InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Tell your mom, I love her."

Laurel Lance (i_crylikeabird) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2011-03-23 20:39:00

Entry tags:

dinah lance, jake chambers, snake plissken

Bowling! (Jake, Snake, and anyone else who wants to bowl)
Dinah parked and then led Jake into the bowling alley. There was only a small sense of trepidation at the thought of bowling-not one of her strong suits. But Jake had chosen, and Dinah was glad to give Jake the chance to do something that other kids his age enjoyed, something that didn't revolve around death or crimefighting or any of the other bizarre aspects of either of their lives.

Granted, the main reason for the outing was so that she could meet his much older potential friend who just happened to be a gunslinger. So, not quite normal. But she wasn't about to tell him that he had to make friends his own age and couldn't have any friends beside that. It wasn't a fair thing to do to a kid who had seen and experienced so much more than anyone his age could imagine. This wasn't Star City, where there had been a school that nurtured children from tough, violent upbringings. Not that that had gone over so well for Sin anyway, but Dinah shoved those memories to the back of her mind.

She'd asked around, checked every possible place she could, and the Institute was the only school. There were no other choices, no programs that would allow Jake to meet others that might have more in common with him than some of the kids at school.

And the fact remained that this man had saved Jake's life. For that, Dinah was grateful. She was wary about the idea of Jake spending time with someone that might encourage him towards gunslinging, but she would have a hard time disliking someone who had gone out of his way to save Jake.

Dinah glanced down at Jake as they neared the counter.

"Let me know when you see Snake. He did say he would meet us here?"

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i_throwplates
2011-03-24 03:12 am UTC (link)

"Well, yeah. Is there a bar?" There were sometimes bars in bowling alleys. In the Midtown Lanes there was one, even if they called it a lounge and the kids weren't allowed in there.

Snake had seemed a bit perplexed about the idea of bowling, but Jake hadn't thought much about it. Any sport that involved projectiles and targets was a sport where gunslingers were naturals. Even before any training, Jake's bowling average had been a 206. He was a bit curious to see where he'd be throwing now.

He looked around for Snake, looking for the man in the eyepatch, and hoping against hope that Snake had left behind his heavy automatic for this particular outing.

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i_crylikeabird
2011-03-25 03:23 am UTC (link)

Dinah followed Jake's gaze, hoping to catch some sight of the man fitting Jake's description. After all, there weren't many men with eyepatches.

When her scan of the room didn't turn up anything, she sighed and looked over at the bar.

"Okay, I suppose I can check in the bar. But you'll have to wait outside," she told him.

This was not off to a great start. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of leaving Jake sitting outside the bar area, but she definitely wasn't bringing a twelve year old inside a bar for that matter.

She led him over to the door to the bar and nodded to a booth just outside.

"I'll just take a peek inside and then I'll be right back," she told Jake.

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i_escape
2011-03-27 01:34 am UTC (link)

Normally, Snake was prone to being fashionably late. However, as of recently, (life threatening time bomb situations including,) Snake had an entirely new respect for punctuality. Or, in this case, arriving early.

Snake, admittedly, had not been thrilled about the bowling alley idea. As a general rule, he didn't like sports. (Basketball, in particular, had become a past time that he wanted to keep as far hidden in his memory as was humanly possible.) Damn the people of Los Angeles and their sick sense of postmodern gladitorial games. But Snake had a certain liking for the boy called Jake, and for him, and only him, did he accept the offer of a night of Lunar Bowling with the boy and his surrogate mother.

He arrived early. Early enough to get a good lay of the land, to note all of the exits, fire escapes, possible blind spots. To get a good sense of the employees and the customers. He was a soldier before anything else. And as such he had developed a suspicion of all unknown territories. Even ones that were meant to be places of family fun.

After Snake determined that the bowling alley was "safe," (or as safe as any place that required pedestrians to hurl large heavy objects at things could be,) Snake settled himself at the bar and waited for Jake and his woman. It hadn't even occurred to him that Jake wouldn't look for him in the bar because of some age-old morality about the ethics of young boys and the abuse of liquor. Snake had drank when he was Jake's age. And even in his world, where simple possession of alcohol was a criminal offense, boys still found a way to drink.

He was hard to miss. Partly hunched over a bottle of sour beer. Combat boots to match the camouflage pants. Black shirt. Brown leather jacket. And, of course, the eye patch. He did leave the heavy automatic at home. (The rifle, as well.) But the second of the two revolvers he left on his hip where it belonged. Hell if he didn't do anything in this world without his gun. That's right, ladies. Even making love was no exception.

But, of course, that was the most dangerous war zone of all.

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i_crylikeabird
2011-03-27 03:39 am UTC (link)

Snake really was hard to miss. Dinah picked him out easily, though she was almost sorry she had. He was clutching a beer, a gun at his hip. Not exactly the positive influence she could hope for, but there was little to be done at this point. She'd promised Jake that she would include Snake in their night out and that she would give him a fair chance.

