bailey jansen (outofthehole) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2024-05-02 09:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | #july 2018, bailey, bailey x kane, kane |
Who: Kane and Bailey
When: Early evening, Sunday, July 29
Where: The Porch
Status: Complete
It had been two days since Bailey officially “met” Adrian Moretti, so she fully expected to hear from her brother at any moment. He mercifully gave her a full day and a half before texting her. After some brief hesitation, Bailey agreed to meet him at the Porch that evening for a drink. She had no idea if he was going to be pissed at her or otherwise. It really just depended on what Adrian told him, though Bailey personally thought she had handled herself fairly well considering the circumstances.
After getting home from work, Bailey had a quick bite to eat before getting ready and driving to the Porch. She caught sight of Kane as soon as she walked in. Bailey stopped at the bar to order a gin and tonic before carrying it to the booth where Kane was waiting. She slipped into the seat opposite him and immediately took a sip of her drink, giving him a half-hearted wave of hello.
Kane knew he shouldn’t wait too long to talk to Bailey, after her encounter with Adrian. He’d heard about it some when Adrian came over after his shift, but he hadn’t recounted every word or anything. Kane had resisted the temptation to press him for every detail, even though he’d kind of wanted to. He’d gotten the gist of it, and now it was time to hear Bailey’s side. Kane figured she wouldn’t have agreed to meet up if she didn’t want to talk about it at all. He was glad that she had, even though his stomach had been in knots since he’d left the apartment.
He’d gotten there before his sister and settled down with a rum and coke, but she didn’t keep him waiting long. He watched Bailey get her own drink and approach, offering a wan smile in response to her wave. “Hey,” he greeted, lifting his own glass for another sip. “How’s it goin’?”
Bailey shrugged softly and set her drink down, wrapping her hands around the glass. "It's going fine." It was mildly amusing, how she was related by blood to this man and it seemed like they always had to dance around awkward niceties before getting into it. Sometimes she wondered how other siblings managed. Did Dean and Grady act this way? Would a sister be easier to deal with? Her lips twitched briefly and she arched a brow. "How's it going with you?"
Their whole relationship felt awkward to Kane. There was the age gap, their shitty family life, the way he’d run away from it all to join the military ... and now all the angst of their mom slowly dying and Bailey catching him hunting and the weird shit that had happened with Adrian. What wasn’t awkward between them? Kane didn’t feel like they had even found a common ground yet. He nodded as he swallowed his mouthful of alcohol and set his glass down. “Goin’ pretty well,” Kane answered. It was true enough, even though he was anxious about so many things. He scraped his teeth over his bottom lip. “So I heard you and Adrian officially met.”
Bailey wondered when he would get to the point of this "meeting," and she was grateful that they didn't have to prolong the small talk. She could sense his nervousness, as mild as it was, and it was so tempting to torture him a bit. Maybe that's what siblings did to one another. Bailey had no idea if he was looking for her approval, or opinion, or what. Or if he just wanted to hear her side of things to make sure she behaved herself. "We did," she confirmed with a small nod, her gaze still locked on his as she brought her glass back up to her lips. Bailey didn't offer anything more than that because, again, it was too tempting to let him struggle for a moment or two.
Gods, she was such a cop. Kane had been arrested more than once, though never officially charged with anything, and suddenly this table at the Porch felt like it was in an interrogation room, with Bailey’s x-ray cop-eyes boring into him. It didn’t make any sense for him to feel that way, since he wanted to ask her the questions, but he did anyway. Kane sat back a bit and eyed her in return, trying to put on his poker face. He let the silence drag on for a moment, then arched a brow. “And? How’d it go from your side?” he asked finally. He did want her approval but he knew he wasn’t going to get it. Kane just wanted to make sure Bailey didn’t hate Adrian even more now.
The urge to smirk was strong, but Bailey managed to keep her expression neutral as she studied Kane. "It went fine." For a moment, she thought about leaving it at that, just to frustrate him. But Bailey decided to take pity on him, shrugging softly as she continued. "He seemed eager to make sure I knew how often he saved your life from your occupation. So I guess there's a plus in his favor."
