Caritas, Friday Evening

[built_fjord_tough]

Fjord was at work today, absolutely.

Fjord was maybe the tiniest bit tired today, however. Not tackling his job with anything that particularly resembled finesse or enthusiasm, he was here to pour drinks and kill time, and looking up with just the slightest bit of wariness in his eye every time somebody walked through the door.

Which would be an interesting counterpoint to the way Tino was mixing drinks while wearing a pair of plush rabbit ears on his head, but there you have it.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[special_rabbit]

As a former rabbit herself, Amaya was mildly offended.

And maybe a touch concerned about the wariness she was sensing as she came in, but that could be all too easily attributed to the frequent offence behind the bar that didn't involve a silent J.

"'Evening, Fjord," she nodded as she settled in at the bar. "How's it treatin' you this time around?"

[built_fjord_tough]

"Evenin', Amaya," Fjord replied, nodding her way and already reaching to pour her usual ale. "So far, so good. We'll see how the night goes."

He would... probably not end in the duck pond again tonight?

That was the hope, anyway.

"And yourself? Keeping busy, I trust?"

[special_rabbit]

"Only way to be, really," Amaya said with a faint grin. "Got started on that special steel treatment today, now that Beau's set is pretty much complete. If you catch her before I do," which was more than likely, "and want to pass on that they're ready whenever she wants to pick 'em up, I'd appreciate it. Meanwhile, my day's been filled with nothing but hammering and forging and cutting, and I'm looking forward to feeling every second of it all over again in the morning."

Because that was when you really knew you'd had one hell of a productive day.

[built_fjord_tough]

"I'll pass on the message," Fjord promised, nodding and sliding her ale her way. "And hell, that sounds like a damn fine day. Lookin' forward to seeing what it is you make."

[special_rabbit]

"I'm looking forward to showing you," Amaya admitted with no small amount of pride. "Been a long time since I really carved out a good chunk of time to work on some patterned steel, and it's already off to a real good start."

[built_fjord_tough]

"Well, it isn't like the island's been lettin' us have much of it," Fjord noted, frowning a little.

And then pausing. And then sighing a little.

"Hey, Amaya? I don't wanna get into anything resembling feelings," because fuck no, "but you mind if I ask just one thing about that kid last weekend? Tryin' to get a handle on some shit."

[special_rabbit]

The grimace on Amaya's face over the F-bomb was immediate. About the kid, no less.

Luckily, she'd just been handed an ale.

That ale didn't stand a chance, but by the time Amaya set that now-empty glass down, she figured she'd bolstered herself enough to to force out an "If you must."

Hopefully not before you refilled that glass, though, Fjord.

[built_fjord_tough]

Fjord could at least take a hint. He smiled apologetically, reaching for the glass and topping it up without missing a beat.

"Kid seemed to have his shit together, right? I mean. Fed and watered, head screwed on right?" A pause. "Not neglected."

He held up his hands.

"Just the answer, then we don't gotta talk about it any more than that. Hell, you can tell me to shut the hell up right now if you'd rather."

[special_rabbit]

Amaya definitely wouldn't go that far--the man was curious, couldn't really blame him for that. But she definitely wasn't going to delve any deeper into any of this than she had to if she could help it. And she wasn't going to just polish off another glass just like that again, but she was going to add a pretty big swig while she thought about just how to answer.

Not that this one was that difficult, particularly.

"Fed, watered," Amaya confirmed, "head screwed on straight. Made it far as he did without any issues that I could see," she'd be the first to admit she'd probably miss 'em even if they bit her right in the nose, though, "managed to survive the weekend, despite his sister's best efforts....overall, seems like a pretty smart, decent, hard-working young lad."

Somehow

[built_fjord_tough]

Fjord chewed on that for a moment, looking up toward the ceiling. Really turning all of that over in his head. And then nodding, satisfied. Maybe in the now, he was nobody who should ever be entrusted with the caretaking of children.

Didn't make him a bad person.

"Good to hear," he settled on. And then, for good measure, added a gruff, "Thanks."

[special_rabbit]

Amaya nodded, perhaps a bit more stiffly than usual. "Glad to help," she said, and went in for another gulp.

"Anything else?" she asked, hoping not, but if there was, she'd rather get it done and over with while she was ready for it rather than wind up smacked by it later.

[built_fjord_tough]

"Nothin' else," Fjord replied, shaking his head. "Now I know, I can get on my life, get back to pretending that never happened."

He paused a moment.

