Jun. 26th, 2020 at 12:14 AM
ok, but first, coffee
DALLAS REID + WARREN BISHOP
old friends run into each other after years of silence
june 25th | fondate's inferno | pg
Warren was exhausted. He really was. He’d been up late the night before working on a piece for a very demanding client who honestly couldn’t make their mind up about anything until last minute then expected Warren to “make it work” so sleep was a luxury and a privilege it would seem.
This obviously meant for him to feel something approaching human he needed coffee, lots of coffee, and Fondante’s Inferno was at the top of his list for being the perfect place to obtain and secure that.
As always he cut a dark figure against the light interior of the coffee shop and would have been in pretty much black, greys and whites if not for the titanium and gemstones embedded in them on his fingers and the blue tinted sunglasses. He said his thanks now that he had coffee in his hand, dropped a generous tip in the jar and made for the door.
Only to stop dead mid step as he came face to face with a Dallas Reid. The same Dallas Reid he’d hung around with and done a lot of rather… embarrassing and intimate things with a very long time ago. The exact same one that had for a while kept in touch when he’d joined the army but then had just stopped and whilst relieved to see that he was still alive Warren couldn’t help but be pissed that the other man had just ditched him. He’d hoped they were better friends than that.
“So, you’re alive, I see,” he remarked dryly as he lifted his to go cup to his lips and took a slow considering slip. “That’s good to know.”
The bonus to doing the coffee run usually meant that Dallas got a little extra time before Rex would give him shit if he was late. And he tried not to be late, mostly. He was an adult, he had responsibilities, he could show up to work on time, with coffee and breakfast.
Of course, most mornings he had two breakfasts, because one for him and then the order for the others. That was just being forward thinking, he needed a shot or two of caffeine before he was going to give coherent responses to any of Rex’s questions or manage to keep up with Riggs.
He was still contemplating his own breakfast when a semi-familiar voice cut through his musings. “Oh,” okay, so, Dallas was used to getting shit for what was, basically, running away when he was 18. He knew that there were better ways to do something with himself than vanish for basic training barely any time after he could legally enlist. But similarly, he was kind of tired of taking shit for basically doing something with his life, “um, yeah. Mostly.”
He wasn’t about to drop into casual conversation that it was hit and miss for a minute or two, or that he knew guys not as lucky as him, but he made an abortive hand gesture anyway that just ended up with him scratching his nose and dropping it. “Got kinda caught up with stuff. Figured you’d hear anyway.”
Seven Devils was not short on gossip. “Visiting from New York?” Since the last that Dallas had heard from Warren he was setting down roots in a big city.
“Well, that’s good,” Warren countered as he regarded Dallas from behind the protective glare of his sunglasses which were catching the sunlight just right. “And, uh, no. Not visiting, I live here now.”
He probably wouldn’t have come back to stay if not for the death of Georgie, his mom’s younger sister, a very unexpected very sudden death to say the least. The anniversary of that was fast approaching but that wasn’t really something to drop into idle awkward conversation with a blast from the past.
“And you? What brings you back to town?”
Dallas made what might’ve passed as an understanding face, or maybe he just looked like he was holding in a hiccup, it was hard to tell. “Big change, right?” He wasn’t sure if going from small town to big city would be too much, or if maybe it was just that small towns had a nicer atmosphere.
Scratching the back of his head, Dallas just went through the age old explanation he’d churned through during the first month he’d been home, “Medical discharge, I’m home now.” Due to the traumatic brain injury the Army couldn’t say for sure that he wouldn’t face complications at some point. The migraines had taken a while to calm down, and even now there were still some fairly intense headaches at times.
It wasn’t like they could throw him into a combat situation and hope for the best.
A cough from behind him had Dallas noticing that they were ready for his order, so he ignored his earlier indecision and just asked Callie for his usual. He’d been home long enough to have that down again. “Um… I’m sorry, about not writing more or at all really.” Syria was fucked up, but he should’ve at least asked Montana to let his friends know he was okay.
There was an inkling of concern when Dallas mentioned a medical discharge because ordinarily the injury had to be pretty intense to be given a discharge like that. Meant he’d probably nearly died and was still dealing with some fallout of… whatever had happened. Not that it excused his shitty communication skills, but still, Warren was relieved that despite all of that Dallas was still alive and kicking.
“Yeah,” he said with a nod, “me too. I mean, I could’ve- I dunno, tried harder.” Or something. Whatever. “But seeing as we’re both back in town then it should be easier to keep in touch.” If that was even a thing Dallas wanted to do as they were both in very different places in their lives and neither of them - Warren assumed - were much into causing trouble.
He cleared his throat. “How’s Montana doing?”
At first it had been pretty easy to do, keeping up the writing, managing the chaos around him with the steady stream of communications. But then things started to get more serious, one tour ended and another started and things were so different that it fizzled to the point where Dallas barely even let his parents know he was still alive. And he knew it was shitty, but he’d never really expected that he wouldn’t be able to visit home before deploying again, or that anyone would be visiting him in a hospital.
It wasn’t a great excuse, but he didn’t really have anything else.