Kane huffed through his nose and gave a slight eye roll, but he couldn’t really scoff too much because it was true. Adrian had pulled his ass from the fire more than once now, and he would definitely be dead if it wasn’t for the wendigo side of his boyfriend. Telling Bailey that probably further solidified her opinion that Kane was a loser, but he would take it. “Well hell, I’ll drink to that,” he muttered and lifted his glass. Any plus was a step in the right direction, at least.
"Mmhmm." Bailey snorted softly. "You know, that was his attempt to win me over... ignoring the fact that, you know, he almost killed you too. But that's all water under the bridge and I shouldn't be upset about that anymore." She waved her hand dismissively. There was probably no point in her life that she would ever understand this, but it didn't matter. It wasn't her life and Kane was a grown man who made his own decisions, even if they were stupid as hell. "It's fine. He's fine. You two will no doubt be very happy for the foreseeable future."
He gave her an unamused look at what sounded like sarcasm at the end, then sighed and rubbed one hand down his face. Kane didn’t reply for a moment, staring at his sister, his leg starting to bounce under the table. He couldn’t make her not feel how she felt, but he really wished he could. He wished he could pluck those memories out of her brain and destroy them so they could all move on in a better direction, but he couldn’t. “What can I do, Bailey?” he asked finally. “To make it any better, at all? I’m not saying snap your fingers and get over it, I know that’s not happening, but ... this is turning into something real and important to me. What do you want me to do?” Every reassurance he tried to give her seemed to fall on deaf ears, the fact that he and Adrian had spent so much time together after the mess they’d made and there’d been no more violence didn’t seem to matter, Kane was lost on how to handle it.
Bailey took a drink as he spoke, already wishing she had ordered two before sitting with her brother. She didn't feel like arguing today, though she wasn't sure they knew how to do anything else. Lowering her glass again, Bailey licked her lips, her brows furrowed. "I don't want you to do a thing. My issues with Adrian Moretti won't affect your relationship with him, so what does it matter? Maybe he can take some accountability for what he did to you instead of justifying it. Maybe you can try to put yourself in my shoes and think about what I had to see and do when you were bleeding out in your car. If you could do that, then you'd probably appreciate that I didn't immediately go out to find the guy and kill him myself." Bailey could feel herself getting riled up, so she paused and took a breath, forcing herself to relax her tense posture. "I don't know what you want from me, Kane. I was civil to the guy, I listened to what he had to say. Given that I hardly see or hear from you much these days, I imagine you're pretty happy now, and that's good. I just don't know what you want me to do."
Kane’s first impulse was to be defensive -- of Adrian, of himself. It wasn’t like Bailey was ringing his phone off the hook trying to get together or anything, he barely heard from her either. Bigger than that, what Adrian had done to him wasn’t as bad as what Kane had done first, and he wasn’t comfortable with the idea that he’d been wronged there. But Bailey had been, he realized. And that was his fault too. Helpless guilt chewed at his insides some more. He didn’t know how to fix any of it, how to smooth it over. Kane was quiet for another moment, the heel of his boot bouncing and his eyes on his drink. “I do appreciate that,” he said. “That you didn’t retaliate. Because I would have, I know it. And I appreciate you being civil with him. And of course I’ll always be grateful that you came and saved my ass.” Kane glanced up at his sister. “There’s no way I can adequately thank you for that, but I’m real sorry you had to do it. I know you’re tough, but I never woulda put you through that if I had a choice.” He paused to lick his lips. “I just ... wanna make things better with you and me, and I don’t want him to be a wedge between us, you know?”
Bailey fully expected Kane to argue, because that's just how they were... but also, because she knew the blame for their weak relationship didn't rest solely on his shoulders. It was just difficult to admit it to herself when she was feeling this way. And maybe there was a deep-seated envy that Kane was getting his shit together and had someone in his life who made him happy. Somehow she had felt closer to him when they were both lonely as fuck. Sure, Bailey had a fuckbuddy, but it wasn't exactly the same thing. She took another drink from her glass, wishing she could reach over with her foot to stop his from bouncing so much. His restlessness was making her restless. "If you want to make things better," she began, lowering her glass again, "then just accept that it'll take me a while to be okay with it. I met him and he didn't give off any bad vibes to me, it's just... you know." She shrugged and exhaled softly. "I'm not ready to make jokes about it yet."