"Next time, if there ever is a next time, maybe I'll take a stab at takin' him off your hands for a while. Not leave you with all the work."

[special_rabbit]

"Next time," said Amaya, with the miserable assurance of someone who was pretty sure there would be a next time, since she'd already got herself a recurring characters, "you might have to. I might happen to find myself conveniently out of town that weekend."

She shrugged. "Nothing to worry about, though," she said. "He was plenty old enough that it didn't really matter much, could handle himself well enough on his own. Better you'd put in the time with the littler one who might need it more."

Besides, if she was completely honest, she wouldn't know what to do with the help. Two parents in a household just seemed downright fussy, in her experience...

[biotic_psychotic]

"Fjord," Jack greeted, plopping her ass on her favorite bar seat and just sort of slumping, "If anything really fucking weird happens this weekend, I'm running through the nearest fucking portal at speed. That last one was creepy as fuck."

[built_fjord_tough]

"Fuck, take me with you," Fjord replied rolling his eyes a little and reaching for the whiskey. Because Jack. "All of last week can go fuck itself. The island throwin' kids at us to follow was a shit move and if I ever reproduce I swear to the gods..."

...

He'd be a shitty father?

He really didn't have a proper threat to follow up on that with.

[biotic_psychotic]

"I fucking did leave when that pollen shit happened," Jack said, "Nobody needs me that goddamn angry ever. Kaidan called and we bugged right the fuck out and went shopping on another planet. Then we stole ickle and went and fucked around in a thing like the Danger Room only bigger."

Beat.

"Not literal fucking. Fighting." She grimaced, "Island wasn't stupid enough to throw kids at me. Even it knew that'd be a bad idea. I got hit with a friend's kids freaking me right the fuck out with what life's like back in their world instead."

[built_fjord_tough]

"At least they weren't yours?" Fjord sighed. "I wound up with two. Left each of them with their other parent and attempted to hide in the fuckin' woods for the weekend."

... That was only slight hyperbole.

[biotic_psychotic]

"I'd call you an asshole but my plan if one of the little shits ever shows up claiming 'mommy' is something they call me is to duct tape them to Kaidan's front door and get the fuck off the planet," Jack said lightly. She drank her whiskey. It might've sounded like a joke but that was her actual plan.

Unless it was this mysterious daughter with Atton. Then she'd send the kid to Caritas with a note reading 'NOT IT' and leave the planet. Either way...

[built_fjord_tough]

Fjord gave a small grunt of acknowledgment.

"Still an asshole," he replied, hiking his shoulders up a little. "Already had Beau put that in perspective for me."

Been a little fucked up about it since.

"Spent the week before wantin' to put anything that moved wrong through a fuckin' wall, didn't completely trust it was out of my system." A pause. "Panicked. I ain't parent material."

[biotic_psychotic]

Jack took a ..well not all that healthy really.. slug of whiskey. "I ain't either. I'm always in that 'put a fist through a wall' state. Week before was even worse. I mean.. I get it. It's why I never want kids. There's too much chance I'd hit 'em or yell or .. just be me, you know? My idea what's normal for kids is.. it's really fucked up. Not what anyone should want 'em around."

[built_fjord_tough]

"It's always a rush of hot shit to the brain every time I realize they're not just tiny adults. Don't know what the hell to do with that."

Fjord shook his head a little.

"I don't think my expectation for kids is exactly normal, either."

[biotic_psychotic]

Jack paused to ruminate over that image, sipping the whiskey more slowly. "That's a helluva phrase there, Fjord," she said admiringly, "I've never had anyone shit at my brain but the imagery is definitely something."

She shrugged, "I don't even want to have any expectations. Teenagers, sure. They basically are tiny adults. Or think they are and that's good enough for me. You can tell a teenager to shut up without breaking its heart."

Jack, no. That's not how that works, Jack.

[built_fjord_tough]

Oh no, Jack. Teenagers were worse.

"Yeah. And then there's the little ones. They're fuckin' fragile. Shit, I knew that much even when I was one."

... Because he'd been about twice the size of the other kids his age, sure. But even aside from that.

[biotic_psychotic]

"They're not that fragile," Jack said grimly, "Their bones are bendy. They're built to lose their gravity checks."

... You didn't want to know how she knew that. Trust her on this.

[built_fjord_tough]

Fjord did spare her a curious glance for a moment, though.

"... Guess so," he allowed. "I, ah, I still grew up bein' a little extra careful around all the soft little human children, though."

So soft. So human.

So horrible.