Scoping Out the New Place

The gaze was a touch intense and Mickey couldn’t help but look a little confused before smiling.”I’m thinking plumbing and wiring behind the bar. Can’t run a club without a functioning bar right?” he asked, trying to be disarming even if Miles seemed to have moments of inching towards frightening.

Miles ran a hand through his hair, nodding, now looking at the floor. “Not a successful one, anyway.” When he eventually looked up, he gave Mickey a crooked smile. “Look, I...” he started without any real idea of how to finish. He was sorry for staring at the guy like he might be kind of a nutcase? He was wondering if he was in over his head with it all? “I think I got caught up in my head for a moment there. It happens.” Miles shrugged, trying to seem kind of jovial about it while trying to assure Mickey it was nothing to do with him.

Mickey watched Miles, smile still there even if it went for jovial to reassuring. “Don’t feel like you have to apologize or something like that,” he said even if Miles hadn’t, he just seemed to be inching his way there. “Just relax. Promise I don’t bite.” He patted Miles on the shoulder, probably a little harder than he should, but he was used to a stronger stock.

Miles nodded again, though he was sure he’d be apologizing before long. And probably not relaxing either. Mickey seemed like a nice guy and all but it was another new person to have to deal with. Not bothered by the force of the pat, he smiled a little because the poor guy was trying his best. “We should go and check out the bar,” he said, starting to drift over there. “Eily seems keen to get things up and running as soon as she can.”

Mickey followed at his own lumbering pace, moving more with what was comfortable for him than anything else. “She does doesn’t she? I swear, we just talked a few days ago and this didn’t come up. Actually we were talking about her not being in society any more and now this. It’s a little out of nowhere, but I’m glad she roped me in to help.” He shrugged once, ducking behind the bar to inspect it.

Part of Miles wanted to ask about the leg. Knowing how he felt about people prying into his problems, he kept his questions to himself. It helped him feel a little less conscious of his own deficits. But not quite enough. “I like it. She knows what she wants, she’s got the means to do it and she’s going for it.” As he spoke, Miles looked over the workings of the bar. “And since she’s managed to get Ally on board, here I am.”

When Miles said Eily had the means for the bar, Mickey couldn’t help the confused look on his face. She’d told him she had nothing hadn’t she? How did she suddenly have something, something enough for all this. He didn’t want to judge, he wouldn’t judge, but it was a surprising turn of events that he wasn’t sure he had the full picture on. “She does do that, get what she wants.” She had Mickey after all, and he wasn’t even sure how she’d done it, he just knew he’d dropped things to help her out now. “So you and Ally are a packaged deal then?” he asked Miles, getting the topic off Eily’s new means for opening a bar and focusing on something else.

“She’d be silly to go into this without any means of doing so. Eily doesn’t strike me as silly,” Miles explained. “There’s the cost of getting the place off the ground, overheads. She must know what she’s doing.” Or Miles assumed she did. Otherwise she was wasting her time and effort. “Pretty girls usually do,” he commented with a bit of a smile. He didn’t know the nature of Mickey and Eily’s relationship but he could see how she’d be able to rope him into helping, as he’d put it. If it was Ally, Miles knew he’d be doing the exact same thing. “We’re old friends. She’s used to me being around,” he said simply because trying to explain them was far too complicated.

Mickey pondered that then nodded. “No she’s not silly and she does tend to know what she’s doing.” Which meant something had changed in the past few weeks. “Well it’s not quite...alright it is that. Sucker for a pretty face.” And Mickey had bought the whole song and dance and here he was, helping however Eily needed him. “I get that, the old friends bit. I have the same thing with a girl I went to school with. She’s probably the last of my schoolmates I kept in touch with.” Not with everything getting as difficult as it had. Old friends had just fallen by the wayside.

