(( them gods gonna hurt you son; when you play with a loaded gun ))

[hardlydead]

❤

Comments

[bloodandbrass]

[ in turn, evan's girl keeps his attention mostly away from david. she's brighter than a lot of girls he's dated - actually smarter, in fact, with a degree he couldn't hope to get, so that makes her smarter than him, too - and that's enough to keep most of his focus. but he's in a bar. drinking, if not heavily. with david nearby.

and he can feel him nearby, the same way he can feel the presence of other people he hates (or fears). he's certain he knows what david's probably thinking. he hopes this stings. that the sight of him with someone that looks almost serious burns.

... why? he doesn't know. but as he drinks - not to get drunk, just to get buzzed - the justifications don't seem so pressing.

he shouldn't start a fight. he should leave. they should leave, together, leaving david to seethe and wonder like evan's sure he's doing. but. is that what he wants?

he leans forward to catch the bartender and try to buy another round for david and his girl (the girl he doesn't even like), but his own girls stops him. if you want to start shit, you can wait until I leave, she says, a little sharply. so evan backs off, but he gives david another glare with an edge of a smirk that's almost smug. ]

[hardlydead]

[ the smirk gets a confused look from david in return, slightly intentional — he's sure it has to bug evan — even as part of him wants to yell at evan to focus on his girl instead of him. but that's opening up a whole can of worms that david isn't ready for. ]

[ david murmurs something to amelia and she immediately perks up, telling him in a too-loud voice that she wants to go dancing for a bit and her favourite dj is in town this week and he'll love it, she swears. ]

[ fine by him, it gives david the excuse he wanted to get out of here without looking like he just couldn't handle being around evan or some shit. ]

[ another thought occurs to him on the way out, as he settles his tab. quietly, he asks to pay for whatever evan and his date have had so far. doing it and leaving is one thing, evan won't be able to return any kind of favour, but by doing it discreetly means hopefully evan won't even know until he comes to pay himself. ]

[ either way, he's out of here. ]

[bloodandbrass]

[ when david leaves, evan relaxes. minutely, but he does. if it hadn't been for what's-her-name talking about going to see someone and how much david'll love it, he might have been even more on edge, but he'll take the gift while he's got it. they're alone now, or at least they're not in david's presence. it's something.

which is fine right up until he goes to finalize his tab and the bartender, somewhat warily, tells him david already covered it. the rage surges up through him like a volcano. he wants to get out his phone, call david back in here, beat his head into the bar, this was deliberate -

until a hand on his shoulder and a hard look, a harder voice, tell him to cut it out. she's not interested in seeing a fight start. just take the win - he's out money, isn't he?

but it's not about that. still, evan manages to choke down the rage, and instead of blowing up he just covers the tab for the group he was drinking with. they don't even know why or what happened, but they're all happy for it. he looks good, he doesn't have to reveal what happened, and the only people who know anything are the bartender and his date.

and david.

having kept his control this long means there's no anger from her on the way out, but she gives him a cold look when he tells her he's going home alone.

there's better ways to deal with that anger problem, she says. he only shrugs. he's not planning on dealing with anything.

david's unlikely to drop his date tonight and come back for a fight, so evan goes somewhere that he can beat up other people (legally, even) until he feels a little better. then he passes out. so david doesn't get any harassment until the morning, when he's hopefully hungover as shit. ]

You think you're being funny?

[hardlydead]

[ as much as he upholds his image, david doesn't cut loose as much as it looks like, so a night of drinking and dancing and whatnot hits hard. he's exhausted and hung over as hell, him and his girl enjoying a breakfast of gatorade and painkillers in a dark room. he kind of envies her for the way she can sleep it off while waiting for that shit to kick in, david just lays there in misery instead because even feeling this shitty, if he's up, he's up. ]

[ when he gets around to checking his phone and seeing the text from evan, it's met with confusion. david doesn't remember much of the previous night, mostly just loud music and bright lights. and evan's sour face. he's probably mad about something inconsequential, david figures. some perceived slight that doesn't mean anything. ]

What's your problem now?