Had Adrian tried to joke with her about it? That didn’t seem too farfetched, he did try to break tension with sarcasm and dry jokes pretty often, and both of them had a pretty dark sense of humor. Kane made a mental note to tell him not to do that if he was ever in the same room as Bailey again. Given how this conversation was going, they weren’t going to all be hanging out anytime soon, but Kane hoped eventually they could share a drink and a meal or something normal. Adrian had very quickly become a huge part of his life, and he wanted Bailey to be a bigger part of it too, so there was going to be some overlap. Kane considered her words, nodding a bit. “Okay. That’s fair,” he said. “And understandable. You just let me know if or when you feel more okay with it.” He only really had Adrian and Bailey in his life, period, and he wanted it to work peacefully for all of them, but Kane couldn’t force it. He took another sip of his drink. “I’ll shut up about it in the meantime. So tell me something goin’ on with you.”
Bailey was grateful that he accepted where she stood right now and let it go. She knew she couldn't snap her fingers and like the guy who had nearly killed her brother, even though on some level she wished she could. It would certainly make things easier between the two of them. But emotions were impossible to manipulate and all Bailey could do right now was try to be honest about hers. The change of subject was welcomed, though Bailey found she really had nothing new to tell him. Her life was routine and borderline boring. "Nothing's going on with me," she said with a soft shrug. "Other than meeting Adrian, it's been work, dealing with mom and sleeping. Pretty boring, I'm sorry to say."
That did sound boring, and a little sad. It wasn’t a judgmental thought to Kane, more of an empathetic one. If it weren’t for Adrian, his life would be pretty boring and sad too. Or at least the wrong kind of exciting. “No fun arrests lately or anything?” Kane asked, quirking an eyebrow as he lifted his glass again. He knew weird shit happened in this town all the time, and a lot of it crossed the paths of the cops. There were rules against Bailey naming names or whatever, but she could tell stories. “Or hell, even not lately. There’s gotta be somethin’. I just talk too much, it’s your turn.” Kane offered a sheepish smile and nudged Bailey’s shoe under the table.
Bailey didn't mind boring, for the most part. Her job provided enough excitement, although it wasn't exactly the excitement she would prefer. "Fun arrests?" Bailey chuckled. "I get very few of those, beyond the satisfaction of arresting an asshole." She took another sip from her glass before shrugging softly. "We had some animal attacks Friday night. Wild dog or something. A few people got hurt." She thought it may have been more than that, but Bailey didn't want to jump to insane conclusions just because it happened in Point Pleasant. Her lips twitched in amusement, though, unable to help herself. "It was the full moon, though. Think we'll have a pack of rabid werewolves running around town now?"
Animal attacks? Kane’s eyebrows lifted in interest. He hadn’t heard about that, but then again he wasn’t very plugged in to current events these days. Shit like that never made the news, and he hadn’t been monitoring any police radio frequencies since he wasn’t out hunting. He huffed a breath out through his nose and swirled what was left of his drink around in the glass. It was almost time for another. “Guess you’ll find out if there’s a straight up massacre next month,” Kane said. “Even one of those things can create a bloodbath, a whole pack would be ... a problem.” Honestly it sounded a little strange to him that a werewolf had only injured some people instead of tearing them apart, but he was no expert in their behavior. Kane had only encountered a few of them in his years of hunting and he didn’t like to kill them. There was an actual human inside of all that fur and rage.
"Guess I'll be working on the next full moon to make sure that doesn't happen," Bailey said. "Honestly, other than Friday night, it's been kind of quiet on that level. Every call we've had lately has been normal day to day stuff." She arched a brow and studied her brother. "Have you been taking care of the other stuff that happens around here?" She had no idea how often he hunted anymore. She had only gone with him once, after all... she didn't really count the night she caught him in the act of it. They lived so close and yet Bailey still had no idea what he did with his time beyond spending it with Adrian.
