If we look right

As it ever was, Angelo knew it was getting late. But late was good, late was familiar. The hour meant the usual crowd at the Round packing tables and milling along the bar in the dim lighting as he and the other Seraphim went through their set, coaxing notes of pure velvet from their instruments. He felt good lately, like there was a blue sky only he could see. Maybe it was Lenore that had triggered it, maybe the dawning of the new year was finally impacting him with all of its' hopes.

Whatever it was? Angelo liked it, and it showed in how he smiled around his trumpet's mouth piece, fingers flexing to shape the last held note and draw it out for as long as the rasp of his drummer's high hat would go. Angelo only waited a moment for applause, given that there never was much, before he leaned in to speak into his microphone. "Alright, my fine fellow citizens," he murmured, "I can see our barkeep wavin' that dirty dishrag my way, you know what that means. Last call, right? So go on, get one more in, I'd toast you if I had one myself. We'll give y'all a sec 'fore we wind it down for the night."

Dodge had snuck in a few moments before Angelo announced last call. One More Round wasn't one of Dodge's usual haunts, but after his sleep schedule being thrown off he wasn't tired at a rightful hour. He'd sent the boys home and found his way here, figuring he'd let Angelo play him a lullaby. The bartender gave him a knowing smile and served him anyway, knowing full well that Dodge wasn't of age, nor could he pay for it. Raising the glass in mock toast he grinned back, pulled the fedora low on his brow and found his way towards the edge of the stage, lounging lazily in a chair.

They'd had enough encounters in the past that, with a bit more light, Angelo might've picked out the youthful face at the front of the stage. As it was, all he saw was a shadowy shape in an over-large hat settling into a seat, and that was okay with him. Anyone who seemed intent on witnessing his shows? Was someone Angelo would count as a friend. Still, he waited for another minute before the majority of the bar's crowd had either dispersed back into the room or settled on stools with their drinks before Angelo raised a hand to his side. "Two, three, four..." he counted off, bringing his hand in as the bassist started a slow ramble of deep, resonant notes.

"There was a time, my friends, an' I do count you all as friends," he murred into the mic in a lazy cadence, "When this whole world was connected. Not like there wasn't no oceans, or no nations fightin'. There always was, always will be. What I mean is... once? Long time back? We all knew that ever'thing was the same, even if it was diff'rent. Every man came from woman, every bird craved the sky, everybody saw the sun." Right on cue, the drums rolled low and steady behind him, striking up a rasp of tempo that got Angelo to sway in his seat for a moment.

See? This is what Dodge needed. He'd had a long ass day and he was tired, but unable to actually sleep. Yet he knew full well this was where he needed to turn, that Angelo could paint him a beautiful picture to fall asleep to. Shifting so he was a little more comfortable, he took another swig on the beer and listened closely. Dodge could already tell this was going to be a good one.

Swaying to the music of his bandmates, as he was wont to do, Angelo took a private moment before he spoke again. His smile was soft and soothing, hands wound around his trumpet like it fit there naturally. "Now, we can still see it if we look right," he murmured, "When war's declared an' every fella agrees it's right, when your team loses their ballgame, when all the ladies decide they like the same movie star..." Angelo laughed for a moment, drawing a small agreement laugh from the crowd. "But it ain't the same, people. Cuz then? We all felt it so strong that none of us was lonely. Not one man, woman, or child ever thought they was on they own."

He sat back, the smile fading as Angelo eyed the shadowed crowd intently, wondering just where his story was going to take the lot of them. He never quite knew, really; he just started talking, making sense of it as he went. "Now, of all the people? One lil' crew, it don' matter who they was, they said their bonds was strongest. They knew each other so well that they practically was each other. Weren't no secrets, no shame among them. An' weren't no way the rest of us could understand. So... even if China already had themselves one damn big wall?" he said with a grin, "These folk, they put up the firs' wall of a whole diff'rent kind."

Dodge had to grin at that one. It reminded him of his boys. The loyal band of misfits who'd been more of a family than the family he didn't remember. Only thinking of them also made him more weary. There was barely enough food to go around today. Dodge hoped the ball would give him what they would need but some days he wondered if they'd survive to the next.