“I’ve told her I’ll help with the boring parts anyway. If she wants to get carried away with the excitement of it all, it doesn’t matter so much.” He was good at the meticulous. Trying to keep things in order and a tendency to pick holes had their uses. Though Miles shook his head, he was still smiling. “You, me and every other poor sap on the planet. It’s how it goes.” Hopefully Eily wasn’t taking too much advantage of it. She’d seemed like a straight up enough girl. He cast a quick glance over at Mickey, surprised. Him and Ally were no doubt very different to Mickey and his friend but it made a change for someone not to assume he either trying to bed her or one step above being a stalker. “People don’t really get it most of the time. She’s just... her.” With that he shut up. What he said and what he felt were two very different things.

“I think I signed up for heavy lifting,” Mickey said. Eily wasn’t one to get caught up in the rush of things, but that was probably why she’d brought Ally in on things. When Miles started talking about Ally though, Mickey leaned back watching the other guy. “You know, been very good friends with Elle for a long time, she knows me more than most,” he explained, thinking that Elle knew him better than anyone else honestly. “But I don’t think I’d ever describe her that way.” Mickey smiled though, guessing it was some sort of crush that wasn’t amounting to much, which he had more experience with than most.

Miles stared at the bar in front of him, trying to look occupied by that. Actually, one of the sockets looked kind of loose... He closed his eyes for a second, bringing himself back to the conversation. “There’s no other way to describe her, really,” he replied, tone casual. “I used to help her out. She’s probably just trying to return the favour. And as you say, she knows me pretty well.” He finished with a shrug. That was kind of the condensed version of it.

“So she’s with you out of pity?” Mickey asked, leaning against the bar to look at Miles. “That I doubt. She doesn’t strike me as the type to do something because she feels sorry for a guy, or at least not to the depth you two have. Plus, what could you need help with?” He shrugged once then tried the water on the large utility sink, watching it gurgle then splash into the basin.

There was no way Mickey would have known it but what he said struck a nerve. Ally did feel sorry for him. She was always trying to put him back together. Even if it wasn’t her place to. He’d helped her out and now he was the burden she felt like she should carry. There was a long time where he said nothing at all. “Have you talked to her at all?” he asked eventually. He guessed that Ally probably hadn’t divulged the reason for his mannerisms but he wasn’t completely sure. She might have done, trying to be helpful. Maybe that was why Mickey had been so readily forgiving of him.

Mickey had fiddled with the sink through the quiet, pleased to see that things worked and water didn’t come rushing around his feet. There were some things he’d replace, washers, pipes and such but nothing that was a deal breaker on the plumbing. Looking up at Miles question he glanced towards the two women, not sure whom he was speaking of right away but settling for the current topic of conversation. “Ally? No, not more than what you’ve seen with the hellos and explaining my profession of choice. Should I?”

Miles let out a quiet sigh. That left it to him to explain. Unless he just didn’t bother. Wouldn’t be the first time. If he was going to be working alongside Mickey, it wasn’t really fair to leave him in the dark. “Just wondered.” And again with the silence. “She likes to reassure people I’m not crazy. Which I’m not, in case there were any doubts.” The comment was a tad snippy, but directly inwardly rather than at Mickey. “So you’re aware of the situation, I’ll give you the short version - got a head injury, sometimes I lose tracks of things, sometimes I’ll seem kind of out of it, I can manage it, it’s fine.” There. Done.

“Hadn’t considered the crazy bit,” Mickey said. “Not yet at least.” There was a smirk there, something almost teasing, as if trying to lighten the air. “Alright, forgetful and tend to drift. Not sure that’s reason enough really to look as downtrodden as you do mate. I’ve got a neighbor like that, forever leaving her keys in the lock of her door, letting the cat out like it’s a dog, not listening to you when you explain stuff. At least you got the injury bit as an excuse. She’s just not playing with the full deck or she is and she’s a mean old hag.” Mickey grinned, patting Miles’ shoulder again. “How’d you get hurt?”

Miles tried his best to smile but he couldn’t help it coming out wry. He got that Mickey was trying to make him feel better, less awkward. The story about his neighbour didn’t really help matters though. “I don’t have a cat,” he said. It was supposed to be a joke. Or something like that. “And I’m not going to forget your name or who you are or anything like that.” He should have just told Mickey to talk to Ally. She’d be better at this than he was. He probably sounded like a jerk. “The war,” he said simply. Like that explained everything. A reason to look as downtrodden as he did.