Kane didn’t like the idea of Bailey being out on the streets if a multiple-werewolf attack was happening, but he knew that was her job. He made a mental note to mark his calendar for that night and make sure he was out on the streets too, just in case. He might not like to kill them, but if it was a choice between a werewolf and Bailey, the decision would be easy. He laughed a little at her question. “I’d love to take credit for the lull, but yeah no, it’s not ‘cause of me. I haven’t been out much lately. Took care of that bullshit in the woods for Cecilia a couple weeks ago and been kinda ... takin’ it easy since then.” Kane wasn’t going to tell Bailey all the details of how that had gone, he was just glad it seemed to be over.
Bailey might have been joking about the pack of werewolves, but now she recalled how Jared's ex-wife had died and she wondered if there was more to the shit that went down on Friday night than she initially thought. At the moment, she tried not to give it too much thought. There wasn't a lot she could do about it right now anyway. "Taking it easy," Bailey repeated, eying him. "That doesn't sound like you. But I guess that's a good thing. Are you done with that, then? Hunting? Or just waiting for something to strike your fancy before you jump back into it."
“Not done,” he said, pulling a bit of a face. “I dunno if I’ll ever be really done with it. But uh ... maybe just taking a sabbatical. Stress relief, for me and a couple other people.” Kane was having to adjust to the fact that he had people in his life who actually cared about him and his wellbeing, even if he could count them on one hand. He felt a calling to hunting that went beyond the money, he was making the world a slightly better place every time he took a monster out of rotation, but it had been years and years since he’d taken a break from it, and considering the injuries he’d sustained lately ... his body needed the rest too. Kane quirked a brow and nodded at Bailey’s glass. “You want a refill? What’d you get?”
"Well, I can't blame you for that." It didn't take a genius to understand that it was likely Adrian's influence that had inspired Kane to take a "sabbatical" from hunting. Bailey supposed that was a point in the man's favor, since she couldn't exactly be pissed that her brother had pulled back from putting himself in dangerous situations. Obviously Kane could take care of himself, but that didn't mean Bailey didn't worry, especially living in a town like Point Pleasant. The offer of another drink prompted a faint grin from Bailey. "Gin and tonic," she said, tapping a short fingernail against the glass. "Thanks."
Kane might have done well to clarify that it wasn’t just Adrian’s doing ... he didn’t want to cause Bailey any more stress either. Gods knew he already felt guilty for what she’d been through since he’d come back to Point Pleasant. He could take it a bit easier now that he had more to live for -- he couldn’t exactly fix his relationship with his sister if he was ripped to shreds out in the woods or whatever. “You got it,” Kane murmured with a smile, pushing his chair back. He took their empty glasses to the bar to get them both a refill, and grabbed himself a double shot on top of that, knocking it back while he stood there. He was feeling a little warmer and looser when he returned and sat again, sliding Bailey’s gin and tonic over to her. “So here’s to the peace of life being pretty boring,” he offered, lifting his glass for a toast.
Bailey murmured her thanks when he offered her the fresh drink and she returned his toast with a brief lift of the glass before taking a sip. "Never thought I'd be happy for boring, but here I am. At least while we live here. Excitement in this town can be deadly." She chuckled humorlessly before setting her glass on the table top. At least she wouldn't have to constantly wonder if she would be getting another call about Kane needing help for the foreseeable future. Her lips twitched briefly. "Can't believe you're dating a nurse. That's pretty perfect, considering your... line of work. Is it true he's saved your life a few times already?"
He didn’t really know how long he could be idle, if this obsession with Adrian would wane into something less distracting, if he would get restless without hunting ... but Kane would find out, he supposed. He was going to chill for as long as he felt like chilling, or until something else happened that dragged him back into that dangerous underbelly that passed for ‘excitement’ around here. Until then he wanted to gently escort his mom into the afterlife, and make his relationship with Bailey better, and see what it was like to be in love for real. Kane’s brow quirked as his sister brought Adrian up again, then he gave a low chuckle and winced slightly. “Yeah, a couple times now,” he answered a bit sheepishly. “He’s patched me up once or twice too, so the nurse thing does come in handy. But yeah that ... other side of him, what he can turn into ... he’s been able to pull me outta some tight spots. I’m grateful for it.”
