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]

"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."

[jageskro]

"It's a huge bloody city," Jag replied with a half smile. "But it's full of coincidences. I'll go grab our drinks. What are you having?"

[london_spy]

"Whatever you're having, I'm not fussy," Danny assured him, smiling warmly at the other man.

[jageskro]

Jag came back from the bar with two lagers and slid onto the bench across from Danny, pushing his pint his way. "Cheers," he told him, before taking a drink.

[london_spy]

"Cheers," Danny smiled, taking a drink and letting the alcohol warm him, then offering a smile. "So, do you just juggle fire, or do you do other stuff also?"

[jageskro]

"Anything with fire, really," Jag answered. "Juggling torches, poi, a devil stick, fire breathing, fire hoop... I even had a bit with a whip, back at the circus."

[london_spy]

Danny thought working in the circus sounded terribly romantic in a way. A life on the road with a family of performers... Though Danny had a dreadful habit of making things romantic in his head.

"You can breathe fire? God, I'd love to see that sometime. I'd love to see it all."

[jageskro]

"Who knows, maybe you'll catch me one of these days," Jag said with a grin. "I never really know where I'll end up any given day, or I'd tell you." Mostly he trusted Em's advice, when she had any, and never asked whether it was just a feeling, or the tarot. It was all the same to him.

[london_spy]

"I'll have to keep an eye out then," Danny smiled. "Oh, or I could give you my number."