“Lucky for the cat,” Mickey said smiling brightly, assuming it was a joke. He could joke along with the best of them. “Wasn’t worried you’d forget, but if you did, I’d just remind you. Not that hard to do.” When he mentioned the solider part, Mickey perked up more, eyeing Miles a little. “Soldier then. Lucky man. Well, not the getting hurt part but the soldier part. I went for it and they laughed me out the door.”

“Just saying. People get the wrong impression. Think I’m going to wake up one day completely devoid of any kind of sense.” Truth be told, it was a secret worry that plagued him. No one seemed to fully understand what was wrong with him. Maybe he’d get worse. What a prospect. For a moment he felt both sad and pleased for Mickey. Miles knew what it was like to have dreams crumble but at least it’d shielded him from what went on out there. “Marine. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” he said gently, purely for Mickey’s benefit. There was little in life he wouldn’t trade to be able to go back.

“People do, but I try not to judge too quick. No one is ever what they seem to be.” Mickey nodded sagely. “And really any of us could wake up one day devoid of any sense.” Shaking his head he sighed. “Marine, even better. Congrats man, that’s an honor. And even if it wasn’t, it would have been nice to help. I didn’t even get the chance.” Nor did he appreciate being treated as if he was useless just because of his legs. It was probably part of what drove him to work as hard as he did.

He looked over to Mickey for a moment. Miles was starting to like him. “I’d agree with you there. And thanks.” The last part came out kind of awkwardly but he was grateful. The guy seemed to accept what Miles had said and carry on. No slew of probing questions or overwrought sympathy. “I did okay for myself. I’d like to think I did something useful.” Again he glanced over to the other man. “No one thought I’d make it. Not the right material.” Miles gave a shrug. He’d intended to try and make Mickey feel better about not getting in but he wasn’t sure if it was coming across that way. “You’ve got a good set up here. “ He gestured over to Eily. “I don’t know any soldiers that look like that.”

“Nothing to thank me for,” Mickey pointed out, giving Miles another smile. “Just being there was useful. And if you got in, someone saw something in you. The ones who said you didn’t have it were wrong. Obviously. Good to hear you made it home safe though. I’m sure someone else would have been upset to see you gone.” He smiled again, looking towards Eily and shaking his head. “I wish I could say that’s an everyday thing, being surrounded by beautiful women, but it’s not. She came out of nowhere with an impressive right hook and I am completely out of my depth. I spend most of the time with her alternating between wondering just what the hell I’m doing or what the hell she’s doing with me. No answers on either front.” He shrugged and looked back at Miles. “What can I do though right? Not like I’m gonna stop riding this out wherever it takes me.”

As much as Miles wanted to believe it, these days he was starting to side with the naysayers. Had he been up to it, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt in the first place. Nor would anyone else. When it had counted, he hadn’t been good enough. “Still in one piece,” was all he said. He wondered if by ‘someone’ Mickey meant Ally or just that there was bound to be someone who would miss him. Without thinking about it he found himself looking at the brunette. As soon as he caught himself, he went back to looking at his work. “An impressive right hook?” Miles quirked a smile. Sounded like there was a story behind that. But he had to shake his head when Mickey described what was going on with Eily. He could relate to that. “As long as the ride doesn’t end with you hitting a brick wall. Or tumbling off the tracks.”

Mickey watched Miles look at Ally and grinned. “I meant her,” he clarified. Even if they were just friends, Ally was still around wasn’t she? If Miles hadn’t meant anything she would have let him go off to war and that be the end of that. “Yes, impressive. We re-met in the middle of the brawl at the gallery in Little Haven. The girl is capable of holding her own,” he explained sounding impressed because he had been. “It’s likely to take me to either one given who I am and who she is, but what the hell right? Live once, die once.” At least that was the best answer he had for how to handle things with Eily.