Bailey pursed her lips for a moment before she realized she couldn't exactly be mad about any of it. At least Kane had someone with him more apt to deal with injury than she had been. So she relaxed and took another drink, determined to have a pleasant conversation with her brother, even if the topic was batshit crazy. "So... he can turn into it at will? Or does something... trigger it?" Sounded like a werewolf to her, only less wolfy. Kane didn't seem worried that Adrian would turn on him or anything, though it was possible he was keeping that worry from Bailey in order not to give her more fuel for her hate fire.
Kane rarely had a conversation that wasn’t batshit crazy, so he didn’t mind. He tried not to look too pleased that Bailey was asking questions -- she could shut down and say she didn’t want to talk about Adrian anymore at any moment. He’d promised he would shut up about it all, but if she was asking, that was different. “It has to be triggered most of the time,” he answered with a little nod. “At least when I’ve seen it ... he’s said he’s woken up with the switch flipped a few times, so he doesn’t know all of the rules, if there are any. If there’s a way for him to turn it on and off consciously, he hasn’t figured it out yet. Just seem like ... when he needs to be in that mode, he is.” Kane knew that probably sounded too convenient, but that was how it had worked out so far. When Adrian’s life was threatened or Kane was in danger, the wendigo took over. “It’s weird, I know,” he added with a half-smile. “But what the fuck isn’t, around here?”
Bailey listened, sipping her drink as Kane explained the process. After a brief moment of thought, she lifted a brow curiously. "Do you plan on what to do if you're together and that switch gets flipped? You're sure that's not going to somehow get turned on you?" She was sure Kane could handle things. He had plenty of experience in that area, but she wasn't really fond of the thought that he might have to hurt the guy he's dating... or in love with... whatever it might be. That possibility would have to be pretty scarring should it ever come to pass.
He was shaking his head before she even finished the question, one hand coming up to wave it away. “It’s not a problem,” Kane said, completely confident in that. He knew Bailey wasn’t and probably wouldn’t be no matter what he said, but he had no doubts and he was going to be honest about that. “He’s in total control of himself, he’s even less emotional when that switch is flipped. We’ve hung out, I’m safe, it’s fine.” The wendigo had certainly inspired fear in him on a few occasions, but it was the kind of fear that made his jeans feel tight and Bailey didn’t need to worry about. They had their ways of working the aggression out, Kane never felt in danger anymore.
Bailey had only met Adrian once and obviously he had not been in that other "stage" of his personality, so she couldn't exactly speak on it. All she could do was trust in Kane's confidence, because if Adrian ever did anything to hurt her brother... well, she wouldn't say what she was thinking out loud, because it was rather morbid. But it was the truth. They may not be the closest of siblings, but he was still her brother and essentially the only family she had left. "Alright," she said finally. "I'll take your word for it, then." She tapped her fingertip against her glass and eyed him. "I guess that means you're sticking around town indefinitely."
The implicit threats in all directions were pretty clear to everyone now, Kane thought. If Adrian hurt him, Bailey would hurt him back; if he hurt Kane in a different way, Kane would burn his whole life to the ground; if anybody touched Bailey, Kane would end them; if anybody hurt Mila they would be dead and eaten ... around and around. They were all fairly well protected, in a sick way, and it was kind of comforting. What good was family without vengeance? It made him smile faintly that his sister took his word for anything at all, that felt like progress. “Guess so, yeah,” Kane answered with a nod and a little chuckle. “Why, you lookin’ to get rid of me?” His tone was teasing, but he kind of liked it when Bailey said out loud that she wanted him to stick around. It was sad, but he’d rarely felt like he was really truly wanted anywhere.
