shell and rapidly befriend me. Look.. Felix, you don't have to let your ferret wander around. The gambler quickly ensures his emotional support weasel is still in his inside pocket.
The air is slightly tense - but luckily Shea's timing with the food will hopefully disarm the heavy air. "Thanks, doll!" Felix winks. Shea gags. And then the bartender disappears around the corner of the bar to see to the other half of the counter.
"God, if Shea's wrong about Bianca's grandma's recipe I might have to start a kitchen fire." Felix takes another sip of his water and unravels the napkin holding the utensils. But first - he has to grab a jalapeno popper. He points to the basket, silently offering Mae one.
Covering his mouth, he snorted. Those winks and nicknames still make him scrunch his nose, yet this time, there was no eye rolling. He kept on laughing a little until Shea had left them alone again. In the following moments, he took a deep breath while his hand sat on the counter.
Mumbling a thanks, he took a jalapeño popper. Damian pushed the whole thing in his mouth right away. Softly, he smiled as he chewed. In his mind, he made a note to find a recipe and make some of his own. The little ones would love it and he could make some for Herrera, if he feels like it.
"What I was trying to say before was…..you don't have to worry about me." Unraveling the napkin, he set the utensils off to the side and rested the napkin onto his lap. "I don't really get why you're asking me questions, but please don't get invested, it's not worth it."
Taking his utensils, he picked up a piece from his dish and sat it down on Herrera's. He picked up a jalapeño popper and sat it down as well. "Ya, eat. Stop worrying and eat. That's half the reason why we're here."
Per usual, the jalapeno poppers are Felix's favorite thing on earth. The heat is perfectly paired with the seasoned batter and salted bacon, and it's fried to absolute perfection- What else could he possibly have to ask for? He sets the stem of his eaten popper down on the edge of his plate. "You don't have to worry about me!" He says. Ha! Felix could laugh. Like he would ever worry about another human being when everything is all clearly perfectly fine?
"Darling, can you blame me for asking questions?" Felix raises an eyebrow, a smirk crossing his face as he leans in ever so slightly. "I like to get to know those I'm working with." Felix can't help the small smile that grows from the smirk at Mae's insistence to eat. God, he really is a dad. He rolls his eyes - fondly - and then jabs his fork into the closest piece of chicken to his hand.
I'll be damned! The chicken - though flavors he's not accustomed to - is pretty fantastic. "I'm gonna have to try more stuff off the Chinese part of the menu," He says with a full mouth.
Damian rolled his eyes. "It's true." That was all he could manage to say. Why? There isn't much use to ask a detective like him about his life unless he's becoming a case study. God forbid if anyone tries to do something like that with him.
"Is it what you are really doing? Or are you just trying to dig into me for some sort of hidden treasure?" He tapped the counter then brought the glass of water towards him. "You won't really be excited by anything, it's all dull." Depression, college, marriage, dead bodies, Vegas, babies, and that is pretty much his life. It'd make for a terrible book.
Damain went back to focusing on the food. The fork felt bleak in his hand, yet maybe it was his hand feeling cold. He wasn't sure of anything but once he began chewing a piece of chicken, he let his mind drift away. "It's good," He hummed, "Kung pao chicken is always good. Wouldn't have expected to get this in a bar." Smiling a little, he went back to eating.
Felix has to snort at Mae's defensiveness. Of course, he wasn't expecting this to be easy, but if anything, Felix knows that he will eventually prevail. It won't take long to get past that rough exterior. After all, Felix already has a screwdriver in the notch of his armor. "Just tryin' to get to know you a little better, tha's all, doll." He smiles into his margarita before returning to his dish.
Of course it's freaking fantastic! Felix boasts internally. Bianca didn't make it this far half-assing her family recipes. "Yeah it is, isn't it." Another bite. Another jalapeno popper. "Bianca's half-Chinese and half-Mexican. She comes from a long line of chefs on both sides but she's the first to actually open a restaurant in America." He takes another large piece of chicken into his mouth. "And when she and Shea met, Shea brought over her Inuk influences from her hometown…" Felix momentarily trails off. "Eh, It's somewhere in Nunavut. And that's how Las Vegas got its weirdest fusion restaurant to date."
His left brow arched up in response to Herrera's snort. Is him being defensive funny? Damian shrugged at his thought. "You already know enough about me. We are at a bar eating together after all," He pointed out. "I-"
Watching Herrera smile, it made him forget what he was going to say or was he trying to talk in the first place? The edges of his lips were fighting to turn into a smile. They thinned out as he bit the insides of them. Clearing his throat, he shook his head.
As he ate more pieces of chicken, he listened to Herrera talk about the bar. The place is really interesting; even more than the Korean-Mexican place he went to in New York City. He should bring the little beasts here; Adonis and Mina love Mexican food.
"It maybe be weird, but this city is weird," Damian mused, "I think this place fits it perfectly. Good food too. A great place for a 'date' for sure."
"Hell yeah, the food and the city's weird!" Felix exclaims, a twinkle in his eyes. "I love this city, Damian, and that's why. You got oddballs on every corner and the newest, flashiest show on the strip every week. People from all over come here, bringing shit from their hometowns and leaving it all over the place." He sets his fork down, the faint clatter unexpectedly loud. "Doll, I don't understand why anybody would wanna leave here." Mischief flicks through his eyes. "It's the only place that's ever actually felt like home to me."
Shea comes around the corner, rolling her eyes at Felix's grandiose glorification of Las Vegas, Nevada. "Everything alright over here?" She asks, mostly out of customary rather than politeness. Felix sticks his tongue out at her. Shea, maturely, returns the gesture. "Idiot." She snorts, grabbing Felix's two empty glasses out of the way. "And Initiative is having a show next Saturday if you can make it."