At the very least, she did mostly trust Jake's judgment. He'd shown an uncanny knack for figuring people out, whether as a result of his gift or possibly just something that was innate to him.

"Snake?" she asked as she came to a stop just beside the man. She put on a slightly forced smile. "I'm Dinah, Jake's foster mom."

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i_escape
2011-03-27 03:48 am UTC (link)

Snake looked over at the woman and gave her a strange look. She was not what he was expecting. She didn't exactly have the mother look to her. Hell, he hadn't seen a woman that looked like that in--

Well, needless to say, they just didn't make them like that in the States anymore.

Damn. Now it looked like bowling wouldn't be such a waste of time after all. Not that Snake was looking to step on anyone's sugar. But if the people in this city knew what the people in his world looked like. Well, hell. One only needed to take a quick glance at him to know that his reality was pretty fucked up. And not in a good way.

He straightened his posture and stood at a cant against the bar.

"Plissken. S'pleasure. Where's Jake?"

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i_throwplates
2011-03-27 04:02 am UTC (link)

"Back here," Jake said from the doorway. The bartender gave him a pointed glance, to which Jake rolled his eyes, pointed at the threshold and his feet firmly behind it, and promptly began to ignore the man. "I'm gonna go get some shoes and find a ball. Since we're all here now." He figured Dinah would want a moment with Snake. Grown-ups always did. But he gave Snake a friendly grin and a wave before turning the smile to Dinah and walking back towards the counter.

The shoes were easy enough, and soon Jake was scouring the racks of balls, looking for a twelve-pounder that fit his hand. That would take a bit more time, since his hand was smaller than that weight category usually called for.

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i_crylikeabird
2011-03-27 02:33 pm UTC (link)

Dinah caught the strange look Snake gave her, though she didn't comment on it. When Jake stepped into the doorway of the bar, Dinah looked up to tell him not to enter, but he kept his feet firmly on the other side of the doorway.

Dinah glanced up at Snake as Jake ran off to get his ball.

"Nice to meet you," she said politely. "I've been wanting to thank you, actually. For what you did for Jake with the werewolves. You saved his life." Her tone grew more genuine with the thank you.

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i_escape
2011-03-27 11:31 pm UTC (link)

Snake gave Jake a simple nod of the head, acknowledging that he saw the boy, then he turned to look back down the neck of his beer bottle. Another swig. An inward sigh. He'd almost forgotten how soothing a beer could be. Especially on the nerves. Nevermind the skunky smell. That smell was like a bed of roses to him. It had been years since he'd had anything so heavenly to drink. And not having to worry about the regional police force coming in and shipping him off to a prison island for breaking prohibition?

Money couldn't buy that kind of relief.

Snake wanted to savor the moment. And he would. (With or without the pretty blonde that accompanied him.)

"He didn't need much help. He was doing well enough on his own."

Accepting compliments was not in his nature.

"But you're welcome, I suppose."

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	i_crylikeabird 2011-03-28 01:24 am UTC (link)
	"Yeah, he's a pretty amazing kid," Dinah said. "He thinks very highly of you," she said, hoping that she wouldn't have to get around to overtly telling him to be sure he was a good role model for Jake. "Why don't you finish that so we can go join Jake?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

i_escape
2011-03-28 02:48 pm UTC (link)

Snake didn't have many feelings about being thought highly of by a young boy. Then again, Snake never really had taken to such considerations about himself. Back where he came from, everyone knew him. He'd become a figure of the anti-establishment. Not by choice, but by principle. He had refused to conform to the changes in American society. He was the proverbial thorn in the side of most politicians and their street-governing police underlings.

But he was right. The world had gone in the wrong direction. And despite his crude and callous disposition (which gave him the appearance of not caring,) he was doing what he thought necessary to put the world back on the track to the right direction.

"Yes, ma'am."

He finished off the beer with a long swig and set the bottle back on the bar counter with an empty clank. Then he straightened his posture and started for the entrance into the bowling alley.

He hoped she didn't get around to lecturing him on good role modeling behavior either. Because he wouldn't listen. No matter how cute she was.

It went against his better nature.

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i_crylikeabird
2011-03-30 01:17 am UTC (link)

Dinah nodded her approval. While she would rather he didn't drink, at least he was willing to leave the bar for the time being.

She debated taking a few minutes to lay out a set of ground rules, but then decided it would probably be better to address things as they came up for the time being.

However, before she let Jake spend time with this man alone, she fully intended to make those rules clear.

Dinah turned and made her way out of the bar, walking slowly enough that he could catch up to her and walk with her if he wanted. Her eyes scanned the bowling alley for Jake.

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