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

[hasaknightjob]

"How much do you know about it?" Marc asked. He wasn't going to share anything on Nell's behalf. But anything Watts knew already was fair game.

[pocketpretzels]

"She grew up in a cult with incredibly restrictive views on how women ought to dress and behave," Watts said. "Married young, to a man who already had a wife. Unlike a lot of folk from such backgrounds, she knows the church she was raised in doesn't have the right of things, but she's making the best of a poor situation."

[hasaknightjob]

Marc gave a nod. He couldn't fault Watts's presentation on efficiency. "And how much do you trust the asshole she had to marry?"

Not that Marc was showing his hand there or anything.

[pocketpretzels]

"Doubt comes to me naturally and cynicism via experience," Watts told Marc. "Which is to say, not overmuch."

[hasaknightjob]

Hey cool, Steven's boyfriend had a brain.

"Of course she doesn't see that and you can't point it out to her," Marc said. Which was both observation and instruction. "I'm mainly keeping my eye on fallout when it hits. If it hits. Future her went home but that doesn't mean anything."

[pocketpretzels]

"She did say she'd be obligated to do so should the opportunity arise," Watts nodded.

[hasaknightjob]

"She's got family, which I get," Marc said. "Sisters. I'd do it for that too."

[pocketpretzels]

Marc was talking to a man who had been willing to confess to a murder he didn't commit because he thought it would save his brother from the noose.

(Whether or not he'd go to the same lengths for Clarissa... well. Honestly, probably? He still loved her, even if he couldn't forgive her.)

"Yes, there is that," he agreed. "Still, I got the distinct sense she'd prefer to remain here if she truly had a choice. But she feels she does not."

[hasaknightjob]

"That's what happens when good people meet bad," Marc said. "She ends up thinking she's the one taking advantage of the situation."

[pocketpretzels]

“Hmm,” Watts nodded in agreement. “A phenomena I am, unfortunately, more than familiar with.”

[hasaknightjob]

Marc gave him a curious look. "Who do you think you're taking advantage of?"

[pocketpretzels]

“I wasn’t speaking of myself, more… in general of times when someone wronged has in fact felt themselves to be the guilty one, something I’ve seen a lot of in my career,” Watts clarified. “But if you must know, then yes, there have been times when I have taken advantage of a situation for my own selfish gain. Some I regret. Some… I do not.”

[hasaknightjob]

"Any I need to worry about?" Marc asked.

[pocketpretzels]

“Not unless you find yourself in the company of a Miss Fiona Faust,” Watts said sheepishly. “But that is highly unlikely, given that she resides in Vancouver and my time besides.”

A short pause, and then, eyes wide, he added: “I should clarify when I say taking advantage, I merely- withheld from her the fact that I had recovered her stolen bicycle.”

[hasaknightjob]

Marc gave Watts a long look. "Guess Konshu didn't send me after you since you were on another planet."

[pocketpretzels]

"Another planet?" Watts looked at him in confusion. "I've never even left this one." Time traveled via magic train, yes. Gone to another planet? No. "And I got the impression he cared more about violent crimes than lies of omission."

[hasaknightjob]

"Different version of Earth than where we're from," Marc said. "Whatever you want to call it. And yeah, that was the point. You're not exactly criminal of the year."

Marc had obviously not gotten the memo that Watts didn't pick up on jokes easily. In Steven's defense, Marc wasn't exactly known for making jokes often enough for it to have been a concern.

[pocketpretzels]

"Oh," Watts nodded. "A joke. I see it now."

[hasaknightjob]

"I'm hilarious," Marc said. Which, if he was Steven, he would've explained was also a joke. But he wasn't so...

[pocketpretzels]

"I'm sure you must be," Watts said. "But humour is often... lost on me."

[hasaknightjob]

"How's that work with Steven?" Marc asked, genuinely curious since he knew Steven's sense of humor. (Which in and of itself showed how much privacy there was for when Steven and Watts were together.)

[pocketpretzels]

“He has a very particular smile that he uses when joking,” Watts told him. “At least, with me.” He was aware that most other people didn’t need such things telegraphed.

[hasaknightjob]

Normally Marc would've found the idea of someone cataloguing another person's smiles to be a little on the stomach-turning side. But it was about Steven, who deserved somebody who paid that kind of attention, so it got a pass. "There's your problem. I don't smile."

Which went hand in hand with how normally Marc didn't make jokes either.

[pocketpretzels]

“Now that,” Watts said, “I had noticed.”

[hasaknightjob]

"Good way to tell the difference between the two of us, huh?" Marc replied. You know, besides the accents. "Anyway, point being the bike doesn't even register. Not exactly a deal breaker for Steven."

Especially not in comparison to all the things Marc himself had done.