"Started slow," Angelo crooned into the mic, "They was isolatin' themselves, pullin' up the metaphorical bridges. An' the rest of us? We followed suit, said we had pride for other things, aspects ofourselves no one else could touch. So... in time, we was all factioned up, grouped with people we trusted. 'Til, of course, we built new walls. Told ourselves we was better than that guy, prettier than that girl, smarter or better or whatever. Started splinterin' up inside our lil' kingdoms, breakin' connections."

He was silent for a solid handful of minutes after that, looking away from the crowd as his bandmates played on. "We was alone, each an' all of us, for the first time," he announced, "An' here we is today. But... I know some of y'all, you sayin' 'damn Angel! You ain't tell that kind of tale most nights!' An' that's cuz I ain't done. Cuz, shit, if we alone? Why we all here right now? Why do two a'you fellas drink the same brew? Root for your team? Why we do a damn thing 'sides die, if we alone?"

Taking the story in Dodge sat up and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his legs and pushing the fedora back on his head. He wasn't the only one in the room with the same reaction, other patrons were just as entranced. He was hanging on every word, just like he always was when he came to hear Angelo play.

Reaching a hand around the back of the microphone, Angelo leaned in until he was nearly kissing it, just daring to smile. "We not alone, people. We jus' forgot. We forgot so damn much that sometimes this city seems like our own private hell, an' every person's a devil. But they ain't. All we's doin' is tryin' to connect again, to remember. Share a seat on the bus, buy some dude a beer, give a nickel to a beggar under the Sixth? You jus' connected. But then you forget again. So... you go see a game, you go see a movie, you even come down here," he said, laughing, "An' you remember an it lasts, cuz you remember with all the rest of us. 'Course, tomorrow? You gon' forget again."

He sat back as the band wound down and the house lights gradually brightened just a bit. "An' you gonna remember again, too... s'how we stay connected, even when we feel alone. We all forget. We all remember. We in this together... so see each other home safe, y'all. I'm Angel, this is the Seraphim, we'll see you next time."

Dodge grinned again, leaning back in the chair, but making no move to leave. He was already feeling better from the combination of the story and the beer. He tilted the glass back as people started to shuffle up from tables and towards the door. "Angel, my man," he called just loud enough to be heard. "How's it hanging?" The playful grin was there despite the tired look in his eye. A tired look that was compounded with the black and blue shiner around his left eye.

Turning in his seat, Angelo had to glance around the bar in vague confusion as he heard the voice. It was too high to be any of the regulars he knew, too low to be Lenore... and when the patrons thinned, he had his answer. Dodge. Of course it would be the deft-handed street tough that Angelo had crossed paths with before. THe realization drew a lazy grin from Angelo as he rose from his seat.

'"Son, din't no one tell you? You never ask a black man how it's hangin," he chided with a smirk, "Though hell... looks like maybe somebody did." He'd reached out, fingertips moving towards Dodge's discolored eye as though they were drawn to the contrast of normal and bruised skin.

"Yea, a favor for a girl gone wrong, man, gone all sorts of wrong." Dodge grinned, knowing full well he looked a little off with the bruise and the sly grin. He didn't pull back against Angelo's touch, but then again he rarely did. Unlike his boys he who had lived in fear of Patrick's touch, Dodge didn't have those scars from the ordeal. No his were different, and lurked behind dark corners waiting for him. "Another good tale tonight, sir. The perfect lullaby."

Angelo sucked in a slow breath of concern as he heard the brief summary, head shaking at Dodge. When things went wrong in this city? They seldom ended quickly or simply. "Best to step light as you ever do," Angelo cautioned, "Downfall of every great man's preceded by a favor for a woman, you know." Of course, he was fairly confident that Dodge could take care of himself; he had so far. "S'a decent tale, just a reminder, but thanks," he went on, "Can't deny likin' the idea that I help somebody sleep."

Dodge looked a little sheepish, but smiled through it. "I'll think twice again before trudging through the tunnels again that's for sure. But it was one of those situations where it was me going or her, and I just felt better going myself." He kept the part about kidnapping Maddy to himself. Even though it had worked out but he was still a little unsure about that being the right tactic. He still blamed it for the change that somehow lead to the power struggle they found themselves in this morning.

