Oz "Oogie" Borror

~

Rachel threw on her usual smile, the sunny one, meant for hiding any sort of worry that she might be feeling. Finding a real balance between knowing what was really dangerous and what was just ‘Mother’ talking was difficult, when the evidence she had thus far pointed toward the latter. She wanted to be polite and take the man’s advice, but if she listened to everyone telling her that everything was dangerous, she’d be back in her room having another existential crisis. “I’ve been okay so far,” Rachel countered. “I guess I could bring Cass next time. She’s street smart, or whatever they call it. But then I probably wouldn’t say hi to as many people that way.”

His lips quirked into a smile, amazed at this girl’s naivety.  She didn’t even point out that he was in this ‘unsavory neighborhood.’  “Sounds like a good friend.  Gotta say, I’m sure you meet a lotta interesting folks this way though.  Any good stories?”

-

The phrase was more literal than intended. Paxton was no angel, and working for Hayden since he took the Patterson’s in had resulted in much more than just bar shifts. “I was. Barely,” he noted, taking a swig of his drink, “Thirty years is a great run at this. Few places have lasted as long” Mount Olympus was one of them, but he wasn’t sure if any other companies would also fall into the timeframe like the casino and the bar would.

Oz snorted, shaking his head in mild disappointment.  It’s never fun to be reminded of just how old you’re getting.  All these new kids coming into the business.  Still, he smirked, proud of his accomplishments, and Paxton’s own observation of such.  

“I know a thing or two about running a business.  Took a bit of trial and error, but eventually got there.  If you ever want to learn a thing or two I’m happy to take you under my wing like a handsome little baby bird.”

Rosetta watched as he walked away, a satisfied smirk on her lips as she sipped on her drink. Legs crossing and uncrossing under the bar top, she simply watched Oz as he composed himself before coming back to her. Sitting up a bit in her seat, she tilted her head at his proposition. “A job? I suppose there are a few things that I’d have to consider, but what’s the offer?”

“Well, you’d pretty much be doing what you just did.  Walk the floor and note any suspicious persons.  You’d be paid handsomely for being on my team.”  

He ran a hand along his face, frustrated.  Oz could not allow such talent to fall through his fingers.  “Any hangups you got just let me know now darlin’ and I can see what I can do to sweeten the deal.”

-

she savoured the brief moment of affection and took residence in her seat. eilonwy gave thanks to the bartender when they had placed down her usual drink. she picked up the glass and used her straw to stir the drink “it was fine.” were the words spoken before she took a sip of her drink “carl was briefing us on some patients coming in, and then we discussed a patient that i have some concerns about, so please no busting kneecaps. it’ll only hold me up in meetings longer”

A wide grin split his lips.  It was always easy talking with Eilonwy.  She didn’t treat him with the air of reservation most others did.  Most of the time he preferred that, but the familiarity was a breath of fresh air.  “Wanna talk about the patient?  I know, I know, confidentiality and all that shit.  But if you don’t say a name I won’t know who it is,” he adds with a playful wink and a light nudging of his elbow.

.

Oz made his question just as she was taking another tiny sip of the pisco; she choked on it for a moment, and had to cough and take another sip to recover fully from it. “Do I–” She was about to say yes, as much as she was close to all of her kids… But who was she kidding? And, regardless, what could be the consequences of admitting her distaste for the boy? Yaiza had already made that perfectly clear to anyone who would listen. “… I certainly don’t. I only care about him as far as it pertains to how his actions reflect on my company, on my achievements,” Yaiza groaned. “He could get lost and left for dead, for all I care.”

His lips quirked into a smirk as Yaiza choked on her drink.  He always did enjoy getting a rise from others.  To find any way to entertain himself.  Oz lifted a brow, pleased to hear her response.  That made things easier.  “Interesting.  What would you be willing to give?  For your little problem to just disappear.”

.