"Darlin', when have I ever missed a show of yours?" Felix returns. Shea gags at the pet name and quickly whisks herself away to the kitchen to dispose of the empty glasses. "Anyways-" Felix shrugs, turning back to Mae and his meal. "Would you come back here? There's about a thousand things on the menu that you haven't tried yet."
Something in what he said about Las Vegas being weird pushed a button in Herrera's mind. The fact Herrera immediately became enthusiastic is definitely interesting for sure. It is amusing to listen to his little monolog about the city. One could clearly tell that this guy is the poster boy for Sin City.
Nevertheless he smiled a little while listening. His smile only grew a bit while he watched Shea roll her eyes. Laughing to himself briefly, he used his hand to cover his mouth. Just as he was about to say "yes", he saw Herrera stick his tongue out then decided to continue eating.
Resting the utensil down, he bit the inside of his cheek. Damian nodded, "I wouldn't see why not, I like this place." He took a sip of the non-alcoholic margarita then gently placed it down. "The twins would probably like the food here too." His eyes scanned through the menu. It looked like there were some foods he's had before, but this is his first time here after all.
Felix nods. "I'm pretty sure the twins will like it here." He nods his head side-to-side. "I've never actually been here with anybody under the age of twenty-one." He leans back on his stool to look at the restaurant a little better. "And I've only sat away from the bar twice and both of those were anniversary dinners." He furrows his brow and bites the inside of his cheek before shrugging and returning to his usual position.
Shea returns again with more glasses of water. "Are you gonna want more food or should I bring a check?" She places her hands on her hips, her shirt tightening around her arms to highlight her biceps.
"Jesus Christ, Shea did you take steroids this morning?" Felix whistles instead of answering her question. "I knew you were buff, but–" He flexes his own arm and causes Shea to snort.
"No, I'm just back in the gym," She answers briefly. "Check?"
"Yeah, just one." Felix holds up a finger and Shea disappears back into the kitchen. He turns to Mae. "I think Mina and Adonis should meet Shea. She's a former NHL player. I bet Mina would be good at hockey." He takes a sip of his water. "I can see she has that fighting spirit."
"Guess they'll be the first then." He turned to sit sideways with his left arm over the chair. Tapping the side of it with his index, he looked over at it. "I'm sure they'll do everything in their little powers to sit in these too then they'll ask for banana milk or apple juice."
As Shea went over to them, Damian took his phone out. He smiled at his wallpaper of the twins dressed up as skeletons when they were two months old. After writing a reminder on his notes app, he sat it down then reached for his wallet.
Just as he opened it, his head shot up. "What?" His brows furrowed. He placed his wallet down next to his phone then went to finishing his food. There's always the thought of food getting cold in the back of his head. So he chewed on some chicken as he watched the conversation unfold.
"Huh, I was just about to ask if she boxes or something…." The paternal trait and pride in him made him smile at Herrera's comment. "It's funny, Adonis is big on figure skating, but Mina just likes to try and zoom around the rink….She is a fighter…They'd like Shea, definitely."
Felix barely acknowledges Mae's brief protest to paying for the meal. A wink, a smirk, another jalapeno popper.
Felix nods, a semi-proud and semi-mischievous smile spreading to his face. "Everyone likes her, and not just for the god-sent margaritas she makes." On the topic of margaritas, Felix takes another long drink of his. Shea emerges from the swinging kitchen doors, a small black folder with a dangling receipt in hand. She drops it wordlessly in front of Felix before taking off to tend to more patrons down the counter.
"You're a cheap date, Damian," Felix teases, slipping his card into the folder without even bothering to look at the total. He scribbles in a quick 20% tip for his best friend and closes the checkbook. "Don't worry about paying me back, doll. I got money I don't even know what to do with." Maybe he should get Jackpot a massive cat tower. He'd have to clear it with his roommate (or not) and actually assemble the thing, but it would be entirely worth it for his little weasel.
Damian hummed, "Oh I'm sure of it. She's your best friend after all." He sat down the utensils on top of the bowl then organized the two glasses. Yes, he has to gather everything up anytime he goes to a restaurant or bar. If he doesn't, he feels so terrible about it.
Before he could even protest, Herrera already slid his card into the folder. Damian let his hand drop, the wallet touching the counter. "Huh?" Did Herrera just? With eyes squinted, he sighed, "You're a real dreamboat, Felix." His lips puffed out. Sliding his wallet back into his pocket, he shook his head.
His shoulders dropped. Resting his back against the seat, he rolled his eyes. In any other case, he would've protested and tried to take the bill before anyone else could get their hands on it.
"I'm sure you know or will eventually," He chuckled, "Just as long as it doesn't end up on your record in the near future."
(ayyy 200!)
"Trust me, doll, I know," Felix replies as he slides the checkbook to the edge of the counter for Shea to pick up during her rounds. While it's true Felix has loads of poker money laying in his bank account and beneath-the-bed safe, he really rarely spends it. His trenchcoat - while slightly beat up near the hems - is his favorite clothing item. His car - while nearly 20 years old and dented on the door - has the best gas mileage he could ever hope for. His apartment, as small and humble as it is, is where his roommate lives. Rhyda may be an asshole (even more so than Felix) but she's one of his best friends. Plus, it's not like his credit score and criminal record will ever help him rank up in the real estate industry.
"If this goes right, I won't even have a record and I'll be spending everything I have." Felix smiles and finishes off the last of his plate. "I'll be finally able to get a AAA membership." He snorts; he nods his head at a passing Shea. "Maybe travel to Canada. Can't go there with a criminal record, you know."
