Closed Moving Slowly

[Keye Hayes]

It was a busy night at the pub, then again, it was rarely ever not. But that was alright. Keye was used to it after having owned her pub - the Runaway Hideout - for almost 15 years. In addition to owning the pub, she'd been part of the night staff, frequently serving as one of the bartenders or as an occasional supervisor. It was a relief when Felix returned to manage the books and the documents, even if Keye had been running the pub mostly by herself for a good long while now. At first, the pub had been her livelihood to support herself and her son. She had hated it, having always preferred the silence. Now, she almost took comfort in the familiar chaos. Grabbing various drinks off the shelf, mixing, or just serving the patrons at the bar in general. She still never talked to them much, but she knew the regulars. For them, Keye would give the barest of smiles. Felix called it an improvement from her surly hospitality that he'd seen when they were just starting. Besides, she would even talk now and then, which was how she'd met a certain man. That was shaky and maybe a little frightening. For the longest time, she'd only had Felix, Lanithro, and her son in her life. She'd been frequently reminded, though, that her son was now a grown man and she was free to live her life, and so she'd taken a small hesitant step in seeing Dexter outside of the pub. And now, she couldn't help but look forward to the next time she'd see him. She shook her head out of busy thoughts as she served another drink while the night wore on.​

 

[Dexter Cruise]

Things seemed to be going well with Keye, he picked up on her early hesitance and over time he had felt it melting away which he was grateful for and he knew things between them would only get better the more comfortable she was with the idea of them dating, whatever her reasons for being hesitant were. He decided to head over to her bar knowing she would be working, as she always was, he'd never known an owner work so hard, he just wanted to be in her presence and maybe have a drink or two, if she could join him at any point during the evening then even better. He made his way into the bar and found a quiet spot in the corner, waving to Keye to get her attention.

 

[Keye Hayes]

Keye wasn't quite sure how long she'd been manning the pub when he walked into the pub. He wasn't quite a regular patron; there were a lot of grumpier and seedier people around her establishment for that. But he was one of the few that hadn't been off-put by the surly bartender. Merlin knows how often enough they would get customers who seemed to think they were entitled to her. They usually met the nasty end of her wand or Felix's. Lately, Josh has started to join in. Still, it was a quiet enough - albeit busy night - that she figured it was safe enough to leave the staff while Dexter was around. "Chris, take over will you," she called out to one of the bartenders who nodded and quickly took up her spot while she went and grabbed two glasses and poured drinks for herself and for Dexter. Coming out from behind the counter, she walked over to the corner he'd found. "Back again?" she asked as she slid one glass towards him while she kept the other for herself as she sat across from him. "I'd ask if you were expecting company but I've already taken the seat." Perhaps, if he was still here for her, she would admit that being chased like this was nice. ​