It was raining cats and dogs. Viv's cel rang off the hook when it got signal, from everything to burnt out fuses and paneling being blown off of the sides of homes, stormy weather meant money. Just like the saying goes, when it rains, it pours.

The strom went on into the evening and so of coarse did the service calls.
Which is how Viv wound up at Dark. She had been called because the building had been hit by lightening, and now it was a little too dark.

The place was almost dead when she arrived carrying a large maglite and a long metal tool box. Someone had a lantern up on the bar. "We're closed." a familiar voice told her.

"I noticed, you called an electrician?" She said. She wasn't a master electrician but she knew what she was doing.....the fact that she worked cheaper than big places usually meant she got called first.

The voice that had told her they were closed was a familiar but nonetheless a slightly raspy and infinitely tired one.

Uriel's form was slouched over the bar counter, fingers curled around his stomach, causing sharp claws to dig into skin. His head was laid on the cool surface, pink eyes glowing red in the light of the lantern when they were opened. His face was lit dimly by the only light in the place, and his hair didn't quite stand out in the darkness like it did in the light.

Most of his hair covered his face, hiding the rather nasty looking cut he had on his temple and bottom lip.

He looked like a shadow in leather pants and a leather sort of top that didn't cover his stomach or torso, was almost sleeveless but managed to cover his neck to avoid any attention to the scars there. Of course the scars near his stomach were visible, including the new gashes there he hadn't bothered to tend to yet and the large bruises near his shoulders on both sides, that trailed down his arms. There were purpling bruises below the gashes in his stomach, and the claws only made things worse. The pain just never seemed to go away.

"I did. Do you think you can fix the problem?" He asked, not sounding quite so enthused about this whole thing. Dark had been too dark for his tastes for longer than he liked. He was already stressed about having to work this late, nevermind stay in the darkness.

If he would've known it was Viv trying to fix the lights he might've been slightly happier about it. He'd definitely be happy to see her after a day like this, but right now he had a reason not be be enthusiastic about anything.

"I can fix it, but how long it will take is another story." She answered, she was simply being honest. She didn't know what exactly the lightening strike had damaged yet, so it was too early to give an estimate on time.

"Can you show me where the breakers are?" she asked. Hopefully this was something as simple as blown fuzes. Other businesses and buildings in the area had power, leading Viv to believe it wasn't a transformer, or something else outside the building causing the black out here.

The place smelled like exactly what it was a bar and nightclub, booze, phermones and the reek of people, sweaty partying people. She was glad the place wasn't crowded, she probably wouldn't have taken the call at this hour if they hadn't said they had no power. Viv didn't enjoy crowds. In fact Viv didn't really enjoy anything, but there were some things that were even less enjoyable than others.

"I don't really care how long it takes at this point." Uriel said sleepily, straightening so he wouldn't be slouched over the bar counter quite so much. One hand uncurled itself from his stomach to reach for the lantern, and where he had removed his hand from his stomach he was now bleeding.

He brought the light a little ways away from his face, gesturing with the hand with the lantern to the place the breakers were. It was just a sort of box-type cabinet things that blended in with the rest of the scenery.

Uriel had been so accustomed to the smell of the bar that he didn't even notice it now.

"Right over there," he said dully.

Viv shined her flashlight in the indicated direction and found the breaker boxes easily enough. She walked over to them purposefully and opened them both up.

Now for the fun part time to play with switches. That would be too easy, but it was the first thing to check, turn them all off and back on one by one. No sucess. Now to check the fuzes. Two were blown but that should not have the whole building out of power. Out came the cordless drill. She turned everything back off and proceeded to take the faces and cover panels off the boxes. Inside was the smell of burnt wiring. She reached into her tool box, got out her headlamp and put it on.

"Think we'll be here for a little bit, sorry." she called. She was going to have to replace some wiring and one of the bus bars..... She got up and walked back towards the door, "Be right back, need parts". She was thankful she had a tote of common parts in the trunk, in this instance she had what she needed on hand. Other wise she would have been forced to come back in the morning with the parts.

Uriel set the lantern back down on the bar counter and stared at it, letting out a sigh. Power outages sucked. He shouldn't have to be sitting (or standing, rather) here in the dark.

