The Devil's Nest, Monday, August 15, 2021

[texted3times]

Eric was at the bar tonight, enjoying a Manhattan expertly poured by Tiny and relaxing.

Tiny was creating an elaborate three-dimensional castle made entirely out of cocktail olives in a cabinet under the bar.

Eric was very much ignoring that.

The Devil's Nest was open!

Comments

[texted3times]

"They're more into IPAs than things that use olives," Eric said, taking this at least a little seriously, "but on size alone they should have the advantage."

He took a sip from his glass. "Looking past the part where olives shouldn't move to start with, of course."

[hasaknightjob]

"I was thinking they'd just eat them," Marc said. Sentient olives couldn't be worse than trash, right?

[texted3times]

"Do raccoons eat live food?" He frowned. "Do sentient olives count as live food? Is this why there are so many ethics classes at the school?"

[hasaknightjob]

"I leave ethics for other people," Marc said. Which was one of a multitude of reasons why he'd never be teaching such a class.

[texted3times]

"Well, I eat people," Eric said, "so I probably should, too."

[hasaknightjob]

"Think being a murderer disqualifies you from teaching," Marc said. Which was yet another reason why he'd never do it. "Least it should. With this place, who the fuck knows?"

[texted3times]

"I've only taught at the community center," Eric admitted. "Long-term financial planning."

And he knew from long-term.

[hasaknightjob]

"Handy," Marc said. "Doesn't hurt to have money working for you."

It helped pay the costs of having a giant apartment in London on what was supposedly a gift shop clerk's salary, for example.

[texted3times]

"If you're going to be around a long time, it's so much better not to worry about your housing," Eric agreed.

[hasaknightjob]

"Honestly don't know how long I'm going to be around," Marc said. "Hard to make a retirement plan if you don't know if you'll get to retire."

[texted3times]

Eric nodded. "Well, I could meet the sun any day but I try not to dwell on it."

[hasaknightjob]

"I was thinking in the other direction," Marc said. "Don't know if I'll age. Bad back, aching knees, whole nine yards."

It was hard to tell. He'd worked for Konshu for a while but not during a span where those issues would've showed up for a mortal who kept himself in good shape.

[texted3times]

"Oh, I never plan for that part," Eric said with a grin. "I'll have abs forever. It was one of the selling points."

[hasaknightjob]

"Yeah Konshu left that off the sales pitch," Marc said. Granted, he hadn't mentioned the repeatedly coming back from the dead part either.

[texted3times]

"Should've held out for vampirism," Eric teased.

[hasaknightjob]

"I'm supposed to be protecting those who travel at night," Marc replied, taking the teasing as intended. "Pretty sure that means no snacking. Anyway, the ones I do go after probably taste bad. Does evil have a flavor?"

[texted3times]

"Not that I've ever noticed," Eric admitted.

[hasaknightjob]

Now Marc was curious. "Is that the kind of thing you'd check before eating?"

[texted3times]

"No," Eric admitted. "The really good people aren't normally out in dark alleys looking for trouble."

[hasaknightjob]

"See, that's where I come in," Marc said, by way of agreeing with Eric. "When it finds them."

[texted3times]

"Are they just...terminally dumb people, generally?" Eric asked.

He'd always kind of suspected that.

[hasaknightjob]

"The ones I protect?" Marc asked. "Depends. The ones I go after? Some aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but all of them liked hurting people. They needed to be stopped."

Whole lotta past tense there.

[texted3times]

"Needed?" Eric repeated.

[hasaknightjob]

"Don't need to be stopped after you're not moving anymore," Marc replied. Hey, Eric had just mentioned eating people. No point in Marc beating around the bush.

[texted3times]

Eric was still Viking enough to take that very much in stride. "Fair enough. Fewer vows of vengeance if they don't wake up again, too."