[ of course he can't get a straight answer out of david. evan turns his glare to his drink but doesn't start in on it quite yet. why is he even here? because they're both about to collapse and can't go back home to deal with even more bullshit yet. right. he has to remember that. ]
Everybody else tell you what a great job you did kickin' my shit in?
Sure, some did. Mostly sucking up. Few tried to laugh it up with me about the reverse-- [ he shrugs ] They weren't so smart.
[ trying to be chummy chummy with him about how well evan did kicking his ass when he's clearly pissed off and in pain, what a great idea. people should be glad they didn't lose any teeth for that shit. granted, the busted lips and noses and shitass dangerous jobs they got sent on were probably worse. ]
[ normally evan would be slightly mollified learning that. a little smug. right now, it barely even registers. nobody said anything to him about david doing better. they didn't have to. they went over his head. ]
Maybe one of us should've taken it too far. Solved a lot of problems for everyone.
[ he takes a drink. the taste doesn't help things at all, but it does wake him up from his pit a little. ]
[ david snorts, thinking about how pissed his dad would've been then. ]
I'm sure dropping a war at their feet would've gone down great.
[ it wouldn't actually have been the worst idea. simultaneously taking out macmillan's strongest enforcer along with those arrogant little upstarts macmillan would've had to ally with. puts them in a terrible position they would've struggled to come back from. ]
[ maybe he should've done it. ]
[ but he didn't, and evan didn't, so they're here now. weird as it is. ]
[ definitely more problems. evan makes a discontented noise into his beer and tries to pretend he never said that. ]
What's the fucking point, then? All they ever told us to do was fight. Now that was the wrong idea?
[ maybe it wasn't, and they just fucked it up. it's awkward and offensive finding common ground with david, but david might be literally the only person alive who can grasp this. ]
[ david shrugs a shoulder — and regrets it immediately — he agrees, but he's got no answers. ]
Who fuckin' knows, man.
[ he takes a drink, pushes his beer mat around a little with the base of his glass. ]
Amount of shit I've given up 'cause they need me to fight and bleed, but somehow it's never enough? [ he shakes his head, a grim smirk at the corners of his expression as he takes another drink. ] Amount of my blood on these streets could probably fill a blood drive, shit.
[ evan snorts. not significantly or in any way to mock david - it's almost a laugh. the closest he can get right now as the alcohol slowly drags the grimness in him deeper. ]
Just the way shit is. Higher standards for us.
[ standards that nobody ever explained.
abruptly he takes one long swig of the beer - doesn't finish it but almost goes half. being depressed about this is pathetic. if he's going to be anything, he should be angry. too bad their failure of a fight killed most of that. ]
[ that catches david off guard enough that he bursts out laughing, hard and sudden, surprising himself. he ends up putting his beer down and clutching at his side because of the way it makes his ribs flare up in pain, bright and hot. ]
Shit, could you imagine?
[ he tries to imagine what kind of anger that would get out of his father, the look on his face. he can imagine the tirade about being reckless and stupid, but shit. it'd be a story at the very least. and have them less beat the fuck up than they are now. ]
They'd probably complain about that too, but fuck. We'd've got some money out of it.
[ he can't imagine, really, but at least it shifts the mood. evan doesn't smile, but he does raise his eyebrows a little at david's explosion of laughter. ]
Coupla new felony charges, too. Doubt anybody'd buy our way out of that.
[ still ... the money would be nice. his own, if admittedly stolen, money. it's not that he struggles, but he makes less than someone might assume working for his father. ]
Make life a bigger problem for everybody, honestly.