"Sure, sure," replied Uriel, sliding down to the floor now, his leather outfit protesting as he did so. "Take as long as you need to, and get whatever. Just fix the god damned thing."

(Sorry it's short.)

It only took her a few minutes to come back with the parts. The removal of the burned up parts and then reasembling everything with the new parts was time consuming though. Mostly because she was working in the dark. Wiring to code isn't always easy anyway in the dark she was extremely careful to be sure she did everything exactly right.

After over an hour she had everything put back together and she re-engaged the switches. Most of the lights came on. Since lightening had been involved though, now it was time to go check the light fixtures that weren't working to see which had been damgaed and which had simply blown bulbs.

So now with most of the lights and the climate control restored Viv was making sure she picked up all her tools as well as all the burnt out parts and wires.

( Bad Arc, no apologies remember?)

With his arms over his chest and his back against a wall, Uriel sat in that slumped over position and closed his eyes.

Somewhere in the middle of that hour where Viv was working and not talking, Uriel had drifted off into a slightly shaky half-slumber, where he was still almost aware of the things around him but not quite.

The lights were what woke him, and he cracked open his eyes a little.

"You fixed it."

Captain obvious.

"Yes it's fixed, though I don't know why it couldn't have waited til morning." she says seeing how bad Uriel actually looks. "They should have let you go home." Unsaid she leaves the comments, you look bad, and you're bleeding.

She throws out all the burnt up parts and checks the light fixture behind the bar that isn't working. this one simply need the balast replaced so she takes care of it.

He gave a faint laugh, burying his heads in his hands. He needed to get to the dathroom to some cold water, because it was still surprisingly hot in here.

"Not enough people working here. I didn't have any help, so I had to stay. It sucked. I hope all of the other guys get fired." Here Uriel was, a soft, kind, caring, selfless person... and he was hoping they got fired. Give him a break, he's had a shitty day.

"But who am I to complain. You've probably got a million calls tonight."

She laughs at that. It's true, but Viv is the sort of person who doesn't like to get bored. She doesn't mind being busy. "Yep, but most have been for very simple things. Easy money." she says.

Surprisingly her phone had not rung since the phone call she'd taken when she went out to her car for parts. That had been the wierd guy who ran the flower shop asking about how to reset the sensor on his motion lights. She'd told him. She seemed to fix things in his rentals a lot lately. So she was nice to him even if he was annoyingly scatter brained, he was one of her best customers.

"No calls for a while though." she commented.

"Well that's good. Haven't gotten any other calls about power outages?" He asked, folding his hands in his lap and closing his eyes once more. "Or do most people opt for the highest quality people they can get? And no, don't take it as an insult, because it's not."

"Yes actually quite a few, and if they know about me they usually call me first because I cost less." she answers. It's not taken as an insult, she takes it for curiosity.

Though his questions do get her to wondering how she got called out here. "How did you know to call me, I don't remember you getting my number?" she doesn't ask it in a snooty way, she has no connection with "Dark" what-so-ever, it's not like they're a repeat customer. So she really does wonder who told them to call her.

"Yeah, I know how that is." He said with a simple and lazy shrug.

"Hm? I don't even know, myself. You were recommended by the guy I work for, and I guess you were the cheapest choice. I mean, you know." He made an irrevelant gesture with one of his hands.

"Yes, it's becasue I don't have to pay all the over head to have a uniform, truck with a company logo, and pay for commercials on cable tv. Much cheaper for everyone. And I have no greedy partners either, no boss, and if I hate a job, I don't take it. There is just me and the money...the way economics should work." she says as she tinkers with another light fixture that needs minor rewiring. She would talk more but periodically she holds tools in her mouth while she reassembles and disassembles things.

"That's true. All your services are pretty much word of mouth, then. Sounds like a pretty good way to work if you ask me." He threaded his fingers together in his lap now, sighing.

"I'd love to do things the way I want, but since I don't own the place I can't complain. I'm just a bartender here, after all. Money's money, though, however you can get it."

Viv nods listening while she holds a screwdriver in her teeth and uses pliers to cap off some new wiring. She restores the light and looks around. "That seems to be all of them." she says about the lights. She goes into her tool box and pulls out a reciept book. Then she sits down to write up the bill.

