open: to everyone @merrock
where: outside of the tumbleweed bar
alle leaned back on the building wall outside of the bar, eager for a breath of fresh air and a smoke; bartending at your own bar was a new thing, and nowhere close to the routine of a criminal lawyer, but new felt better than normal. she already felt like this life made more space for her to just be.
"okay, i don't care that you're a customer," she turned with a smile, spotting the person she served a few minutes prior. "but what you just ordered was literally an abomination."
who: fionn & open !!where: polished brass market
when: 21 april, in the afternoon
✐ᝰ. fionn lingered near the counter, sorting through a small pile of mismatched items that hadn’t quite found their place yet.
“ i'm just saying, ” he went on, lowering his voice. “ if we're going to coexist as professionals, there has to be a baseline level of mutual respect. i don't come into your - well. everything is technically your domain, but that's beside the point - ”
barry blinked at him - slow, unimpressed, entirely unmoved.
it was then that fionn heard the footsteps of the approaching customer. of course the first customer of the day appeared now. he straightened immediately, hands smoothing down the front of his shirt as though that might undo all of that, and waved...for some reason.
“ ...i was not, ” he added, with forced composure, “ losing an argument with my cat. ”
alle'd spent the better half of the night battling the old clock that kept signalling hours off beat in the attic, completely losing track off time until the first birds started chirping at dawn. at the polished brass market now, not quite sure if this was even the place to go, she clutched a mug of coffee she brought from home and leaned on one of the vintage tables.
she narrowed her eyes, delighted at the sight of the cat winning.
"i've found you can't negotiate with employees. they smell weakness, you know. gotta be ruthless, cut back on milk n' all that."
the clock made its horrific sound again, instant coffee nearly spilling from the mug, and she sighed - looking, tiredly, at fionn. "can you help me fix or kill this thing?"
arrival to merrock: she was born here, but the family moved when she was eight; now she's been back for 6 months, since the end of 2025.
housing: old family home in historical downtown, where she was born and where her grandfather spent his whole life.
occupation: ex criminal prosecutor; now on leave (possibly quit)
work place: currently owner of the tumbleweed bar
family: grandfather (deceased) - ex owner of the tumbleweed bar; parents (alive) - in NYC. 4 siblings - either in NYC or also newly in merrock.
relationship status: recently broken up with fiancé; tragically emotionally unavailable
personality
alle is loyal, decisive, humorous. but also: volatile, burnt out, and selfish - you know, the no brakes kind of selfish one gets when they've spent years trying not to be.
she's a bit hypocritical sometimes, and has a deep longing for a life that is felt rather than carefully constructed and polished. values sensory experiences such as running, getting good food, having a good laugh. loves people who can keep up with the banter; likes to provoke, a lot. not the most emotionally healthy person: loves people who love to have fights and arguments, because it makes her feel a bit more alive. but is deeply loyal underneath, and would help you whenever you are, wherever you are, if you're even half-good friends.
mr. allen grandpa was a real g and the perfect patriarch – life-loving, free, kind, the kind of man to treat kids like little people; with respect and desire to teach as much about math homework as he is about the best way to handle a boat or to get lady carla to whip out the stash of secret desserts from the diner. unfortunately, the family was ripped from its ancestral home the moment their father had a fallout with his, and decided to move to a bigger city. at that time, reese was just eight.
she's grown up in NYC, alongside her older brother and three younger siblings. their parents were ambitious, career-climbing, and the very definition of chaotic dysfunction.
it only made sense for alle to follow in the ambitious footstepps - and the fire, the brashness - found a home in the career of a criminal prosecutor. at some point she believed for it to be a noble profession; a morally superior thing. now she doesn't much care to be morally superior, anymore, and realizes those reasons to be self-gaslighting justifications to picking the closest real life thing to the polished fluffiness of her parents' way. it always felt nauseous, to see people pretending to be prim and proper when there was nothing normal about them.
closer to the autumn of 2025, her fiancé proposed to her. it would've been easier if it was a lukewarm, "i guess he's right for me" kind of relationship – in reality, she did think it was a real thing. they've bonded over their hilarious shared quest for normalcy, the things they loved and missed about life, the things they detested. it took one fight after being engaged to realize he was just like his parents, and just like hers. her entire carefully constructed life felt like a scam; a house of cards she built trying to fit into the idea of life someone else had. around the same time, her parents announced their second time re-marrying each other.
she broke up with mr. hypocrite, quit her job, and skipped town to go back to merrock: the place her beloved grandfather lived, the place where their family were normal last. the was a bar waiting for her, an old home covered in dust and memories dear to heart, and people she played hide and seek with in kindergarden on rainy days.