“She...” He almost brought up how Ally had hugged him on the platform before he’d left, about their plans for a trip that never happened. Still he found he couldn’t really talk about it. He didn’t want to think about it most of the time. “There’s just history there, that’s all.” Thankfully Mickey seemed perfectly happy to talk about Eily. “I’ll have to remember that. I don’t think I’d live down being beaten up by her.” He tried to picture her in a brawl but it didn’t quite work for him. “I guess when it comes down to it the ride is all there is. Might as well make it a good one if you can.”

“That much is obvious,’ Mickey said about the history between Miles and Ally, especially with the way Miles kept getting hung up on his words. “I wouldn’t live it down either,” he agreed shaking his head. “It’s my thought for now. I might take it back after it crashes and burns, but for now I’m gonna stick with it.”

Frowning a little, Miles shook his head. “It’s a long story, and not entirely mine to tell.” He didn’t think Ally would appreciate him blurting out about her engagement, her flit out of it and everything that followed. “Anyway, I’m not sure if me coming back or not made much difference. She still misses Miles. That isn’t what got shipped back home.” God, now he sounded like Robyn. He shook his head again, slightly embarrassed at himself for saying that. “If it crashes and burns, you pick yourself up and carry on. Chalk it all up to experience, take something good from it and keep going.” It sounded kind of hollow coming from him.

“It is too. She wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t,” Mickey pointed out, not letting Miles sell himself short. Mickey’s realization that Eily was out of of his league was one thing, but Miles and Ally had a history, which meant they were closer to the same level. That was a different story all together. “Sounds like good advice,” he added, with a tone of ‘you should take it as well’ to it. Shaking his head he smiled and went back to following the lines for the different taps under the bar, checking that everything was in order.

“She’s here now because she thinks I need taking care of,” he told Mickey, the frustration clear in his voice. “Because without her I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.” Ally wasn’t wrong about that, for several reasons. As much as he hated it. “She thinks that I’m going to do a bunch of pointless little tests and then I’ll be cured. It’s not going to happen.” Rant done with, his hand went through his hair and he completely avoided looking at Mickey. He didn’t like to be that pent up aggression guy but he was so it happened. “Yeah. It works for some people,” he said gruffly, some of the less than stellar mood lingering.

Mickey was silent as Miles ranted, listening patiently. “Well then you tell her and see what happens. If she stays or not,” Mickey suggested, though it was a light suggestion, not meant to upset Miles any. “But not for everyone, no,” he agreed even if it wasn’t said. The mood didn’t bother Mickey, especially since it wasn’t directed at him.

Knowing he’d said too much already, far more than he’d ever intended, Miles closed up. Ally knew how he felt about himself, about being looked after, about the stupid exercises. He didn’t need to be told that her sticking around meant something it didn’t. He just gave Mickey a nod and hoped it looked like he’d taken the advice on board. “I thought this place was going to be far worse but the bar’s not looking so bad. Unless the horrors are still to come,” he said finally, abandoning the issue of Ally for something much easier to deal with.

Mickey didn’t miss the way Miles skated over everything and moved on to something else. That was normal and it wasn’t like they really knew each other either. “No it’s not in too bad of shape. There’ll be work to do and odds are I’ll be living here the first weekend cleaning up whatever mess comes up to keep the doors open, but yeah, it could be a lot worse.”

“I’m not afraid of hard work. Since this is your forte, point out something you want doing and I’ll get on with it. Or write me a list. Tends to work well.” Miles might have been overcompensating a little for being harsh with Mickey but at least it was productively so. He didn’t mind being ordered about, and did want to help. “I don’t exactly lead the most exciting life so I can be here whenever.”

“Well I don’t think I’d mind the help,” Mickey said smiling. “Though living in a back room in this dusty place would be an improvement on my apartment.” It would be out of the Sprawl which would be an improvement. “I think this place is going to make both our lives more exciting.” He ran a hand over the bar then tapped it twice.

