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.

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[jageskro]

"I don't know," Jag answered, tilting his head to the side with a purse of his lips. "The more time passes, the more I want to go introduce my fist to those fuckers." Not a good idea, and he was aware of that. It didn't make the urge go away.

[sunsongs]

"Yeah, then I'd join you, and then wind up on stage tonight, singing around a split lip or playing with busted knuckles," Coby pointed out, knowing how Jag felt, I thought. "Been there, done that, more times than I like to remember, but not so much recently."

[jageskro]

Jag groaned. "All right, fine. Off to the booth we go." He stood up and grabbed his coat and beer. "But I'm only doing this for your sake."

[sunsongs]

Coby chuckled softly. "Appreciate it, man." Beer in one hand, coat over the other arm, he led the way to the booth and slid into one side. "If you're still feeling the urge, you can always start something once I'm gone," he offered. "Idiots like that aren't known for gaining IQ points or empathy all that quickly."

[jageskro]

"Like I said, might be a sign I ought to go and listen to you," Jag replied as he settled in across from Coby. "Seems more positive, yeah?"

[sunsongs]

"Like I said, not going to talk you out of it." Coby grinned, bright and easy. "You'll have good time; you'll see." Not the same kind as putting some assholes in their place - because that could be fun too - but probably better in the long run.

[jageskro]

"I'd better have," Jag told him with raised eyebrows, and took a drink from his beer. "I'm going to be missing out on some quality getting-my-arse-beaten time."

[sunsongs]

One eyebrow went up, then Coby gave a half shrug. "I'm all about 'you do you', but I don't know, dude. When that's what I'm after, I usually go better ways than some random bar fight."

[jageskro]

Jag blinked at Coby a few times, then took another drink before saying, "That was a joke." It was. And it kind of wasn't, but Coby certainly hadn't been supposed to pick up on that.

[sunsongs]

Coby took another drink, unbothered. It wasn't any of his business whether it was meant as a joke or not. It was all good. "Never said it wasn't. I'm just sayin', if I were looking for it, I wouldn't be picking fights."

[jageskro]

"Yeah, that would be fucked up," Jag agreed, then dropped his gaze, and took a drink from his beer. Who had Coby said he knew, at the party? He couldn't remember.

[sunsongs]

Coby shrugged. Who was he to judge what was fucked up? But no sense beating a dead joke. "So. We're going to be trying out a couple of new songs tonight. You'll have to let me know what you think."

[jageskro]

"Sure," Jag agreed easily, still feeling a little off balance but going ahead with the change of topic. "Full band, then?" He thought he remembered Coby telling him he sometimes performed on his own.

[sunsongs]

"Yeah. Me, Máire, Dave, and Brion. Started out as a one-off, me sitting in with them, but we clicked. Before we knew it, off and on became a regular thing. It happens that way sometimes. It's a good group, and we all still have our own things too." Coby didn't mind talking about the band, and hey, it was better than listening to the assholes and whatever they came up with next. "Keeps us on our toes, and the music fresh."

[jageskro]

"And you write your own songs, or is it all covers, or...?" The new songs he'd mentioned could be the one or the other, after all.

[sunsongs]

"Some of both. Writing music keeps me sane." That was a joke too, except for the ways it wasn't.

[jageskro]

Getting into bar fights has been keeping me sane. That and fire, anyway. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he sucked his lips in, holding the words back. "First busker I ran with was a musician, but it was more of a way to get cash than a real passion for him, I think."

[sunsongs]

They'd talked about that, hadn't they? Doing what you loved. "That probably wouldn't work so well with fire," Coby guessed, although if you asked him, it didn't work well with music either. At some level, the love and need for it came through, and people could hear the difference.

"I mean, there are always people who are only in it for the money, no matter what it is they're doing. But damn, I couldn't live like that."

[jageskro]

"Yeah, me neither," Jag agreed, shaking his head. "Though I don't think it works so well with anything. Probably worse with anything artistic, though, yeah." Fire and music both fit that description, obviously.

[sunsongs]

The alarm on Coby's phone chimed, and he pulled it out of his pocket, debating whether to hit snooze long enough for another beer or not. "I was about to say I couldn't imagine doing something where I had to punch a clock," he said, shaking his head before finishing off his beer. "At least I can grab another beer once I'm there."

[jageskro]

Jag snorted quiet amusement at his first words, then nodded. "What time's the concert?"

[sunsongs]

"We go on at nine. In theory." Time was a loose construct at venues like Scandals, or for musicians like Coby. But he did try to get there before he was supposed to be on stage, at the very least.

"And Brion gets cranky if we aren't all there and set up on time. Drummers, man."

[jageskro]

"I'll trust your word on that," Jag told him with a small smile. "I'll see you there, then. And let you know about those songs."