[ but he doesn't say it with any particular irritation in his voice. ]
[ it's a hypothetical, imaginary bank robbery. there's no reason why they can't hypothetically, imaginary get away with it. it's not like it's something they're ever gonna do for real, they'd probably spend too much time arguing to even get in the door. ]
[ it's fun to think about, and given everything else on the table to think about, david thinks it's totally fair of him to latch onto this. on the comedy of robbing a bank with his rival and getting away with it, even if everybody knows. ]
[ he shakes his head, still with a lightly amused look on his face. ]
I know it's bad of me, but I always did enjoy those meetings with cops. When they know I done something but they can't do a fuckin' thing about it.
[ evan almost laughs again at that. his relationship with cops might be slightly better than david's, but that's only because of how he was raised. archie despises the police primarily on the grounds that he's better than them, not because they get in his way (which they don't). so it's bled down to his son. ]
Guess that's the benefit of gettin' talked down to all the time. Thrown the scraps. Might be insulting, but nobody can touch us.
[ he debates that, weighs whether it's worth it or not, and takes another drinks. ]
[ cops love his dad — he pays well and pretends to have the utmost respect for them — the fact that david isn't anything like him probably makes them dislike him more. they give him a lot of shit when he has to deal with them, but ultimately, like evan says, they can't touch him. ]
[ david's not sure it's worth it, but it's some small consolation. ]
Except us.
[ he raises his glass in half a toast and takes a drink. ]
[ evan doesn't match the raised glass, but he does nod, a little more lifelike than he has been. ]
Yeah. Suppose so.
[ not that he can think of how, really. even in jail, he might get more respect than he does now. real respect. not just people backing off because he might kill them, or because his father might do that for him. ]
[ how could it be worse? david isn't sure. they could be kept on tighter leashes, that would suck. david doesn't have as much freedom as he'd like, but he has a lot more than he used to, something he's worked real fucking hard for. still remembers ducking his parents' watchers to spend time with-- ]
[ anyway. he raises an eyebrow at what evan says, glances around the bar thoughtfully. weirdly enough, hardly anyone seems to be paying any attention to them, or maybe they're just doing a good job of pretending. ]
You can go if you want. I won't keep you.
[ he assumes that's why evan's bringing it up. david's not in any rush to leave himself, but he recognises that evan is neither a fan of him or being seen with him. probably because the feeling's mutual most days, but right now david honestly can't find it in himself to care. ]
[ evan glances at david. not that he expects david to be delighted with his presence, but the casual dismissal, instead of an insult or flying punch, is almost a surprise. mostly he was bringing it up as a fate worse than what they're dealing with, because he's sure that his father won't be happy that they're playing nice independently. not under threat.
but maybe he won't care that much. better than starting another massive fight. ]
Finish this first.
[ he tilts his glass, maybe a third empty. sure. he'll go after that. try and recover. try and figure out what the hell this night was all about. ]
Figure we're bad enough off it can't do much worse.
[ david snorts and nods, though he's personally deeply considering a second. moderation has never been his strong suit. besides, he's fucked up enough that david's pretty sure all adding booze is gonna do is make him tired. there's already a calm to him he doesn't usually get off just one drink alone. ]
Dunno. I think I could fit a few more bad decisions in.
[ but that's just david in a nutshell, isn't it? reckless and stupid except when he's not. ]
[ isn't that most of his own life? isn't that what this is? he takes another long drink, doesn't quite finish it, reconsiders going back home, drunk, to sulk and get yelled at. because of the state of him, he's temporarily off any kind of real jobs or duties. nobody's going to be looking for him. ]
[ that should annoy him, but under the circumstances what it gets is an amused breath as he pushes himself up with a noise of complaint. right. how could he forget how much everything hurts right now? ]
[ david ambles toward the bar, drains the last of his drink on the way, spares a thought for what a strange situation this is as he goes. beat the fuck up, drinking with evan macmillan of all fucking people. he's gonna get an earful about this when he gets home, no way his father doesn't know by now, but david's phone is on silent and he's ordering a fresh round. that's a problem for later. ]
Be crazy if I tried to poison you this time round.