“Your place must be a lot like mine. Run a broom around here and you’d be set. Clean too much in my apartment and things start to crumble. It can’t handle it.” That was what you got when you lived in a crappy neighbourhood. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, and it was better than home. A little smile formed on his face at Mickey’s optimism. “Here’s hoping. Though I suspect you’re going to be right.”

“Are you sure we don’t live in the same building?” Mickey asked grinning. “I actually don’t want to know what’s under the dirt and grime in my place.” Holding up a still slightly greasy hand, he made another face. “I wouldn’t quite fit in any other place though. If the place is too nice, I’m the one getting it dirty.”

“I don’t know about you but I’m stuck in the Sprawl. And near enough every building is like that in the Sprawl.” He should have adopted Mickey’s mentality and given up on trying to make the place gleam. It was always going to have that film to it no matter how hard he tried. “There’s different levels of dirt. That kind you can get rid of,” he said, nodding to Mickey’s hand. With a quiet humor he added, “Nothing to be downtrodden about.”

“Yeah that’s what you say, but try and try as I might, grease never really comes out. Seems to just be that way,” Mickey said with a shrug. “Someone says she doesn’t mind it though, so either she’s a grad liar or maybe I am just really lucky.” He shrugged a little, smiling towards Eily. “I’m in the Sprawl too. You’ll have to look me up some time.”

“From what I understand plenty of women prefer a man to be kind of rough around the edges.” He could imagine a woman with an impressive right hook falling into that category. And Mickey seemed pretty sweet on her so Miles didn’t want to bring him down. “Will do,” he said with a nod.

Mickey rubbed at his chin again, regretting the scruff again. “Yeah maybe. Guess I’ll find out the hard way.” He smiled again and nodded. “Alright then. Good plan. Come on, we’ll see what else this place has to offer.”

“Better than not finding out at all,” Miles said with a bit of a shrug. He might have been rough around the edges but at least Mickey wasn’t a coward. Another nod and he wandered off further into the building, slowing his pace a little so he didn’t wind up leaving Mickey too far behind.

Ally watched Miles and Mickey head off to look at the bar while her and Eily headed over to see if they could find a way to get upstairs. Glancing over at her friend, she had an eyebrow raised. “So Mickey seems nice.”

"He is nice." Eily said, glancing down a short corridor where there were a few doors. Trying them, she found one held the stairs. So she headed up them, expecting Ally to follow. "He's nice, and he's cute, and he's helpful and handy." she explained.

She did indeed follow, grimacing a little at the dirt and dust on the stairs. “He seems pretty smitten with you,” she said. It wasn’t hard not to notice the way Mickey kept looking over at the blonde with that kind of wistful look.

Eily also noticed that good lord, the upstairs needed more cleaning than the downstairs, and she'd thought that might be totally impossible. And yet. "He seems to enjoy my company so far." she agreed. "Though we re-met under interesting circumstances." she added, looking around for a light when she got to the top of the steps.

Sneezing a few times, Ally groped around the wall and found a switch. A bulb overhead fluttered weakly to life, casting long shadows. Ally could’ve sworn she heard something scurrying across the hallway further down and she shuddered. “Maybe we should get a couple cats... And how’d you two re-meet?”

"At least one cat might be good..." Eily agreed. Because yeah. If she didn't have to deal with rats? She'd be all the happier. Plus, it might be kind of cool, having a club cat. "You remember the gallery that was attacked?" she asked. "Wasn't that long ago. Well, I was there, and so was he, and we were chatting when it happened. It's how I got this." she said, holding up her cast to show her. "We sort of fought together, and can I just say? The boy looks really good a little roughed up." she admitted.

“Battle wounds,” Ally said solemnly. “Very impressive.” She grinned and carefully headed forward. The boards didn’t look rotted but they definitely squeaked but that was pretty standard with all older buildings. “So does that complicate the Mr Female Population scenario?” Nosy? Yes, it was but it was just the two of them up here and this situation was starting to get interesting.

