Caritas, Thursday

[wrongkindofsith]

With classes over, and no new kids to worry about yet, Cara was deeply bored behind the bar tonight.

Not, however, bored enough to help Tino with whatever it was he was doing with all those buckets. She did make sure there was no glue handy, because she'd learnt that lesson with the glasses.

[Open.]

Comments

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

Without classes to teach and avoiding more brutal paintball friendly fire, Wash was left without much to do. Other than look at cats in pet adoption websites and start his life as a crazy cat lady.

So, instead he ended up at the bar.

"Do I want to know what's up with the buckets?"

[wrongkindofsith]

"No." Well that was a nice, blunt answer. "Any interest just encourages him."

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

Wash eyed Tino for a moment before nodding in agreement. "I hope his health insurance is good enough for when that thing collapses."

[wrongkindofsith]

"If the clinic's like half the business in this town, he'd only need to go for a stubbed toe and they'd throw the rest in free."

Not that Cara was complaining exactly, half of what she ate was leftovers.

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. The town is very nice like that." Of course 'nice' was said the ssme way as 'creepy'.

Because nice things happening to Wash caused paranoia.

[wrongkindofsith]

Cara completely understood being wary of seemingly nice things happening to you, she also wasn't going to turn down an opportunity not to cook for herself.

"Don't worry," she said dryly. "You won't find that kind of niceness here." Only people she liked got free drinks...unless they had an excess of something vile.

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

"Oh thank god," he deadpanned. "Can I get a beer at least?"

It was weird how women who would sooner punch him in the balls than smile at him was soothing. He blamed prolonged exposure to Tex. And Carolina. And South. Connie too.

[wrongkindofsith]

With very few exceptions most people found Cara's smile less soothing than her violent tendencies. It was a mystery why.

"That much I can do," she said. "Do you care what kind?" He didn't seem the kind of whine about 'artisanal hops' but you never knew.

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

A mystery for the ages!

"As long as it has alcohol in it and doesn't taste like crap, I'm good."

[wrongkindofsith]

The answer was probably aliens.

"Right answer," Cara said, retrieving one of the bottles of something that actually tasted like ale instead of water from the fridge.

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

Aliens or a vast government conspiracy. Featuring aliens.

"Washington," he said in introduction. Because he hadn't been social enough to meet all his fellow teachers.

[wrongkindofsith]

Pfft, the only reason Cara knew half her coworkers' names was from radio, some of them still got called things like 'skeevy suit guy'.

"Cara."

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

Wash would certainly hope he wasn't 'skeevy suit guy' but you never knew.

"I would have thought this place would be busy this week." You know. Before seeing what Tino was doing.

[wrongkindofsith]

If Wash was 'skeevy suit guy' she'd have greeted him as such. Tact was a rare and precious commodity where she was concerned.

"I suspect someone's been scaring off the customers." This someone would be Tino of course.

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

One day in the future, someone would aggressively shout 'cop' at him and he'd understand skeevy suit guy's plight.

A tiny bit.

"Alien invasions and it's buckets that do people in."

[wrongkindofsith]

"People know how to deal with invasions." Punching and killing things then clinging to your girlfriend until you could pretend you were doing better than you were. "Buckets are a another story."

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

"Buckets." He didn't even get to break out the rocket launcher for the invasion. It had been a disappointment to not have some Halo style fighting, okay?

[wrongkindofsith]

"You're the one who had the class on conspiracies," Cara pointed out. "You must have covered buckets."

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

"Oddly no. Hadn't found a conspiracy that involves buckets destroying America."

Yet.

[wrongkindofsith]

"That just means they're good at covering their tracks."

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

"When I wake up to a bucket looming over me. I'll believe that."

And Wash probably just doomed the island to an invasion of buckets.

[wrongkindofsith]

And Cara would be right there with 'told you so's.

"That may be sooner than you think," she said, nodding at Tino's...thing.

Besides, everyone knew it was buckets underfoot you had to watch out for.

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

As was only right.

Wash sighed. "I'll stock up on grenades."

[wrongkindofsith]

"Good plan," Cara said dryly.

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

As long as no one threw one right next to themselves, it was okay.

"And are you teaching about the bucket revolution next semester?"

[wrongkindofsith]

"I'm teaching a class on common sense."

And punching things.

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

"...god help you."

He knew the students they had, okay? He knew

[wrongkindofsith]

Cara had been a student here.

"Knock heads together hard enough and something gets in eventually."

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

"Or cause a concussion."

[wrongkindofsith]

"Not if you know what you're doing."

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

For a moment there, Wash almost missed Tex.

"Better to not test that theory about the clinic, though."

[wrongkindofsith]

"I'll be careful."

Of course, Cara had a different definition of careful than most people.

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

So many bruised students would follow that careful.

"Doesn't this school have rules about that anyway?"

Wash, they hired Darth Vader and Victor Von Doom.

[wrongkindofsith]

Amongst others.

"I'm not going to harm them," said the woman who'd spent her late childhood and early adolescence under the threat of 'the Drowning Caves'. "They won't even be in any real danger."

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

Huh. Wonder what happened there.

"I still feel a little guilty when I shoot them with a paintball gun." Not that much, but still guilty.

[wrongkindofsith]

"Well, I hear those paintball things hurt."

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

"No, its actually rather cathartic." He was thinking about being on the shooter side.

[wrongkindofsith]

"So let them shoot you. For catharsis."

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

"If they can," he replied with a shrug.