[ yup. that's what david chooses to say when he comes back and sets their drinks down, carefully easing himself back into his seat. ]
[ while david's gone, evan finishes his drink, then glances at his phone. no messages. no missed calls. nothing. nobody even noticed he left, probably. or just assumed he went out to get drunk. at least this way he's making that more plausible. staggering back smashed as hell won't do him any favors, but nobody's going to guess who he was doing it with.
he grabs the new drink and then david speaks, making him look down into the glass and then almost actually laugh. when did he start trusting this asshole? ]
You're too fucked up to pull it off.
[ so's he. at least that's off the table. he's not sure david would have ever tried that, but on someone else's orders ... maybe. ]
[ david wouldn't anyway, not off his own back. he holds a fucked up kind of respect for evan, the kind that says when he kills him, he'll do it with his hands. if anything contravenes that-- if someone else kills him, or david is forced to do it some other way, he's gonna be real miserable about it. ]
Wouldn't though. When it comes to it, it's fists or nothin'.
[ he looks down into his glass, takes a deep drink, and the look he fixes evan with when he sets it down is deadly serious. no anger or violence behind it, he's not looking for a fight, obviously. not after the shitshow that just was. just david vocalising what he believes has been in unspoken agreement between them for all these years. ]
[ david's abrupt serious intensity makes evan scowl, surprised by it after everything was so ... normal, for lack of a better word. and on top of that, they've never been that serious before. about anything other than how much they hate each other.
he looks david in the eyes, fingers wrapped around the beer glass, and gives him a flat look. ]
Thought that was obvious.
[ in truth he might shoot david, but only to put him out of his misery after beating him into a pulp - leaving him to try and crawl back home means he might actually do it. but everything else, right up to that provided he doesn't feel david go still under his own hands, is going to be directly by his own fists.
he tilts the glass toward david in the same half-salute david gave him earlier. ]
[ david laughs, a soft chuckle, seriousness from a moment ago seemingly evaporated in an instant. he doesn't know why he felt the need to bring that up, but it felt important. still does, but now it's confirmed. ]
Good. [ a hint of a smirk tugs at his expression, giving away the fact he's about to say some dumb shit. ] Not gonna rob a bank with someone who'd fuck that up.
[ evan doesn't laugh this time, but he does smirk. ]
As if you wouldn't get shot thirty seconds in.
[ he downs half his drink in one go. a light buzz is settling in, probably from all the injuries and blood loss; he's not enough of a lightweight for two beers to get him even slightly drunk under normal circumstances. maybe this should be the last one?
but then he owes david for another. that'll be it, then. he can still get back home on that, he's sure. ]
[ david says it with an exaggerated scoff, mirroring evan in the way he downs half hia drink. barely noticing his own buzz settling in, warming him up, making the pain a little less insistent. normally he can drink just about anyone under the table and barely get drunk himself, but there's how fucked up he is. hasn't really been eating much either, too busy feeling sorry for himself. ]
[ he certainly doesn't look so sorry right now though, not with the smirk still clinging to his expression as he gestures broadly to evan. ]
Save your arse by makin' myself an enticing target. You're welcome.
[ he's laughed more in this conversation than he has in probably years, and that's saying something given how short and abrupt all of it is. it's a bad sign, but he's not focused enough to realize it. ]
Even with a vest, they'll take you out. Leave me to haul ass outta there with my half of the cash.
[ he doesn't finish his drink off quite yet, but opts to test his weight and stand. ]
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[ of course he can't get a straight answer out of david. evan turns his glare to his drink but doesn't start in on it quite yet. why is he even here? because they're both about to collapse and can't go back home to deal with even more bullshit yet. right. he has to remember that. ]
Everybody else tell you what a great job you did kickin' my shit in?
[ as in, everybody who wasn't his father. ]
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[ trying to be chummy chummy with him about how well evan did kicking his ass when he's clearly pissed off and in pain, what a great idea. people should be glad they didn't lose any teeth for that shit. granted, the busted lips and noses and shitass dangerous jobs they got sent on were probably worse. ]
Smart ones didn't say shit about shit.
