But the town square is quiet, the juke joints are empty

[neverleftharlan]

Characters: Raylan Givens and Olivia Dunham and Dorian Gray and whoever else??
Date: AROUND NOW.
Location: an Earth Sector bar
Situation: RAYLAN IS SULKING, P MUCH.
Warnings/Rating: None atm will edit as needed.



[Raylan is a very particular kind of person. He has certain tendencies, given habits, patterns of behavior. And even as his job - his usual job - means he has no set schedule and has to pick up and haul ass into the metaphorical sunset after fugitives et cetera at a moment's notice, his personality means that he digs into his rituals that much harder because of it.

Tuesday night poker being Winona's favorite example to harp on.

But she wasn't wrong - all those years and he never missed a game.

Which is why he's sitting at the bar of a closed-down pub in the Earth Sector, nursing his fortunately powerful ration of alcohol - purchased elsewhere - and scowling at the empty shelves. It's not even that this place was better than most of the others (also closed). It's that it's the one he went to, one slice of routine in this shitkick town with its shapeshifters and Supermen and day jobs he knew he'd never miss.

On top of it all, he's back to feeling useless. One thing (one of many things) Raylan Givens does not do well is useless.]

Comments

[neverleftharlan]

I feel a little sorry for the folks he catches at it. [It's dry, and unsympathetic. He might not have anything against moonshiners - how could he and call himself a Southerner - but the law is the law, as far as he's concerned, and those that break it can only expect what they get.]

[imaginate]

[Kyle raises a eyebrow.] Stickler for the rules, huh?

[neverleftharlan]

[Raylan shrugs, filling his glass with the last of his watery booze.] I am an instrument of a governmental institution, and most of the time I even agree with what it says thou shalt not do. Ain't my turtle, ain't my rules, but I can't fault the Commander for enforcing them.

[imaginate]

Hm. [of agreement. Finally someone who gets it.] But I warn you right now, I have a history of disobeying orders I think are unreasonable.

[He doesn't want to end up on opposite sides to Raylan, at least, when they both might be doing something they think is right. That, to him, is the worst situation.]

[neverleftharlan]

Never give an order you know won’t be obeyed, unless you're doing the paperwork to cover your ass. [He chuckles.] I think I've driven Art half-way to a heart attack and back ten times over. But he's old. Got to keep the blood pumping somehow.

[imaginate]

[He chuckles as well.] Now if I was any good at paperwork...

[neverleftharlan]

Oh, I'm plenty good at it. Have to be, though repetition if nothing else. [Honestly, you shoot a person or two and it's like the world is going to end.]

[imaginate]

You may want to learn the fine art of shafting it to a subordinate. [Although he'll be honest, he's very glad Salaak covers for him so much.]

[neverleftharlan]

If only I had one. [Again dry. It might have been the case in the Miami office, but as small as Lexington's department is, shoving it off on someone else isn't really an option in most cases.]

[imaginate]

My commanding officer does most of the heavy lifting for me. [He shakes his head, slightly.] Never liked a pencil pusher until I met him.

[neverleftharlan]

I met more than a few that are tolerable, but likable might be going a bit far. [He taps the glass against the counter again, tipping the glass back to drink the last fraction lingering in it.]

[imaginate]

Hey, people surprise you in all sorts of unexpected ways.

[Everyone thinks the Clarissi will sell them out to the Guardians at first opportunity, but Kyle knows him. There's a rebel in Salaak, just as much as the rest of them. Simply because they don't see it doesn't mean it's not there.

Kyle could stand to see that side of his superior more.]

[neverleftharlan]

[He laughs, a little, though it's subdued.] Unexpected, is that the word we're using. I suppose it's as good as any.

[imaginate]

Didn't have to pleasant unexpected. [He rubs his wrist; it's unconscious habit.]

[neverleftharlan]

[He resettles his hat, though it doesn't really need adjustment.] Not even unexpected in many cases. Even if it blindsides you, odds are good that whatever they've done is in keeping with their attitudes, their life, their previous behavior. A tiger doesn't become a leopard just because they decide to say their stripes are spots.

[imaginate]

[He raises both eyebrows and taps his fingers on the bar top, drumming to unknown melody.] You know what. I feel like a glass half full kinda guy. So I'll say that people can and do change, sometimes pretty drastically.

[He'd just had this argument with Damian.]

[neverleftharlan]

[That gets a quiet hmph in reply.] Behaviors change, sometimes. People don't. Give them long enough and they'll go right back to doing the worst things they do. Maybe, maybe, once in a blue-striped moon you'll get an honest reformation.

[He lifts his empty glass and gives it a waggle.] But I don't hold my breath for such things.

[imaginate]

['The bad in the world outweighs the good.'

Brainwave had told him. He'd told Jenny. He'd felt this as Ion. All the horror, the misery, the rage, and the grief. But he'd felt the good, too, and seen it. There weren't clear lines of people's nature, they all had flaws. You either got past them or you didn't.

You could stay as you were, or you could overcome. That's what his ring proved.

He realises maybe he's been staring blankly at the window for about a few minutes now.]

[neverleftharlan]

[He claps the cup on the counter in front of Kyle.]

Yoo-hoo. Anybody home, spade cadet?

[imaginate]

Huh? Oh. Sorry. Spaced out for a bit there. [Sheepish smile.] Agree to disagree?

[neverleftharlan]

The alternative is saying 'no you' at each other until one of us keels over, so sure. [He gives the glass a last, mournful look and sighs.]

It's a good thing I'm not a depressed drunk, or I'd be quoting Shakespeare at the empty glasses by now. Parting and sorrows and such.

[He swings to his feet, steady in spite of the kedan liquor. He's from Kentucky okay.]

[imaginate]

That'll end badly, trust me. [He's one of the most stubborn and strong-willed people in the DCU, if he can't win with words he'll win with punches.

Kyle doesn't stand when Raylan does, he leans back a little on the bartop, planning to enjoy the quiet, for a bit.] Maybe next time I'll actually have some beer in my glass.