It was strange, feeling protective of Kane when she had spent most of her life resenting him. She couldn't exactly say all of those bad feelings were gone and buried, but they weren't as loud as they had been when she first saw that he was in town. She didn't expect them to ever have a normal relationship, because what the hell was normal anyway, but she couldn't keep backing away from finding common ground with him. Fighting with Kane wasn't as satisfying as it had once been. So maybe that was progress. Bailey snorted softly and lifted her glass to her lips again. "Nah, not anymore. If you leave, who am I going to sit around and drink and argue with?" She was pretty used to drinking alone, but admittedly it was nicer having company. Unless she was in a bad mood, anyway. With Kane, she got conversation and with Dean, she got laid. Both could be pleasant experiences in very different ways.
Kane laughed a little and lifted his drink to that. He definitely wasn’t someone to tell anybody how to live their life, but he did wonder if Bailey would be happier with a few friends. He almost asked her why she didn’t have any cop buddies to drink and bullshit with -- Kane had a pretty solid ‘fuck cops’ philosophy in general, but he understood the kind of camaraderie those ‘brothers in arms’ groups could create. Neither of them were really raised to have a ton of friends though. “We oughta fix that for you,” Kane said instead. “Not ‘cause I wanna leave, but just so you get some variety, you know? Get you a man to boss around ... or a woman?” He gave her a comical raised eyebrow look and pursed his lips a little.
Bailey did have a drink every now and then with some of her colleagues, but those moments were few and far inbetween. The department was already short-staffed, so scheduling made even the most casual get togethers difficult. Bailey sipped her drink and failed at resisting the urge to roll her eyes at Kane's suggestion. "No thanks," she said, shaking her head as she placed her glass on the table. "I do enough bossing around at my job. Besides, I'm still seeing that guy from before." She understood that seeing implied dating, but it sounded less crass than fucking that guy in front of her brother, and she knew she had mentioned Dean before, though briefly. And the last thing she wanted was for Kane to feel like he had to play matchmaker in any aspect of her life. She was comfortable enough with how things were, for the most part.
He would’ve been as big a failure at matchmaking as he was in most every other aspect of his life, but Kane did want Bailey to be happy. Happier, at least. He wasn’t going to turn into one of those freaks who fell in love and insisted everyone else in the world be in love too, but Adrian had lightened up his life so much, he wanted the same for his sister. Their lives had been too heavy for too long. “Oh yeah,” he muttered as he picked up his drink for another sip. “How’s that goin’? Still just a casual thing?” He’d kind of forgotten that she’d told him about anybody, since she’d said so little and it hadn’t sounded serious. Kane was curious about what kind of guy Bailey chose to spend any time with at all.
"Yup, still casual." When Dean had last come around, Bailey had let him spend the night, something she rarely, if ever, did with men she was sleeping with, but she was glad she had. They'd had some early morning sex and then coffee before he left so she could get ready for work. He hadn't been annoying and it hadn't felt weird, so sure, it had been nice. That didn't mean she was going to fall in love or expect anything more from him than that. Bailey was thoughtful for a moment before her lips twitched in amusement. "He likes to snuggle." She had teased Dean about it, simply because she wasn't a snuggler - or hadn't been before - but for some stupid reason it had been... nice. There was that word again.
Kane laughed more at Bailey’s expression than the fact itself. Didn’t most people like to snuggle? It definitely wasn’t something he could see her doing a ton of, though ... but then again, several months ago he couldn’t have seen himself doing much of it either, and now he was stuck to Adrian like glue whenever they were together. “Aw, ain’t that sweet,” Kane replied with a grin. “And you tolerate it? He must be a good lay.” Not that he wanted to know any of the gory details about it, but as a highly sexual person himself he was glad his sister was getting her needs met somehow. “Anybody I would know? Or you gonna keep him a secret?”
