Gathering Post - 5/7-5/15

[lcrpg_npc]

 

WEATHER || LONDONIST || BBC NEWS

(Rather than write the same vague drivel, here is a pretty gif to inspire you, a link to the weather for the week, and a link to londonist, a great resource for all things London related. As always this post is open all week. Tag in, tag others, check back often!)

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[taxi_d]

"Yeah, you can pay me when I get you home," he replied. The rain had picked up a bit so when they got back to the taxi it was a blessing to be dry and warm. Davey put his tea in the cup holder and started the engine so he could lower the windows. Before tea he needed a cigarette so he broke into his packet and fished out a lighter.

"Oh here," he said, lowering the lighter to pass Danny a pack of his brand. "You can pay me back for those when you can."

[london_spy]

"Are you sure?" Danny asked, though his fingers itched to take the pack. "I'm not exactly, um, gainfully employed right now."

He paused a beat, then said something he knew would crush Hex if he ever found out.

"I can pay you back another way. ...Um, I mean- If you want," he offered.

[taxi_d]

"Yeah? What else you got?" he asked as he sparked his cigarette and took a deep drag.

[london_spy]

Danny didn't want to spell it out, just in case the other man took offence.

"I just mean, if there was something you wanted... I could give you that," he said, lighting his cigarette, and making a show of wrapping his lips around it.

Danny was good at provoking a reaction, and hoped that make his offer a bit more clear.

[taxi_d]

D knew exactly what Danny was offering, but he'd wanted to be sure. Never knew when someone might take a wrong meaning or might be offering one thing and not another. But it seemed they were on the same page and Davey tucked his fag between his lips and smiled.

"Then I think we can work something out," he said as he shifted in his seat. He undid his fly and spread his legs to get comfortable.

[london_spy]

Danny had done this plenty of times before, and at least this car was clean.

It didn't take long, Danny knew exactly what he was doing, and once it was over he opened the car door a crack to spit on the pavement, then picked up his tea to take a sip.

[taxi_d]

Davey took one last drag and tossed his butt out the window. As Danny sipped his tea he tucked himself away and zipped up.

"In between jobs, huh? What sort of work do you do?" D asked, picking up the conversation again as if nothing had happened.

[london_spy]

"Whatever work I can get," Danny said honestly. "Small jobs, mostly. Washing dishes, stuff like that."

[taxi_d]

"I might know a couple blokes doing some hiring. It'd be cash...not exactly tax payers, these guys. You want a number?" Davey asked. He had a sense about people and one thing he knew...anyone who'd blow a bloke for smokes and cab fare wasn't likely to be too choosy about paying work.

[london_spy]

"I'll think about it," Danny replied, not ready to give up on finding real work just yet. "I had a good job for a while, but my mate, my boss, he's had to stop for a while. Recovering from a gunshot wound. ...I'm hoping when he's better I'll still have work with him."

[taxi_d]

That Davey didn't bat an eye at the news of being shot spoke volumes. He only nodded.

"Here's hoping there will be work when he's better. Until then I can probably get you in with Michael. He always needs delivery boys who aren't nosy."

[london_spy]

"I'm not always up for getting around," Danny said, not sure if he should admit that he was sick after what they'd done, even if he knew there was no real chance of having infected him.

[taxi_d]

"Bet that makes it hard to keep legitimate work," D replied as he broke into the packet of crisps. "What sort of work can you do? I know a lot of blokes. There's work out there for everyone. Just takes the right people to put you in touch. That's part of what I do when I'm not driving. I put people in touch with other people so everyone gets what they want."

[london_spy]

"I don't really know. I don't have any skills, not really," he admitted, wishing not for the first time that he'd actually bothered to make something of himself. That he could be more like Alex or Hex.

[taxi_d]

"Everyone's got skills, Danny," Davey said. "So maybe you're not a carpenter or a computer whiz, but people don't put enough stock in themselves for things that don't generally make money. Like...I know a girl and she's fairly shit at everything she does, but she always knows how to comfort people who are upset. She just knows what to say and how to speak. So she works part time as a grief counselor at a hospital and the rest of her time she spends getting girls on the dole into work for that bloke, Michael. You know you can't work too much or you lose your checks so she sort of...eases the way for these girls to do work under the table."