“Totally, yeah. I mean, it’s not like it’s New York where we have five boroughs to miss each other in.” Although with Dallas working for SDPD he really hoped he wasn’t going to be seeing Warren where he used to see Warren.
“She’s good, still a little mad at me, but she’ll probably get past that when Mom’s birthday hits.” Because she tended to forgive him when their parents got mushy and shit. “How’s your family? Bet your mom’s glad to have you home.”
“Yeah, I gotta admit I miss the space.” It was a huge change, coming back to Seven Devils after New York, but it was the right thing to do. That and staying. His mom had been totally broken by Georgie’s death and Warren just couldn’t leave her or his dad. Family was very important to him, more so given the fact he’d been adopted and the Bishops hadn’t needed to give him a home but they had.
He smirked at the thought of Montana being mad at Dallas, he could see that, he really could. Twins had a special connection after all.
Warren stumbled not so much physically but rather verbally when Dallas asked about his family and it was clear that for such a simple question it was taking far too long to answer. “Oh yeah, she’s really happy. I mean she was supportive of New York but I always got the feeling that she was also super upset by it, you know?”
Dallas wouldn’t really know what space was, to be fair. Sure there was a whole lot of space in the desert, but even on base, they were smooshed together rather snug, especially when they were taking in displaced refugees and civilian contractors. It did mean that he didn’t need to get used to less space with his own place, instead getting used to more. It was probably harder the other way around. “I’ll bet, it’s a pretty big change to readapt to.”
Callie handed off his order, a warmed breakfast roll and a large black coffee and he paid and waved off the change she was about to get him.
“Oh, I know that very well.” He knew his parents were proud of what he chose to do, but at the same time they were deeply worried about that choice all the same. He figured it was likely the same with any and all parents of enlisted forces members. Throw in that he did it without talking to anyone and then was instantly shipped off, yeah, they’d been a tiny bit upset too. “I’m sure your mom is just as proud of what you accomplished though.” Since they’d been such utter idiots in their teens that people probably thought that would never change.
“Mm, it is,” Warren agreed though less weird than everything else in his life. Magic had been one hell of a surprise when he’d been younger, not just for him, but also for his poor adoptive parents.
He’d graduated at the top of his class in college and managed to make a very successful career in New York which had thankfully transitioned with him to Seven Devils, but it wasn’t like serving your country or anything like that.
“Yeah, I think she is.” She hadn’t been as communicative since Georgie’s death but that was to be expected, it had hit her really hard, and honestly she was still recovering. “She’s just got a lot going on.”
“An adjustment for everyone.” Coming home after time away was big, but having kids home after they’d been gone was probably just as big.
He wasn’t saying that his mother was hovering or anything, but he knew she wasn’t thrilled with his idea of working with the police either, even if it was one of the only places his skills fully transferred. He couldn’t work in a garage because of the smells and he wasn’t about to try and go to college now.
“It’s kinda weird how little this place has changed, you know?”
“I guess it figures it’s just fine as it is so why change if you don’t need to,” Warren offered before he realised that he and Dallas were causing something of an obstruction so he gestured off to one side so they weren’t so much in the way of others.
He inhaled and reached up to remove his shades to rest them atop his dark hair so rather than looking into glass Dallas was now looking Warren in the eye.
“But I guess that can be comforting in its own right.”
Although it was unlikely that the town hadn’t gone through some changes since the 1600’s, it made sense that there wasn’t an instant change. Dallas had been gone for eight years, and it wasn’t really like much was different. A few new buildings, some new businesses, upgrades and people. But overall it seemed like a lot of it was the same way when he graduated high school.
“I guess, or worrying.” When Warren removed the glasses, Dallas was mostly thankful that he wasn’t staring at his own reflection in the lenses. “We should get proper drinks, you know, rather than just bumping into each other.”
He should at least try to reconnect with people after all.
“Yeah, we can do that,” Warren agreed with a nod of his head. “Sooner rather than later.”
Things were approaching later, anniversaries, and things like that, stuff that didn’t exactly make for the most social Warren Bishop. It was the first anniversary after Georgie’s death after all and he imagined it was going to be tough on everybody.
“But I’ll let you get back to your day and whatever that entails.”
He did however reach into his jacket and pulled out a business card which held details of his contact details. “Text me sometime.”
If he wasn’t on late shifts this week he’d try and make a point of going out to catch up with Warren, he felt a little like it was the least he could do since he dropped off the face of the planet on the whole.
“Yeah that should work, my boss will have my ass if I’m late.” And if he was late without coffee then he’d be dead (probably), but there were plenty of other places to get coffee for Riggs and Rex anyway.
“I’ll text you later, okay?” Which he would make a concentrated effort to remember to do. He might even set a reminder for himself so he did it at a decent time and everything.
Warren reached up to pull his shades back into place and nodded his head, resting a hand on Dallas’ shoulder where he squeezed lightly. “Look forward to it.” He gave Dallas a parting smile and paused as he approached the door.
“I meant what I said,” he shared as he turned to look at the other man. “It’s good to know that you’re alive.”
He lifted his coffee in parting and headed out into town.
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