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Maybe one of us should've taken it too far. Solved a lot of problems for everyone.
[ he takes a drink. the taste doesn't help things at all, but it does wake him up from his pit a little. ]
Woulda caused a lot more, I guess.
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I'm sure dropping a war at their feet would've gone down great.
[ it wouldn't actually have been the worst idea. simultaneously taking out macmillan's strongest enforcer along with those arrogant little upstarts macmillan would've had to ally with. puts them in a terrible position they would've struggled to come back from. ]
[ maybe he should've done it. ]
[ but he didn't, and evan didn't, so they're here now. weird as it is. ]
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What's the fucking point, then? All they ever told us to do was fight. Now that was the wrong idea?
[ maybe it wasn't, and they just fucked it up. it's awkward and offensive finding common ground with david, but david might be literally the only person alive who can grasp this. ]
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Who fuckin' knows, man.
[ he takes a drink, pushes his beer mat around a little with the base of his glass. ]
Amount of shit I've given up 'cause they need me to fight and bleed, but somehow it's never enough? [ he shakes his head, a grim smirk at the corners of his expression as he takes another drink. ] Amount of my blood on these streets could probably fill a blood drive, shit.
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Just the way shit is. Higher standards for us.
[ standards that nobody ever explained.
abruptly he takes one long swig of the beer - doesn't finish it but almost goes half. being depressed about this is pathetic. if he's going to be anything, he should be angry. too bad their failure of a fight killed most of that. ]
Maybe we shoulda robbed a goddamned bank.
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Shit, could you imagine?
[ he tries to imagine what kind of anger that would get out of his father, the look on his face. he can imagine the tirade about being reckless and stupid, but shit. it'd be a story at the very least. and have them less beat the fuck up than they are now. ]
They'd probably complain about that too, but fuck. We'd've got some money out of it.
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Coupla new felony charges, too. Doubt anybody'd buy our way out of that.
[ still ... the money would be nice. his own, if admittedly stolen, money. it's not that he struggles, but he makes less than someone might assume working for his father. ]
Make life a bigger problem for everybody, honestly.
[ but he doesn't say it with any particular irritation in his voice. ]
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[ it's a hypothetical, imaginary bank robbery. there's no reason why they can't hypothetically, imaginary get away with it. it's not like it's something they're ever gonna do for real, they'd probably spend too much time arguing to even get in the door. ]
[ it's fun to think about, and given everything else on the table to think about, david thinks it's totally fair of him to latch onto this. on the comedy of robbing a bank with his rival and getting away with it, even if everybody knows. ]
[ he shakes his head, still with a lightly amused look on his face. ]
I know it's bad of me, but I always did enjoy those meetings with cops. When they know I done something but they can't do a fuckin' thing about it.
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Guess that's the benefit of gettin' talked down to all the time. Thrown the scraps. Might be insulting, but nobody can touch us.
[ he debates that, weighs whether it's worth it or not, and takes another drinks. ]
Except us, I guess.
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[ david's not sure it's worth it, but it's some small consolation. ]
Except us.
[ he raises his glass in half a toast and takes a drink. ]
Could be worse.
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Yeah. Suppose so.
[ not that he can think of how, really. even in jail, he might get more respect than he does now. real respect. not just people backing off because he might kill them, or because his father might do that for him. ]
Someone might figure out where we are right now.
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[ anyway. he raises an eyebrow at what evan says, glances around the bar thoughtfully.
weirdly enough, hardly anyone seems to be paying any attention to them, or maybe they're just doing a good job of pretending. ]
You can go if you want. I won't keep you.
[ he assumes that's why evan's bringing it up. david's not in any rush to leave himself, but he recognises that evan is neither a fan of him or being seen with him. probably because the feeling's mutual most days, but right now david honestly can't find it in himself to care. ]
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but maybe he won't care that much. better than starting another massive fight. ]
Finish this first.
