sometimes people leave you halfway through the wood

[madskilled]

Comments

[slavophile]

Because, you're with them.

( But, their philosophy isn't his. )

I could tell Isaac you're here in the bar with me.

[positiveinfluence]

[Cooper raises an eyebrow before shifting to face him more.]

And what would he do about it, do you think?

[slavophile]

I don't know. You're here, you're a hunter, he'd be interested.

( But, what would he do. What would he really do. When he turns, William does the same, and under the low light of the hole-in-the-wall London bar, this close to him, William sees for the first time that he'd be interested, too. But not because he's a hunter. )

[positiveinfluence]

I don't think he'd want to actually talk to a hunter that Allison hadn't vetted herself first. At least, that would be my thought if I was a werewolf playing with fire.

[But that being said.]

Honestly, unless I intended to kill you - which for the record, I don't - I think he'd probably tell you to stay off my radar. Not let me buy you a drink.

[Oh, look, he's drunk enough to start semi-flirting.]

[slavophile]

I walked right into your gin joint radar.

( Oh look at.. that. )

You can get my next. ( He shouldn't stay leaned forward or close. ) I'm not easily killed, if you were looking to end my life tonight. I could take you.

[positiveinfluence]

I'm sure you could.

[He lifts his hand to flag the bartender again.]

Good thing I'm not trying to kill you.

[slavophile]

Yeah. Good for you.

(He finishes the first drink and downs the other whiskey he'd ordered. )

What happened after? You and Garrett took off.

[positiveinfluence]

With Bridget down, we could get out. He didn't really want to stay put.

[And honestly, he was not in the best head space so he let himself be lead.]

I had to find my dad. Make sure he was okay.

[slavophile]

Is he?

( Well that hits viscerally. He's here drinking, but maybe from everything and not finding his dad in danger. )

[positiveinfluence]

Yeah, he's fine.

[He looks up with a bitter smirk.]

Already towing the company line, like his choice to join up isn't part of the reason why Luke is dead.

[slavophile]

So, you joined because your dad did. He's done this without Monroe, too. That's - he did it right before?

( Does he want to talk about this? He asks anyway! )

[positiveinfluence]

[He shrugs, unsure how to answer that.]

I thought we did. We certainly didn't organize assaults like this unless it was something really big and really bad. A prince of Hell trying to invade the world or some shit. Winchester level bullshit.

[Which might mean nothing to William, but most hunters understood the implications.]

Not a harmless town full of witches. I thought there was something wrong.

[slavophile]

You thought right. I can't imagine my ideology being questioned on that big a scale. It was like you were on a ride you couldn't stop.

( He considers this, staying leaned in, hand around the new drink ordered from him. )

My name is William Queen. My father is Oliver Queen.

[positiveinfluence]

No shit.

[Look, the Green Arrow is the Green Arrow, even however many decades later. You can't blame him for being a little star struck.]

Do he and the Flash actually hang out?

[Yep, he's drunk.]

[slavophile]

Uncle Barry was at my graduation.

( Is that like street cred? )

[positiveinfluence]

[He holds up his hands and shakes his head, because nope. He doesn't need that responsibility.]

Don't tell me what his secret identity is. I know how superhero rules work.

[It's not his fault that William's dad went public.]

[slavophile]

It's fine, there are, how many Barry's in the United States? ( He squints, raising his eyebrows. ) So, you know what I carry with me, what my father is to me. I believe in what he did.

[positiveinfluence]

Yeah, I get it.

[Coop sighs as he takes another sip of his drink.]

So your dad's a superhero and I'm guessing your sister is a Slayer? You really just got dragged into the shit, huh.

[slavophile]

She got dragged into it more recently, and, it's not like I keep out of it. You just don't hear about what I get involved in. I'm the genius of the family.

( The modest genius. )

[positiveinfluence]

Oh, a genius, huh?

[A slow smile stretches across his face.]

Some would argue that a genius would find ways to avoid stuff like this.

[slavophile]

Like... sharing an innocent drink next to a ( very tired ) very cute hunter?

( or, maybe he means being here at all. around hunters and a werewolf Cooper does not like. )

[positiveinfluence]

Is it an innocent drink?

[It's a real question, he's trying to figure out how to read this.]

Technically, you could call this drinking with the enemy. Which I assume is perfectly fine if you're into that sort of thing.

[slavophile]

It's not a guilty drink. Do you feel guilty?

( You didn't hear him call you cute but mean to call you tired? Good, let's just keep moving. )

[positiveinfluence]

[Oh he definitely heard you call him cute.]

I don't feel guilty. But I'm supposed to be the bad guy, remember?

[He's mostly kidding about him being the bad guy.]

[slavophile]

I think we both know that being the bad guy doesn't always make someone the bad guy. You regret being here, you probably regret joining up altogether. And unless you're just waiting to pull a knife out of your boot, I don't believe you are.

( But, he could also be playing right into that very mesmerizing face. )

And, unless you have designs, that makes this innocent, right?