Log: All The Small Things

[notyourrookie]

Who: Wash (OU) and you!
What: Wash has completed his first job as a mercenary and is out to celebrate it
Where: Out and about in town, picking up some better equipment, and then to the Eagle and Asp for a drink
When: Afternoon to night 29/11
Warnings: None so far



It hadn't been the most glamorous of jobs, but any notion of glamour had been beaten out of him practically the day he'd enlisted. The important thing was that his first job as a registered mercenary had gone well and that was the first step to being able to take care of himself without having to rely on other people. Sure, it would take a few more jobs before he felt comfortable, but it was a start.

That was cause enough for celebration, right?

His first step is to head out to a supplier to stock up on equipment. Nothing fancy for now, but enough to get him started. A good gun or two, and a solid combat knife.

There's other things that he needs, an almost overwhelming amount, he realises now that he has the money to start thinking about it. Clothes that aren't fatigues or armour, and there's so many different kinds that it takes him far longer than it should to pick out what he needs.

And once that's done, he heads to the Eagle and Asp for a drink. It feels appropriate somehow.

Comments

[alphawho]

"Sooo let the loneliness eat at you until it gets you killed? That's totally better than what your other self is doing, right?"

[notyourrookie]

"I'm not lonely," Wash replies sharply. "It's what's kept me alive this long, because having 'friends' sure as hell did fuck-all on that front."

[alphawho]

"It's going to get you killed if you don't have anyone to watch your back, if you don't have anyone you can call for backup when things go south. And things will go south. Look, maybe try to make non fighting friends? Just. social. Social friends. Who have nothing to do with guns and knives and assassinations and shit."

[notyourrookie]

"Then I'll die," he says bluntly. "Better than being stabbed in the back again by someone I trusted." He gulps the last of his drink and puts the glass back down a little harder than necessary.

He lets out a sharp bark of laughter. "And what the hell do I have that would be of any use to them?" He's a ragged, bitter mess of a human being.

[alphawho]

Church is still at work and takes the glass to make another drink, but otherwise he's just staring at Wash like he's crazy. (Mostly because he is, but he knows better than to say it out loud and mean it.)

"You do have an understanding that friendship isn't a business deal, right? You don't have to be useful. Just...a friend."

[notyourrookie]

"Yeah, people say that. That you're friends. But in the end, it's always about what you can provide. You have to be useful or..." Or they'd leave you to die on a crashing spaceship, mind shattered, because there was always someone more valuable. "Have to be useful."

[alphawho]

"...Okay, Wash? Buddy? Really hoping that you understand how that sounds coming out of your mouth. Do you want me to get York again or...refill your drink with something stronger or like...ask around for some medication or something?"

[notyourrookie]

"I'm fine," Wash says, a harsh note to his voice. "I'm not crazy. I don't need to be drugged up, and I definitely don't need York or anyone to come after me."

[alphawho]

"Okay, jesus, fine," he says, lifting his hands in a surrendering gesture. "I'm just saying that maybe there's a reason people react around you the way they do."

[notyourrookie]

"It's a good thing that I don't. need. people. then, isn't it?"

[alphawho]

He leans his arms against the bar and leans toward Wash. "Y'know," he starts amicably, "you're being kind of an asshole." Pot, kettle! Kettle, pot! "I'm gonna get you something with more kick than this so you can go back to celebrating having a job. You sure as hell did it quicker than I ever did."

[notyourrookie]

"I am an asshole," Wash replies. He knows that. At least one person seems to get it. He's not a good person. He knows that he isn't.

"Yeah, yeah that would be good. And I was a good soldier. The skills are fairly transferrable."

[alphawho]

"Assholes gotta stick together, I guess. I mean, exhibit A, asshole primo." He goes about throwing something stronger. No umbrella because fuck you you already got a couple. "Anyway I mean, I didn't have any skills when I started looking for jobs. Did a lot of shit I probably shouldn't be proud of but actually kind of am in the meantime. So, y'know, it's good you got shit going pretty much right away."

[notyourrookie]

"I don't know how to do much else," Wash admits, waiting for the next drink. "You did what you had to to survive. Fuck them if they object."

[alphawho]

"You can always learn to do something new." Church gestures to the space around him. "Bet you could learn bartending. Or being a store manager. Or knitting."

[notyourrookie]

"Are you offering to teach me?" Wash asks, smirking at Church. "I'm not sure knitting would pay the rent."

[alphawho]

"I'm just giving examples, man. It's not like I got here knowing how to sling bottles of vodka like a pro."

[notyourrookie]

"You sure? You seem like the kind of guy who was doing it when you were still wearing diapers."

[alphawho]

"Is that you saying I was born awesome? I will totally take the idea of being born awesome."

[notyourrookie]

"Sure I could be saying that," Wash agrees, "or I could be saying all that booze as a child obviously had lasting effects."

[alphawho]

"My baby liver was a liver of steel straight from the womb."

[notyourrookie]

Wash snorts and shakes his head. "Right. Of course."

[alphawho]

"I picked pockets." It just kind of comes out when he slides over a Long Island, and he shrugs. "I know that's nothing like killing a man for the sake of a war, but. You do what you have to do, and you build from there."

[notyourrookie]

He glances up at Church for a moment and then nods. "If that's what you had to do 'm not gonna condemn you. You survived. That's what mattered."

[alphawho]

"Other stuff happened. Stuff I probably shouldn't say in my place of work. I didn't have anything, y'know? I didn't..." He waves a hand aside. "This isn't about me and my stupid story. What I'm saying is, what you can do right now? Is not all that you can be."