Nor // AU

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[everyone's pretty thrilled that the two odd-men-out have finally been sent up to the surface for an extended mission. the underground world gets a little peace and quiet, and the boys get to stretch their legs. the sniper is much easier to assuage when there's a sun in the sky and more than cell walls to keep him occupied.

they've found a little bar in which to bide their time; shoved between a smoke shop and a greasy restaurant, it's a prime spot for anyone who wants to kick back after their shitty day job. it's dark, it's noisy. smells kind of like sweat and the cigarettes everyone's smoking just out back. someone is almost always blocking the hallway to the restrooms with their oblivious mass. but the neon signs reflect back through the lines of glasses and bottles pretty nice, and the booze is cheap if you order the right things, and there are enough chatty pricks around to keep Robin from getting bored. Irahl, for the most part, has had the luxury of getting plastered in peace.]

Comments

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Okay. Okay.

[Robin stops, swings around him. grabs his arm. pulls him along.]

I'm going to make you holds hands with me if you don't pay attention to where we're going.

[indigochild]

[he growls a little, but it's just an annoyed, human sound. and he shrugs out of the grip when he can, but he does tuck the bottle under his arm instead of continuing to look at it.]

I'm watching... I'm fine.

[he doesn't need to be babysat... especially up here, where he'd very much like to pretend that he's not currently being babysat.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he likes being growled at. it makes him cackle in turn, even though he surrenders the arm.]

Uh-huh. And I want to see you drink that whole thing of water before tonight is over, oka--

[hold up, good-looking boys at 2 o'clock. Robin doesn't slow down, but he sure turns to get a look--again, nearly knocking into a couple of people, only dodging away on account of above-human reflexes. he turns forward.]

Uh, what was I saying?

[indigochild]

[he watches Robin turn, and pointedly doesn't turn to watch whoever it is that he's eyeballing. it's a skill he's honed from working with a bunch of lowlifes day and day out. he keeps his gaze dutifully forward and down, patiently waiting for Robin's attention to return.]

Water. [--helpfully.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[and Robin, as he has probably learned, is practically a professional low-life.]

Oh yeah, drink that shit. Do you dehydrate? Serious question. Don't make fun of me.

[he keeps his words rattling with hardly any mind to back them up, making pace, steering them out of the way of incoming groups. Irahl always keeps his head down like that. another question boils away while the dragon does or doesn't answer.]

[indigochild]

Not really.

[which is a very simple version of a more complicated answer, but he doubts Robin will pursue it. he's answered with something, and that's probably what matters.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Oh, well. [he reaches up to playfully smack at his shoulder.] Humor me, drink it anyway. And another question. Are you into girls? You seem pretty...

[he waffles a little, like he had an adjective to give him along with the sudden question--but he doesn't. no descriptor comes.]

[indigochild]

[...hmm.

to his credit, he doesn't glance up or hesitate now anymore than he had earlier. if the question hits him strangely, he does an excellent job of hiding it.

it's only after Robin trails off and definitely leaves his sentence hanging that Irahl finally stirs, giving him a short, sideways look.]

...Pretty what?

[and he's only halfway sure that he actually wants the answer.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[maybe he's going easy on him... but, given the way his saunter is wobbling back and forth, and how he keeps squinting up at street signs, he might not have enough conniving mentality in him to go easy. Irahl might be safer than he fears.]

Ah, what's the word... Uninterested? You don't seem interested.

[or not.]

[indigochild]

Do I ever?

[seem interested, that is, in anything that isn't a meticulously-kept rifle.

he forges on, one foot in front of the other, in a doggedly straight line while Robin meanders back and forth. simply staying the course.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he laughs. again. he's very free with his laughter when he's had something to drink. it's not a mean one; he thinks it's funny that he'd say that, since it's pretty true.]

Nah, you pay attention to some things more than other stuff. [poor Irahl might find it a little hard to stay his course when Robin falls back to bump bodily into his side.] So you don't like girls.

[indigochild]

[oh, and there is an answer as to whether he's actually drunk or not. he's focusing on his own feet, carefully monitoring the ground in front of him, and then Robin goes and suddenly throws it all off. he knocks him off course mid-step, stumbling up those long legs of his and sending him staggering a hilarious few steps off to the side.

he rolls with it, luckily, and continues on until he finds his feet again so that he doesn't actually fall. which means he doesn't wander back to the same straight path he'd been following before until long, drunken moments later.]

...I never said that. [--once he's straightened out and carrying on like Robin never tripped him up.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Wow.

[he's... a little impressed. Irahl didn't drop his bottles or anything. he was a little concerned that he might have to dive in for an assist--but there he goes, wobbling back and heading in a straight line like nothing even happened.

so Robin catches up and takes the lead again, tucking his own bottles more securely, cutting them around a corner.]

...You like boys?

[this must be the pesky, irritating stage of Robin's night.]

[indigochild]

[pesky. definitely irritating. but Irahl isn't anything if he's not patient, long-suffering, and a monumental challenge to ruffle.

he takes the turn--both figuratively and literally--without a misstep.]

You like boys.

[he's heard the rumors.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[the well-timed comeback gets a low and somewhat-appreciative whistle from him, breaking into a tipsy little giggle.]

Don't be gross. [said despite a wide grin.] I mean guys. Fine adult men like yourself.

[indigochild]

Like you?

[they can continue to just bat the ball back and forth into each other's courts, sure.

and he's still looking at the ground in front of his feet as he goes. it's maybe so he can concentrate. walking like he's sober while also smoothly navigating this conversation is a feat of drunken willpower right now.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Like me?

[he shoots the question right back at him, with a flirty tone. it'll backfire in seconds, but it's funny for the second or two it sits there.]

[indigochild]

Just guessing that's where this was going.

[he smirks then. quietly, down at the ground without looking over. he's finding it funny too.]

And was going to argue that you don't fall into that group anyway.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Don't be rude, either. [he says this with another laugh.] I bought you alcohol, the least you can do is flatter me.

[indigochild]

'S that what you're looking for?

[and he finally surfaces from his straight march forward to look up and... around a little. like he's just noticing now that they're outside and heading somewhere.

he squints a little at the nearest road sign. ...he's maybe not been paying as much attention to what's going on around him as he should have been.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Mostly I just wanna know if you'd fuck a guy or not. This way.

[he turns around another corner. maybe to keep himself from laughing at his own sudden, blunt statement. lucky for Irahl, they don't have too much longer to go until they get to the hotel.]

[indigochild]

[this isn't the first time this has come up, and it won't be the last... but it's still a quiet shock every time. and it's worse when there's implied potential behind it, and not just simple antagonism.

again, he rolls with it--after buying a short moment for whatever internal reaction he's having by taking time to scrutinize another road sign.]

Depends on how much I'm being dared for.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[the most important part here is that, even when joking, it's not completely out of the question.]

Aaaah, all right. Fair enough, Stretch.

[as if prompted by the word, he shifts the bottles into his hands and stretches them up--the liquid slugs around uselessly in the glass, sounding almost musical.]

Yeah, I'm ready to call it a night. I feel burned out.

[indigochild]

Maybe you're getting old.

[he knows it's funny. and the joke mumbles out of him easily, because he's not trying to keep his back out of a conversational corner anymore. he feels just a little bit lighter.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Ha ha. [he smiles. maybe more genuinely and sweetly than he has in a while.] Shut up.

[he doesn't mind letting it sit in silence, after that. he can lead them back to the hotel without incident. he might take them down a wrong turn, once, and they may circle the block before he finds it--but he'll get them there.]