“Alright then,” Sally said as she took a sharp breath. “Mr Borror it is.” She would be polite, but would not go along with his chumminess. He had already decided to deal on a first-name basis –she found no need to do the same.

At his suggestion, she shot him a glance and nodded curtly. She followed him to a booth where they sat, across each other of course, and then Sally realized just how tense she was. Oz would have probably realized. Then again, Sally wasn’t sure if she even wanted to let her guard down a little bit, and put herself at risk of being caught unaware.

“So, why the sudden whim to buy me coffee?” she asked him before he could say anything else. The casino owner clearly seemed to pride himself on his ability for rhetoric; it would take some effort from Sally, who often avoided talking with strangers, to maneuver her way through his words. “And don’t tell me it was just because you wanted to be nice and friendly. There must be a reason why you did it. Something you must want, in return.”

It was cute, and a bit amusing, that Sally was radiating discomfort around him.  Oz had to wonder what she’d heard about him, or what she might have conjured up from her own impressions.  

He gave a lazy shrug at the question.  “Can’t a guy just want to buy a beautiful woman a cup of coffee?”  A small huff of exasperation left his lips.  Well, she was certainly one to get straight to the point.  Not very fun in this case.  

“A man can be lonely and want a little friendly female company every now and then.  Maybe shoot the shit a bit.  Is that so bad?”  Just because Sally could tell he had a goal in mind didn’t mean Oz had to lay all his cards out on the table.

-

“Something from me got stolen.” Michael sighed. He felt like he had to retell this story quite a lot today, he’d thought that the news would reach the townfolks ears sooner considering how close the town was to one another. To think that amongst them a thief was running around left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. “The police is handling it.”

Oz raised a brow, leaning back against the stool.  “Sure you trust those podunk cops to get the job done?  What was stolen?  If ya don’t mind me asking.”

“I was drinking some bottom shelf gin n’ tonic. Although,” He leaned forward on his stool a bit, “Your bottom shelf bottles are double any other local shop’s top shelf bottles. If I drink these,” Marlais pointed towards the gin n’ tonic that the bartender gently placed before him, “What do I have to do to repay this kindness?”

With a smirk Oz gave a nod to the bartender.  Next drink would be a higher shelf gin.  He placed his hand in his cheek, looking Marlais over analytically.  “Depends on what you got to offer.”

Eda barked out a sharp laugh. “Hah! Yeah, right. I thought I was the charlatan here,” she joked, taking a sip of the drink that was placed in front of her. The two had come to an understanding of one another over the years, both tricksters and hedonists at heart. The respect meant that neither was swindling the other out of cash through cheating or predatory loans. At least not seriously.

“Uhuh. And I’m sure it wasn’t just because you saw a nice ass sauntering across those cameras,” she chided, glancing down to a gaggle of giggling girls at the other end of the bar, celebrating a bachelorette party. A smirk pulled at her lips. “Need me to wingman for you again, old man?”

She did take note of his choice of drink. Although she insisted no one needed to change their habits around her, it was kind of nice having the solidarity. If only because she didn’t want to have to deal with Oz’s drunk ass sober. At his question, she swirled the drink and shrugged. “Eh, same old, same old. Owl House is doing fine, kids are doing fine. There must be something in the air though, I feel like I’ve been getting a lot more requests for fortune tellings lately.”

He grinned, saying nothing.  Oz enjoyed the banter between them.  Eda was one of the few people who could call him out on his shit and live to tell the tale.  He held up a hand to show his concession.

Somehow Oz’s grin grew even wider at the chiding.  “You know me too well Eda.  Not sure if I should be concerned or not.”  He glanced over at the bachelorette party, rubbing his chin.  “Hmm, don’t think I can charm them myself?  And here I thought my odds were pretty good.”

Turning back to Eda, he nodded as he sipped his coffee.  “Any particularly interesting fortunes come up?”