"S'how all of man oughta be livin'," Angelo mused, casing up his trumpet as he lingered and talked with Dodge, "Make a choice an' stick to it, yeah? Don' question it, don' look back or wonder why you din' do otherwise. Oughta be up on stage y'self, mister Dodge, peddlin' your wisdom." He grabbed the case by the handle, rising from his seat and closing the small gap between his spot and Dodge's table. "Hell, I bet the folks round here might take to it, y'could probably do it in half the time of this ramblin' fool," he added with a grin, slapping his free hand on his chest.

"I highly doubt they want to hear what I say my friend. Highly doubt it." That had always bothered Dodge, that so many considered him so below themselves. What made them better? Their fancy houses? Their boring jobs? Was it so wrong that he was happy with his life? "Prince of Thieves or not, no one hears wisdom coming from a street urchin's mouth."

Angelo chuckled knowingly, shaking his head at Dodge and catching the barkeep's scowl as his gaze wandered. With the place closing down and the house lights on, he doubted that there'd be much consideration for Dodge now, and the last thing he wanted was to see the younger man sporting two black eyes. "Thing is, when I started up here? Barkeep said that none a'these people would want to hear what I was sayin' neither," he mused, head canting to urge Dodge to follow him, "An' now look... seems like maybe a person or three does."

Dodge smiled, finishing his beer and leaving the empty glass on the table. "You've managed to pack the house each night," he pointed out as he followed Angelo's lead. "Alas though, you'd be surprised how little they listen to me." His thoughts ticked back to the ball and the room full of people who thought they were better than him. He'd blended in just fine hadn't he?

"You an' Cassandra the Greek," Angelo mused, shaking his head again and tossing an errant wave to the varkeep as he moved for the door, "Let's jus' hope it ends better f'you than it did with her, yeah?" He shouldered into the Round's door, leaning against it to hold it for Dodge as Angelo drank in his first non-bar breath of air in several hours now. " 'Sides, sometimes it's best to be surrounded by the deaf, you know? You want people to hear, but you don' always want 'em to listen..."

"Was she the one with the box?" Dodge asked, knowing next to nothing about Greek mythology or history or whatever. But one of them had a box she shouldn't have opened. He'd heard that story somewhere. Moving lithely through the door way Dodge turned his collar up against the cold and rain. "And sometimes they still hear too much," he pointed out. Not that it mattered, he ran a band of boys who were almost always listening to something.

As they stepped away from the meager overhang, Angelo snapped open the tattered old umbrella he tended to carry for nights like this, grinning up at the largest gap between the wires of the frame. "Naw, that was Pandora," he corrected, "Cassandra was a seer, predicted herself great catastrophe and tried to warn folks. Din' no one listen..." It didn't take many meetings with Angelo to tell that he wasn't an educated man by any stretch, but he had a degree of intellect, and a passion for stories. " 'Course, I find that in this city?" Angelo went on, starting a lazy stroll towards his apartment and thinking that Dodge's boys had hidden somewhere not too far beyond it in the past, "Ever'one listens. Most folk, m'self included, usually get stuck right 'tween hearin' too much an' hearin' just enough to pique some curious natures. You breathin', Mr. Dodge. Count it as a win."

"Pandora," Dodge mused, pulling the fedora low again to keep the rain off his face. He was well educated for his stature, but while Dodge could read and write, his knowledge base was still a little patchy. "So the catastrophe hit anyway?" For some reason the story made him curious. "And no one was ready?" He didn't mind ducking in a little closer, trying to catch some of the umbrella's cover. The mister title got Angelo a good sized grin. Dodge could always appreciate when someone gave him the respect he fully thought he deserved. "Breathin' is always a win. But we both know there's more to be had than just that."

"And no one was ready," Angelo echoed in confirmation, nodding a little and tilting the umbrella to share the cover. "Even my girl Cass din' escape unscathed. Thing about it is... knowin' what happens next don't mean you can change it. Might even mean you cause it." It was food for thought, a tiny idea that Angelo intended on mulling over in private. "An' the thing 'bout breathin'? Yeah, there's more to be had, you jus' gotta know where the line is to have enough. Cuz we got cemetaries, Potter's Field, an' even a whole legion of cement shoes in the harbor fulla folks who didn't see that line. Me? I'll take breathin' and a bed."