Bailey responded to Kane's mention of Dean being a good lay by shrugging one shoulder with a knowing grin threatening at her lips. He was a good lay. Great, even. Which was nice to have in this town, and with her job. Bailey almost forgot that they had met when she arrested him. At least he wasn't a felon. Bailey took a sip of her drink as she debated whether or not she wanted to give Dean's name to Kane. It wasn't that she thought her brother would seek him out or do anything that crazy, but it was just sex. Drinks and sex. Giving Kane the name of the guy she was sleeping with felt like that would somehow be admitted that it was more than sex. Which it wasn't. And Bailey recognized that she was probably overthinking something so simple. "His name's Dean," she said finally, the words sounding slightly strained, as though she had to forcibly push them past her lips. "I doubt you know him. He's, uh, Barrett's brother, so I guess you could say it is a secret. No need for it to get out and around."
It seemed to take her a minute to think about it, which Kane couldn’t much blame her for, he guessed. They weren’t the most open siblings in the world. The name didn’t ring any bells for him, but the fact the guy was the sheriff’s brother got a laugh out of him. “Oh damn, the boss’s brother?” he said, grinning at Bailey. “Sounds fun. At least he’s good lookin’, right? Barrett’s not too shabby.” Kane didn’t know the sheriff, but it was a small town so of course he’d seen him around, and he was an attractive man. His brother probably was as well. Kane knew she wasn’t taking it seriously yet, but who knew what would happen in the future. He definitely knew the terrain of denial, from recent experience. “But fuck yeah, good for you, even if he’s just a boytoy. We all gotta relax somehow.” He lifted his drink to her in a salute and took another swig from the glass.
The boss's brother. It felt like she ought to feel guilty about that, but she didn't. Work was work and completely removed from her personal life. Bailey had no idea what Grady would think if he knew, but it didn't really matter, did it? She doubted Dean had mentioned her to Grady, otherwise he might have said something. Bailey didn't need that particular complication and she doubted Dean did either. "He's definitely good looking," Bailey confirmed, bringing her own glass up in response. "Almost too good looking, you know? Like the kind where you're wondering when the hidden asshole is going to suddenly appear, because most guys who look like him are assholes."
“Most people are assholes in one way or another, you just expect it more from the ugly ones,” Kane said. Maybe that was cynical, but that’d been his experience of the world, and probably Bailey’s too, in her line of work. Everybody had a dark side, they could all be total shitheads to each other. “Well if he ever gets outta pocket and lets his asshole flag fly and you don’t wanna deal with it, give me a call. I missed out on beatin’ up dickhead boys for you back in the day, I’m overdue.” He grinned at her a little, only halfway joking. There was no doubt his sister could hold her own, but if she ever didn’t want to, Kane would break some pretty boy teeth for her without question. Getting into a fight with some normal idiot might even be refreshingly low stakes and kinda fun.
Bailey couldn't help but laugh, because it was a rather blunt observation, and probably true. But she also knew she could be an asshole too, even if she wasn't meaning to be. "I got used to beating up asshole boys on my own," Bailey said after most of the amusement had dulled and she picked up her drink again. "But if I ever need any help, or I don't want to get my hands dirty, I'll be sure to give you a call. Hell, if my ex-husband ever shows up again, he's all yours. Fuck that guy." Pierce would be the last person Bailey would want to deal with, even on a brief basis. But he had always hated Point Pleasant, so she didn't foresee him wandering into town again if he could help it. At least Dean seemed laid back enough... minimal drama worked for Bailey, and she sure it worked for him too, at least coming from her.
Kane couldn’t even remember what PIerce looked like, but if Bailey pointed him out, he would be more than happy to beat the guy’s ass. He didn’t even really know why or what the story was, and Kane didn’t want to risk pissing her off by asking, so it didn’t really matter. It was all a done deal anyway, and hopefully the ex would stay gone. “Fuck that guy,” he agreed, giving another salute with his glass to that sentiment. Kane knocked the remainder of his drink back and set the glass down with a little grunt. He left his fingers on it, idly turning it around and around as he eyed his sister for a beat. “You shouldn’t have had to, y’know? Do it yourself. I shoulda ... found a way out for both of us. I was just a dumbass, desperate kid -- I know that don’t excuse it, but ... I’m sorry I left you, Bails. Nothin’ about our family was how it shoulda been.”
