Conner nodded at Alice's response regarding a drink, and at her worried question regarding Liza, he shook his head with a thin smile,"Don't worry about her. She's tougher than she looks. I've seen her handle worse easier. She's fine."

A sudden thump resounded from further down the bar, the sound of a fist rap against the wood. Several stools down from Alice, [u][url=https://postimg.org/image/w46j4x4e5/] a younger man had seated himself[/url][/u]. He was in his early to mid twenties from the looks of him. He wore a coal black letter jacket and a flatbill cap to match it, and on his hands he wore fingerless gloves at his wrist. His pants were solid black jeans, and his feet were capped with black and white sneakers.

His face bore a casual look, like that of a young fellow who had wandered into a bar at night for a steep drink without a reason.

He sat directly down from Alice, as two of the patrons from when Alice had first arrived were now departed, leaving only her, the man to her left, and the newly arrival at the far end of the bar.

"Need a drink?" Conner called to him.

"I do," the young man replied,"Brandy."

"Coming up." Conner replied, reaching under the counter for a glass and then turning to a row of dark bottles behind him. As Conner began filling the glass with dark brown liquid, the young man at the bar's end turned his gaze to Alice.
He looked at her for a minute, the left corner of his mouth quirking up as he did. He casually threw up his left hand in a short wave as Conner placed his drink before him.