Knowing the end, might mean you bring it about, he thought, considering the thought. It was more than he usually pondered with, but still interesting. It would probably be something that kept him up late at night. "Rules are made to be broken," he told Angelo, but it lacked his usual kick. No Angelo had mentioned not needing more than breathing and a bed and Dodge's thoughts had drifted back to Evie and his own empty bed. Of course it hadn't been empty recently had it? No, there was the morning with Maddy to contend with. The frustration showed on his face some, while he tried to sort the two girls out.

Angelo chuckled again at the truism, craning his head back as a few drops of rain fell through and letting them dribble down his forehead. "Even that rule?" he asked Dodge, grinning over cryptically. "Ain't no sense in doin' a thing jus' to do it, after all. So sometimes, yeah, shake your life up, break a rule. An' other times? Surprise all the folks who expect you to act out by not actin' out." Dodge had a good niche carved out in the city, and there were times when Angelo would even envy it. The freedom, the exuberance, the camraderie... but who said he didn't have measures of those things in his own life? "Only rule I always break is the one sayin' that someone knows what I need better'n I do. Ditch that one, an' you got a whole lot less in general to sort through."

"I like to think I'm living proof that no one can tell me what I deserve," Dodge answered, grateful for the reprieve from the troubles of his heart. He believed it though, that he was continually proving just that. Most who met him assumed he'd be an ignorant street kid with nothing but sticky fingers and a authority complex. Dodge was so much more than that though, no matter what they told him. Yes, he was only the prince of thieves, but he was still a prince.

"You an' me both, friend," Angelo assured him, tilting his umbrella again to let the rain fall through the gap onto Dodge with a grin. "Right here? Got me a view of the sky, an' I don' care if it's rainin'. I deserve it, an' I'll take this one for now. Get a better one one a'these days." He never really knew what other people assumed about him, but Angelo never dwelled on it for long in any case. They didn't see what he saw, not when he looked at Dodge or Lenore or even a crowd in a dark bar. "So where you boys squattin' at these days? I'm of a mind to come on by for a sketch or three if you'd oblige."

The rain falling on him didn't have much affect with the fedora, but he got the idea and followed it up with a playful punch. Squinting at the sky a little he wished for less rain. But then when was the weather ever nice? If it wasn't wet it was cold. "We're still in Patrick's place," Dodge explained. "Just cause he left doesn't mean we can give up prime real estate. Granted...well no one would take his room besides me." Shoving his hands in his pockets he looked over at Angelo. "I'm sure I can wrangle a few of them for sketching, but some of them are still a little...jumpy around adults." Dodge was never sure what anyone knew about Patrick, but he'd been vocal about it enough when he got Patrick arrested. He'd taken on the role of witness, and then saw to it that Patrick got what was coming to him before there was a need to say anything to anyone besides the police.

That wasn't too surprising to hear, and the fact that even Dodge trusted Angelo this small bit was a good thing. He'd been in the system himself, he knew how badly it could fail the kids who were stuck in it. So if they all survived better under Dodge's guidance and away from adults? So be it. "Think you showed that you know how to find me, so do it if it's alright. If not? Well, I doubt this' the last night we gon' cross paths..." he trailed, chuckling and breathing deeply from the night air. Even with the rain, the smells of the night markets in Chinatown were unmistakable, one of the little heralds that Angelo took comfort from on his walks home every night.

"It's hard to hide from me," he pointed out, knowing full well that between his boys and the general population of street kids in town there was little information that he missed out on. "And no matter the outcome, we'll talk again." He slowed his pace, as this was where their paths would diverge. He'd gotten what he needed out of the stop, a moment or two to clear his head, and settle his demons so he could sleep better tonight.

"Sounds good, sounds good indeed," Angelo crooned, grinning and nodding his head to the cadence of his own words. He glanced each way at the curb before them, wary of late-night traffic, of muggers, of a drunk driver with his lights off, and at the last moment? He gave his unbrella a twist, shaking rain drops off in an arc around them as he offered it to Dodge, still open. "Thinkin' you might have a farther shot of walkin' than me," Angelo explained, "An I've had this ol' girl for a long stretch now, why not give her some new sights? Keep it least 'til you see me again. Jus' don' forget there's stars hidin' past it, past the rain an' clouds. Deal?"

Dodge took the umbrella without question, twisting it so that most of him was covered. "I 'preciate it old friend," he told Angelo with a smile. Taking a few steps backwards down his street, he touched the edge of the fedora in farewell. "I'll be seeing you," he said before turning around and disappearing into the night.