OTA

[jageskro]

It was like an itch you knew you weren't supposed to scratch. A lot of things had become clearer to Jag, about himself, since he'd watched Hex's videos, and somehow, the closer it came to the time Val would be back, the more Jag wanted to give in to his 'old' habits and do something really stupid. Start a bar in a fight with an arsehole or two, and get hurt.

It was as far from healthy as he could get, he realised, and that was why he hadn't started a bar fight in over a month now. He was in a bar right now, having a pint and trying to resist the desire to walk over to the bastards in the booth right behind him. Their racist, homophobic conversation wasn't making it easy on him. He was waiting for the misogyny to make an appearance, really. He'd barely touched his pint in the last ten minutes and was gnawing on his thumb's nail, feet propped on his bar stool, one leg bouncing.

Comments

[london_spy]

"Yeah?" Danny asked, holding up his pay with a smile. "Me too, I think."

[jageskro]

Jag nodded with a small, appreciative smile. "All right, then. First drink's on me."

[london_spy]

"Yeah? Cheers," Danny smiled, offering his hand. "I'm Danny, by the way."

[jageskro]

"Jag," he introduced himself, reaching out to shake his hand, before he started walking. There was a pub sign just down the street.

[london_spy]

"Lovely to meet you, Jag," Danny smiled, pulling his phone out when it chirped- The posh one he'd received at the Christmas party- and then smiling when he saw Hex's face next to a new text.

"Still not used to this thing," he admitted, showing it to Jag. "It's much more complex than my old one. No buttons either."

[jageskro]

"I know, I..." Jag frowned as he noticed the picture, and then chuckled. "Friend of Hex's? Small world."

[london_spy]

"You know Hex?" Danny replied, lighting up. "We're good friends, yeah. He's lovely. He was there when I got diagnosed. Took me home, made sure I didn't do anything stupid. We've been friends ever since."

[jageskro]

"Friend of a friend," Jag confirmed with a nod, smiling at Danny's words. Sounded like Hex really was as kind a person as Fin. "Don't know him much, but he seems all right."

[london_spy]

"He's lovely," Danny nodded, texting back, then slipping his phone back into his pocket. "So what do you do for a living, Jag?" he asked.

[jageskro]

"I'm a busker," Jag answered, and flicked the butt of his cigarette into the gutter as they walked. "Fire performer."

[london_spy]

"Really?" Danny asked. "How'd you learn to do that? Was it hard?"

[jageskro]

"It was... challenging," Jag settled on with a half smile. "But I have a knack for it." To say the least. "It came fairly naturally to me. I just - I needed to learn the basics."

[london_spy]

"I can't even juggle oranges," Danny admitted with a smile, looking down at his feet and deliberately not stepping on a single crack, as though he was playing some sort of childish game with himself.

[jageskro]

"Oranges were harder to me than fire," Jag told him, as if confiding a secret. "What about you, what do you do?"

[london_spy]

"Nothing at the moment," Danny admitted. "Got sacked a while back and nothing's come up since. I do small jobs here and there, under the table... Hex seems to think he can get me work on his show, but I don't know if that'll pan out."

[jageskro]

"The YouTube gig?" Jag checked. He knew so little about online media, he wasn't even sure how you could make money off a YouTube channel.

[london_spy]

"Yeah. He said I might be able to join the crew. Boom operator or something," Danny nodded.

[jageskro]

"Sounds better than working for that wanker," Jag stated, thinking back to the bartender.

[london_spy]

"He's alright really, honest. Just, you know- We're not that close. We used to go to the same clubs, then he- I dunno, got married, got a business," Danny shrugged and trailed off.

[jageskro]

"If that's his pub, he's definitely a wanker," Jag stated with a frown. "He should've thrown out those guys two beers ago."

[london_spy]

"He's got to make a living, just like the rest of us," Danny replied. "You have to pick your fights in this life."

[jageskro]

"Yeah, you do," Jag confirmed, as in it was why he thought that man was a wanker. "Anyway, I hope it works out with Hex's show." Hex? Definitely not a wanker.

[london_spy]

"Me too," Danny smiled as they reached the bar. "He's lovely, isn't he? I don't think I've ever known anyone so- Genuine. Warm. Warm's the right word," Danny mused aloud.

[jageskro]

"I don't know him really well," Jag admitted, pushing inside the pub and holding the door open for Danny. "But he seems like it. And he's a good friend of - someone who's definitely like that." Never mind Fin's physical coolness. His kindness and generosity made him warm all the same.

[london_spy]

"Yeah? It's a small city isn't it," Danny mused as he ducked inside and found a table. "Everyone seems to know someone who knows someone."