[ he tilts his glass, maybe a third empty. sure. he'll go after that. try and recover. try and figure out what the hell this night was all about. ]
Figure we're bad enough off it can't do much worse.
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Dunno. I think I could fit a few more bad decisions in.
[ but that's just david in a nutshell, isn't it? reckless and stupid except when he's not. ]
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Ain't that your whole life?
[ isn't that most of his own life? isn't that what this is? he takes another long drink, doesn't quite finish it, reconsiders going back home, drunk, to sulk and get yelled at. because of the state of him, he's temporarily off any kind of real jobs or duties. nobody's going to be looking for him. ]
Get me a second while you're up there.
[ he'll get the third round. ]
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[ david ambles toward the bar, drains the last of his drink on the way, spares a thought for what a strange situation this is as he goes. beat the fuck up, drinking with evan macmillan of all fucking people. he's gonna get an earful about this when he gets home, no way his father doesn't know by now, but david's phone is on silent and he's ordering a fresh round. that's a problem for later. ]
Be crazy if I tried to poison you this time round.
[ yup. that's what david chooses to say when he comes back and sets their drinks down, carefully easing himself back into his seat. ]
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he grabs the new drink and then david speaks, making him look down into the glass and then almost actually laugh. when did he start trusting this asshole? ]
You're too fucked up to pull it off.
[ so's he. at least that's off the table. he's not sure david would have ever tried that, but on someone else's orders ... maybe. ]
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[ he is. ]
[ david wouldn't anyway, not off his own back. he holds a fucked up kind of respect for evan, the kind that says when he kills him, he'll do it with his hands. if anything contravenes that-- if someone else kills him, or david is forced to do it some other way, he's gonna be real miserable about it. ]
Wouldn't though. When it comes to it, it's fists or nothin'.
[ he looks down into his glass, takes a deep drink, and the look he fixes evan with when he sets it down is deadly serious. no anger or violence behind it, he's not looking for a fight, obviously. not after the shitshow that just was. just david vocalising what he believes has been in unspoken agreement between them for all these years. ]
Expect the same from you.
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he looks david in the eyes, fingers wrapped around the beer glass, and gives him a flat look. ]
Thought that was obvious.
[ in truth he might shoot david, but only to put him out of his misery after beating him into a pulp - leaving him to try and crawl back home means he might actually do it. but everything else, right up to that provided he doesn't feel david go still under his own hands, is going to be directly by his own fists.
he tilts the glass toward david in the same half-salute david gave him earlier. ]
Woulda shot you years ago otherwise.
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Good. [ a hint of a smirk tugs at his expression, giving away the fact he's about to say some dumb shit. ] Not gonna rob a bank with someone who'd fuck that up.
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As if you wouldn't get shot thirty seconds in.
[ he downs half his drink in one go. a light buzz is settling in, probably from all the injuries and blood loss; he's not enough of a lightweight for two beers to get him even slightly drunk under normal circumstances. maybe this should be the last one?
but then he owes david for another. that'll be it, then. he can still get back home on that, he's sure. ]
Cops aim for the flashiest target.
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[ david says it with an exaggerated scoff, mirroring evan in the way he downs half hia drink. barely noticing his own buzz settling in, warming him up, making the pain a little less insistent. normally he can drink just about anyone under the table and barely get drunk himself, but there's how fucked up he is. hasn't really been eating much either, too busy feeling sorry for himself. ]
[ he certainly doesn't look so sorry right now though, not with the smirk still clinging to his expression as he gestures broadly to evan. ]
Save your arse by makin' myself an enticing target. You're welcome.
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Even with a vest, they'll take you out. Leave me to haul ass outta there with my half of the cash.
[ he doesn't finish his drink off quite yet, but opts to test his weight and stand. ]
Same thing again?
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