InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I didn't return them."

Will Stutely (sly_stutely) wrote in nevermore_logs,
@ 2021-01-22 16:43:00

Entry tags:

friar tuck, will scarlet, will stutely

WHO Will Stutely, open to Merry Men
WHEN Friday 22 January, evening
WHERE The Sly Fox
WHAT Guys, I know this will come as a shock, but it turns out it's actually not fine
WARNINGS TBA, prolly lots of yelling

Afterwards, Will couldn’t bring himself to go back home to Clio’s. Not covered in bruises, not again, his battered state more damning evidence of the thug he was.

He couldn’t bring himself to go back home to Tuck’s, either, where the bruises were like to provoke a different kind of horror, and questions he didn’t trust himself to answer. Where, if any one of them were to look him in the face, right now, he didn’t know what he might be tempted to say.

That left only the Sly Fox, and since the Sly Fox was full of hard liquor, it seemed like a reasonable enough compromise.

And, thank Christ for small mercies, the pub was in darkness when he arrived. Lights switched off, not a soul in sight. Will slouched over to the bar, snatched up the first couple of bottles in reach. Vodka, why not. Whiskey, absolutely. He found a glass, piled in some ice, unscrewed the cap on the whiskey, then changed his mind and took a long draw straight from the bottle. It burned a raw path down his throat, but it wasn’t enough to scour away the afternoon.

He pulled up a stool and slumped over the bar. The right side of his face ached with a sharp pain where it had struck the subway pole. He pressed the glass of ice to his forehead, only to jerk it back with a hiss when it elicited a sting. The glass came away with the condensation stained a watery red. He hadn’t realised he’d been cut. Split lip, too. And god knows how badly he’d fucked up his back.

Fuck. Fuck. Deal with it all later. He took another swig from the bottle, to forestall himself from thinking. It didn’t work.

When he’d returned, none of the others had asked him where he’d been, and he’d been grateful, because it made it easier to hide his shame.

When he’d returned, none of the others had apologised, and he’d been grateful, because they would only have been words of pity, and pity was not a thing he could bear. After all, they had nothing to apologise for: he was the one who’d failed. Who could blame them for going on living their lives after he’d gone and blown his up?

Later, he had learned about the welcome Scarlet had gotten when he’d been let out of the clink in May. Scarlet had fucked up on a job, too, served two and a bit years for it, and they’d been ready to celebrate his homecoming with ale and song.

But that was different.

And it was different when Much had stopped answering his calls and they’d all gone straight to panic stations. And it was different when Tuck hadn’t replied to a couple of measly texts and Scarlet had broken a window trying to find him. And he was a low piece of shit for so much as thinking otherwise, even in he quiet of his own head.

(Eddie’s voice, hard as the edge of a gravedigger’s shovel: Stewart, you piece of shit!)

Would they have come running as fast if he hadn’t made it through those doors?

Another traitor thought, and he took another drink to silence it.

Weak. Stupid. Coward.

He was nothing. What the fuck right did he have to think he was deserving of a rescue?

(When had they decided he wasn’t?)

(Post a new comment)

	friartuck 2021-01-22 06:45 am UTC (link)
	Tuck, keen as fuck to avoid Aphrodite and Athena, made his way to the Fox to see if Robin was there. The lights were on and when he let himself in, he called out for Robin, only to find a Stutely. "Oh, hey Will," he said, stepping further into the bar to get a better look. "Holy shit, Will! Are you okay?!" (Reply to this) (Thread)

sly_stutely
2021-01-22 07:10 am UTC (link)

The back door clicked shut, and Tuck's voice called out a greeting, and Will pinched the bridge of his nose in consternation. Not now, Jesus Christ, not now. But it was too late to make an escape, because Tuck was already stepping through into the bar, the smile on his face already fading into alarm, fucking fuck.

"'M fine," he grunted, hunching deeper over the bar, the better to hide his battered face. "It's fine. 'Sall absolutely fuckin' fine."

	friartuck 2021-01-22 08:29 am UTC (link)
	"What does it even matter?!" Tuck hissed. "W-" and then he just kind of stood there, looking dumbly at Will for a second. "Because I love you? Because you're my friend and I'm worried! And if you're hurt we should get you taken care of." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	friartuck 2021-01-22 09:06 am UTC (link)
	Tuck wanted to take another step forward, but the way Stutely had slammed that bottle down- Was he in danger of Will hitting him?! Was that something that was happening right now? "What are you talking about?!" Tuck asked, his voice growing louder. "Fifteen years?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	rouge_rogue 2021-01-22 11:40 am UTC (link)
	Scarlet's gaze flicked between the two of them, then back to Tuck. "Long enough," he said quietly, to use the old cliche. "We all have some pretty fucked up issues, don't we." He stepped away from the doorway and walked towards the bar to pour out a couple of glasses and top up Stutely's. "Getting drunk and angry without me, mate? I thought that was my thing." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sly_stutely 2021-01-22 11:48 pm UTC (link)
	Will sat heavily back onto the barstool, staring at the woodgrain of the bar, mostly so he didn't have to look at anybody else. "What's it matter," he said, and the words felt thick and heavy, sour with bile. "Things're different. You wouldna left me to hang if he got me. 'M just feelin' sorry for meself." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)