" I think the power outtage killed any business you were going to have for the night. It's almost midnight now. You get to stay here until closing time don't you?" she asked. Things like that made Viv pretty sure she'd never be able to get a job where she couldn't just leave when her work was finished, it would drive her nuts...especailly something like this, bar proabaly closed at 4 am....the boredom would do her in.

"I don't doubt it," he replied, not seeming too happy about it. But then again, he didn't sound sad or angry about it. The tone was just... dead. Dead and tired, and nothing else.

"Yeah, closing time." he shrugged. "I'm use to it, except generally this place is more... lively." He said sarcastically, making yet another useless and irrevelant gesture with his hands. Sometimes he talked with his hands when he was too tired to think straight. This was one of those times.

Viv shook her head, "I could never do this, I'd get bored. It would drive me crazy to have to stay in one place and do nothing."

She finished writing up her bill and walked over to give it to him to sign. once he had she pulled the bar's copy out of the book and handed it to him. "So other than this how've you been?' she asked him. It takes her more than an hour alone in the place with him to ask. Goes to show how used to being sociable she is.

"Eh." He offered a very odd expression, seeming to agree with her. "Well, that's life I guess. It sucks and then you die." He offered a faint and pleasing grin, shaking his head as he took the bill. Uriel was such an... odd being.

"Oh, same ol' same ol'. You know how it goes. Nothing exciting's been going on." He purposely failed to mention all of the things that weren't neccesary to mention. Like getting beat up.

"You?"

"Busy working, which is good, but still it's work, I never really do anything else." she said.

He did look bad, like, well exactly like he might look if she'd given him a modest work over.... first warning. Viv wasn't the sort of person who would normally comment on someone looking like that, but today she did. "I can't help but be curious, does the same old thing routinely leave you looking like some one came after you with an ugly stick?" She was putting it mildly she knew. "Did you have trouble with a customer?' she went on to ask.

Work sucked most of the time... Uriel should know.

He gave a low chuckle, placing the bill aside to stand up and look for a pen. After a minute or two of scrounging around he managed to find one, and looked over to Viv, tired pink eyes giving her a once over.

"More like with an employer, you could say."

He crouched back down to the floor, reaching for that piece of paper.

Here she gave him a very curious expression, she had to forcibly resist asking, You dealing and you pissed off you supplier? It wasn't her business.....Sigh......"Are you in some sort of trouble?' she asked with a somewhat worried look.

He'd been in trouble for his entire life... what made him in any less trouble now? It wasn't her business, though... simply not her place to ask. Uriel didn't want to come off as needy, you could say. Or the type of person that always in some sort of trouble. But that was who he was.

"Not really, why?"

"Sorry I asked, sometimes I get strange thoughts." She answered. She sat down began cleaning her tools and putting them away. Her tools are obviously very well cared for.

Yeah, Uriel needs money for drugs, and Viv spends most of hers on tools. If she were cut off from her tools very likely very real withdrawal would occur. "I'm going to get food when I leave here. Can I bring anything back for you?' she offers changing the subject.

It's like anything, or most of anything. If you drive a car your whole life and are suddenly deprived of a car, you feel withdrawal. If you eat the same thing for twenty five years and then go on a diet, you experience withdrawal. Some of it's phsycological, and some of its physical. Uriel had just formed a dependency on those drugs, but he simply just... just didn't have the money needed. And it was destroying his life.

"It's all right. Curiosity won't usually get you in trouble with me." He shrugged and stood up, leaning against the bar counter again.

"And nah. Thanks for the offer, but I'm good."

"Okay." she said closing her tool box up. She walked over to him with a card. "Here's my card, call me if you need anything else fixed, or if you need anything." She tells him, because she doesn't really know how to say call me if you want to go do something without it conjuring feelings of dread. "And try to get some rest, huh, you look like you could use some." she told him getting her keys out of her pocket. She makes her way towards the door. "Bye Uriel." she says.

(laughs at the Chars, so much to go through over a phone number guys)

He took the offered card, careful not to show his claws as he did so. He set it down on the counter and nodded. "I'll call you," he reassured her, looking over the number.

"I'll try," he answered then added, "All right, I'll see you later. Take care of yourself."

There were several more hours of boredom to deal with.

(Next) for those of you following along.....