[bloodandbrass]

[ that reaction doesn't help matters at all, because he assumes it's mocking. just like he always does. ]

Buying the tab? The fuck kind of shit are you trying to pull now?

[hardlydead]

I was trying to be nice.

[ no he wasn't. ]

[bloodandbrass]

The fuck you were. That was you showing off

And with her there too

Trying to piss me off in every way you fucking can

[hardlydead]

You're so fucking neurotic about this shit.

It was a gesture.
No point getting into shit while our girls are there, you know?

[bloodandbrass]

You're the one who GOT INTO IT by doing that shit

Next time I see you, your ass is dead

[hardlydead]

Guess I better be looking over my shoulder seeing as you always wanna turn up where I am anyway.

[bloodandbrass]

Wasn't trying to fucking find you last night

[ only partly true. it wasn't his intention, but as soon as he heard where david was, well. ]

[hardlydead]

Yeah, sure. Just a funny coincidence you go silent for weeks after giving me shit about who I'm seeing, then turn up where I'm at with your own girl.

[bloodandbrass]

The fuck do you care about that for? I gotta keep up appearances too, shouldn't piss you off

[hardlydead]

I'm not pissed. I just think it's interesting.

[bloodandbrass]

You were pissed enough to pay my goddamned bar tab

How the fuck is it interesting? I'm out with girls a lot. Just not as much as you

[hardlydead]

The fuck would I be pissed about?

Christ, here I was thinking getting a girl might calm you the fuck down for once.

[bloodandbrass]

How should I know?

You trying to show me up in front of everyone else says something crawled up your ass and died to me

[hardlydead]

[ right, he forgot about the part of "pissing evan off on purpose" where he has to actually deal with evan afterwards. ]

Whatever, I don't have time for this.
You're out of your fucking mind.

[bloodandbrass]

[ that's the downside of giving him your number. ]

This is your fucking fault. Next time I see you, it doesn't matter if your girl's there or mine is. Your ass is dead.

[hardlydead]

This is an insane way to react to a friendly gesture, you know.

[bloodandbrass]

You didn't do it to be friendly and you know it

[hardlydead]

You're making my hangover worse with this shit. You wanna fight 'cause you feel like I was trying to show you up in front of your little date then we can fight.

[bloodandbrass]

Fix your fucking hangover and come find me at the brewery, princess

[ it's out before he can stop himself. this level of anger - this level of stupidity - makes him beyond thoughtless. at the same time, he's mad enough that he barely notices it, jamming the phone away and starting to pull his own shit together. ]

[hardlydead]

[ dealing with the hangover is kind of an all day affair, and if david didn't apparently feel like playing with fire, he could warn evan of that much. as it is, however, he simply puts the phone away and lays back down in bed. amelia might not be "his type", but she's soft and warm and easy to curl around while he waits for the painkillers to do their job. ]

[ he doesn't quite make evan wait all day at least, though it's several hours before he turns up. still kind of groggy and nursing a fresh gatorade, but the headache and the nausea's gone at least. in last night's clothes plus sunglasses for that residual light sensitivity. ]

I knew you'd be pissed about the tab, but this is crazy.

[ he admits it finally, even if it wasn't for the reasons evan assumed. voice still rough from a night out, but it is what it is. ]

[bloodandbrass]

[ despite everything he just said, evan doesn't quite rush down to the brewery immediately. he suspects it'll be a little while before david's hangover is even remotely cleared up, and in all honesty he's not fully awake himself (and has a little big of a hangover, too).

instead he takes two hours to deal with himself and doubt his own actions, then another hour to remind himself that it won't take long for the rumors to reach his father that he got his whole fucking tab paid for by david king, even if it was subtle and he covered it up without much of an issue.

(in truth, his father's never even going to hear about it; he'll have more to say about who evan's kind-of-dating.)

the wait at the brewery when he does get that just makes him angrier, so by the time david pulls up, disheveled, sunglasses on, with a drink to try and keep him hydrated - evan's pretty close to blowing up, but has it mostly under control, even when david admits there was no friendly gesture involved. ]

You've never done that shit before and you expected me to just roll with it? Just - put up with you trying to show off in front of my girl? You trying to impress her?