"No surprise that I was fighting?" Eily asked with a blink. She'd thought that would at least get a questioning look out of Ally. She spotted a huge semi circular window set into one wall. Some of the panes were cracked and would cost a pretty penny to fix, but good lord it was gorgeous. She was in love, immediately. "As for complications, it's not like anything's changed since I talked to you about it yesterday, so no. It's just more information that you didn't have before."

She smiled a little bit and watched Eily examine the window. "Well, I've always suspected you're the type of girl who doesn't stand idly by when things go belly up. You just have that about you. You do something. You don't seem like you'd hide under tables or flee in horror when confronted by the possibility of spiders." It was very fond the way Ally said it and she walked over to stand next to her friend. "Some of our peers found that intimidating but I think that's what gives you spark."

"It wasn't spiders, it was a bunch of thugs with masks and knives. People died." Eily said, still watching out the window. "Some of our peers wound up in caskets. And someone was shooting. But I don't know who."

Ally hadn't heard about deaths, just that some gang had broken in and she winced, feeling stupid again. It wasn't that she was insensitive, she didn't know. Feeling sick she moved away to peer down the dimly lit hall. "I'm sorry," she said gently, knowing that really wasn’t good enough but she wasn’t exactly sure what else she could say that didn’t seem hollow.

Eily looked over and drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "It's okay. It was in the papers and everything, maybe you don't read it. Not that there's usually much in there to actually read..." she added, wanting to sweep it all aside. "Anyways, he was there and we both weren't overly pleased with people busting in with blades. He wasn't bad, really."

She didn't actually read the paper all that often. Eily was right about that but she was pushing it aside so Ally went with it, still feeling like a tool. She really needed to think more before she talked. "You said that was re-meeting. Did you know him in school?"

"Yeah, a little? Not that we talked or anything, but I had seen him before, I remembered him." Eily explained. "I'm in love with this window. I need this window." she added, pointing to it. "This right here is a selling piece to a place like I want. You talk to Miles yet?"

"You know what would be awesome? Stained glass." Which would be a ton of money but Ally moved forward to examine the broken panes. "Just the broken ones. This is western facing, right? You'd get the great evening sunlight through it. And no. I haven't. I was thinking later after we're done here. He'll be in a good mood. He concentrates better when he's not so distracted."

"Stained glass would be awesome." Eily agreed, laughing. "Perfect." She'd find the money for it. It would really be spectacular. Then she looked over again. "You planning anything special for your talk?" she asked. "maybe a little alcoholic lubrication?"

"You could definitely get themed panes to go with the rest of the club. That could be cool." Looking back at Eily she raised an eyebrow. "You did not just say 'alcoholic lubrication'."

"Get a few drinks in yourself and him." Eily suggested. "Not enough to be drunk, just enough to be a little buzzed. It'll make things easier, less awkward." She'd been there before, really. Not with confessions like Ally was heading into, but just in general. Society parties were easier once everyone was on their third glass of champagne.

Ally didn't have a problem knocking back a few but she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Miles drink. It was before he went to war. Then again, what he did in his apartment wasn't her business. "I'll invite him over. I have a nice bottle of wine I bought the other day. You know, I never had to do this before with guys. It was them coming after me, not the other way around." Those were the good old days.

Eily smiled at that. "Yes, but occasionally, men don't know how to go after what they want. Or they need little nudges. So...nudge. Or shove, which ever comes first." she encouraged her friend. "And of course you'll need to tell me every single little detail the next time we see each other." she said with a firm nod.

"Just like you need to tell me every single detail of how your dinner with Mickey goes tonight," Ally reminded, wagging a finger at Eily. "We'll make a night of it. Drinks and snacks. And I can nudge. Nudging is good. I nudge him all the time. This isn't any different. It's just nudging for personal gain." It was Miles which is what made her nervous. "What do you think they're talking about down there?"

Eily laughed. “I will.” she promised. She didn’t know what it was going to entail, but she’d dish. “...us?” she suggested. “Or nothing that isn’t business.” Which was also possible. “Let’s go find out.” she added, having seen enough of the upstairs. With that, she grinned in Ally’s direction, took her hand and led them back downstairs to join the boys.