He pulled out a new cigarette.

"It's a hard world. You've got to use what you've got to make money however you can, Danny. So what have you got going for you?"

[london_spy]

"I think you've just seen the extent of my skills," Danny said, frowning to himself just a bit.

[taxi_d]

"Nothing wrong with that. Not bad at all," he replied, then took a long drag. Some people might not be interested in what he had to say next, but he thought Danny might be open to at least hearing it.

"I know a bloke. Helps people with skills like that get work. It's safe. He has a place. Not walking the streets, like. Clean, secure. And good pay. He doesn't beat anyone, and even if he gives you a whack it's never in the face. But it's usually the blokes that come in that are asking for trouble that gets it, you know? I'm just saying...if things fall down on your dream job or whatever, might be good to get paid for what you're good at," he said, never looking directly at Danny. He kept watching the smoke leave his cigarette and the way it rose and coiled out the cracked window.

[london_spy]

"Tempting, but- I don't think he'd want me. ...I mentioned before, about a health issue..."

Danny was quiet for a long moment. Telling people he was positive wasn't just still new to him, he also knew it could be dangerous. Not everyone would take it well.

Still, David had been kind so far- Worst case scenario, he got the shit kicked out of him.

"I'm, um, positive," he said, tensing slightly, as if expecting violence.

[taxi_d]

"Still work out there for a bloke like you. I can understand if you'd rather not," D replied with a shrug. To him it was neither here nor there, mostly because it didn't effect him at all. He'd likely have something to say about it if he'd been a little riskier, but it was just a little head. Hell, for all he knew Danny might be more popular for it. He'd heard of people enjoying risks and shit, and he knew of a few blokes who were positive who had...special interests. Might be able to make some cash off that.

[london_spy]

"Maybe," Danny nodded.

Hex wouldn't like it, but maybe Hex didn't need to know. After all, the other man still seemed so- Broken. Not even physically, just- Not right. Maybe if Danny was pulling in some cash, it would lighten the load. Make it easier for Hex to get back on his feet.

"...i could actually use some work now," he said finally. "If you could ask your friend or whatever- I'd be grateful. ...It would just be for a few weeks, but- The more I could make, the better."

[taxi_d]

D tucked his cigarette between his lips and fished his phone out of the pocket of his jacket.

"Danny, yeah? Hang on. Let me see if I can ring him now. Why wait, right?" he said around the fag. He swiped through his contacts and punched up a name, then put it to his ear.

"Hey, mate. It's Davey. With the taxi, yeah. I've got a bloke looking for work, thought you could use him." He paused. "He's good. He's positive, though...is that an issue?"

He nodded then looked at Danny.

"Anything you don't do?" he asked.

[london_spy]

Thinking back on all the dumb things he'd done, all the shit he'd put himself through, then been dragged through in his life after Alex... No, he couldn't think of a thing that would phase him at this point.

Then he thought of Scotty. Of Hex. ...He could feel their disapproval.

Fuck it. What did it matter? It was temporary anyway, and honestly, his sense of self preservation had worn away weeks ago now.

"No, I'm up for whatever," he said quietly. "As long as the money's right."

[taxi_d]

"The worse it is the more he needs," Davey said and went quiet for a long moment. The man's voice on the other end was muffled and deep and he nodded a few times.

"Cheers, mate," he finally smiled. "I'll pass him on."

Then he disconnected the call and looked at Danny.

"He wants to meet you before he agrees to anything. I don't think there's going to be a problem. He'll discuss money with you then. You know where The Pony Keg is? Northside? You can Google it. Meet him there tomorrow at 7 and I'll leave the rest up to the two of you. And if you get the jitters you just don't show and he'll never know you at all. Sound good?"

[london_spy]

Danny nodded a little, his expression blank and gaze empty, as if he'd switched off.

"Cheers," he said simply and quietly.

[taxi_d]

"Hey. Hey," D said a bit more gently the second time. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, mate. People would do well to take that to heart. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. If you don't want to work, you don't have to. If you do want to wark, but not this? Not obligated at all. People will always tell you you can do anything you can dream but that's bollocks. The best I can give you is that you don't have to do anything you don't want to."