~

Rachel flashed her usual sunny smile, glad that such a lovely man had offered to walk her back in the right direction. She should have been screaming ‘Stranger Danger!!’ but Rachel was now well practised in putting that one paranoia away, deep inside a pocket and out of sight. (The other paranoias weren’t so hard to stash in a pocket, but this one she could at least blame on her mother, missing entirely that it was likely the only one that was somewhat justified.)

“Thank you so much,” she chirped thankfully, waiting for the stranger to come to her side before starting off in the direction they were going. “I’m Rachel, hi! It’s nice to meet you, Oz. I really appreciate you walking with me, honestly. I don’t usually wander this far out, but it’s nice to explore sometimes, y’know?”

He gave a light chuckle.  “That’s fair; you just might wanna be careful where you wind up.  This isn’t the most savory neighborhood, little lady.  If you want to explore it might be good to go with another person.  Or avoid this side of town.”

“Human behavior and psychology. Trying to figure out what makes people tick and why they go for the relationships that they do.” When he mentioned her observation being cliche, she sighed. “Okay, well how about the lone figure off at the poker table. He’s been fidgeting and sweaty since he sat down. Keeps pulling at his left cuff.” She pointed out, bringing her drink to her lips, she shrugged. “Could be counting cards.” Rosetta said easily. 

Oz bobs his head to side to side, mentally cataloging this information for later use.  Rosetta may prove useful to him.  At her next, casual observation he lifted a brow.  “Excuse me a moment.”

He quickly got up from the bar and pulled out his phone.  Walking a few feet away for privacy, Oz hit the speed dial and began barking orders to the other line.  Pocketing the phone, he took a moment to catch his breath, pulling his jacket back into place before moving back to Rosetta and sitting down once more.  

Sitting quietly for a few moments, swirling his whiskey in contemplation, Oz downed the entire contents of his glass before turning back to his companion.  “Darlin’, what would you say to a job proposition?”

.

Was this man serious? “Because it’s illegal, and you’re killing innocent creatures! That’s why you should care,” she argued back. “It takes two seconds to walk over to the trash can. I think whatever important place you’re running off to will be just fine to wait the extra time for you to be a decent person.”

Oz snorted and shrugged.  “Oh no, the trash police are gonna take me away.  Whatever shall I do?  I’m so scared.”  Squaring his shoulders, he rounded up to Honeymaren with a hard expression on his features.  “Listen doll, I never said I’m a decent person.  If you give that much of a shit about the trash, take care of it yourself.  It ain’t my problem so stop acting like it is.”

.

Yaiza took a sip from the pisco, to make sure she was served the proper drink. And, as she swallowed and savored it, a smile was drawn in her thin purple lips. “Wonderful. Just like home,” she said, giving her glass a loving glance. True, Yaiza didn’t exactly have a home –as much as three or eight, really –but if it tasted of something, it would probably taste like pisco and quality ceviche.

“This little problem has the name of Cuzco”, Yaiza said, setting her glass down on the dark mahogany desk. “One of the several children I’ve graciously adopted. He’s recently turned eighteen, gained access to his inheritance… But he doesn’t work, and refuses to dedicate himself to a career. He even has come out in an interview declaring he will take over all of my companies and their subsidiaries, now that I am retired…” Of course, Yaiza didn’t consider herself retired: after all, how boring would that be? “Oh, but I know Cuzco, and I know just how careless he is with money. He throws these absolutely garish parties, being absolutely wasteful… I fear he will run my hard-won empire to the ground,” she sighed. In the time she had been in Redwood Hollow, trying to relax and think in a more peaceful environment, news had come to her of him already buying a huge amusement park and vacation resort in Cancún, paying a huge sum of money taken directly from the Killa Kosmetics’ funds.

He returned her smile, glad that his guest enjoyed the drink.  After taking his own sip Oz leaned forward on laced fingers, listening to Yaiza intently.  He certainly had a few ideas on how to deal with this problem of hers.  Oz took another sip of his drink before speaking up.  “Tell me, are you close to Cuzco at all?  Do you care about his general well being?”