Bailey could feel that familiar tension start to gather in her shoulders and she tried to stay relaxed, her hand clenching and unclenching around her glass. She didn't think she wanted to talk about the past. There was still an undercurrent of resentment and bad feelings and Bailey had been trying hard to just put those to bed and get on with things as they were now. She knew why Kane had left as soon as he had the chance and on some level, she understood it. She was also jealous that he had been able to. "You did what you had to do," she said finally, her gaze drifting over to where two people were playing pool. "I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing if the shoe had been on the other foot. It's not like we were that close... it's in the past, anyway. We're both here now, so..." Bailey trailed off and took another drink, not entirely comfortable with saying they could fix their relationship in the present, but she hoped it was somewhat implied.
He could see the way Bailey’s body tightened up slightly. Here and now probably wasn’t the best time or place for this kind of conversation, but when else did they ever talk? Kane didn’t expect Bailey to get all emotional and forgive him for his past sins or anything ... he just wanted her to know how he felt about it, that he had regrets. That was probably all that needed to be said, it wasn’t like he could change anything about the past now. There was an acknowledgement of the potential of the future in what Bailey didn’t quite say, and Kane appreciated it. “Yup, for better or worse,” he agreed with a little huff through his nose. He was going to try for better, at least, and he hoped she would too. They were all the family they had anymore. Kane changed the subject a moment later, bringing up a concern one of the home health nurses had said to him the last time he’d been at their mom’s place, some common ground they could talk about that wasn’t quite so loaded. Which was saying a lot, considering it was about their dying mother, but both of them had the same goal there -- make her as comfortable as possible as she passed.
She was glad that he didn't linger on the subject. Bailey could be vulnerable on her own, but she didn't like to do it with an audience, especially when it was her brother. They talked about their mother for a while and Bailey felt settled enough to handle that conversation. It was almost clinical, in a way. Their mother was clinging to what little life she had left and sometimes Bailey wished she would just let go. "So... this may be a weird question, but... when mom..." She waved her hand, because she didn't exactly want to say died. "... will you know as it's happening? Or only after?"
It was a totally reasonable question, only weird because Kane wasn’t used to talking about his reaping. Or much of anything personal, really. His brows lifted briefly, then furrowed together a bit as he thought about how to answer. “Well ... it depends on if I get called to it,” he said after a beat. “I’m hopin’ it is, but it might not be me. There’s no way to know, or make it happen like that. If not, then I’ll find out just like you will. If it is me ... I’ll know as it’s happening. I’ll be outta my body though, so I can’t do nothin’ about it until it’s over. I’ll get to ... talk to her, though. For as long as she wants to linger. Time’s a little different while it’s happening.” He was aware of how crazy that probably sounded to Bailey, but it was a hard thing to explain if you’d never experienced it. “Is there anything you’d want me to tell her? In case I get the chance?”
Bailey wondered if she would want to be in Kane's shoes where it came to their mother. Would Bailey want to be there when she passed on? Would she want those last moments? They'd had such a complicated relationship and had been estranged from one another for so many years before Bailey returned home to help care for her. Sometimes Bailey wished they could have just been a normal fucking family with love and affection and some semblance of understanding. She brought her glass up to her lips to take another drink, procrastinating in her answer until her glass was empty and she couldn't exactly prolong the silence. "I don't know," she said finally, setting her glass down again. "There are things I should probably tell her myself, but she's not exactly lucid much anymore. I don't know if it would make me feel better having it come from you instead of me, or not, you know?"
He nodded his understanding. Their family dysfunction was so layered and complex -- but so commonplace in the world, wasn’t that the bitch of it all? -- it would’ve been hard for him to give someone else a message for either of his parents. Kane just might have a unique opportunity with their mother, so he wanted to offer. “She’ll be lucid when she’s crossing over,” he told Bailey, just so she had all the clear facts. “So just think about it, I guess. She might be hearing us now and understanding, we just don’t know it.” Bailey could privately say all she had to say to their mom while she was still living, if that was all she wanted to do, they just might never know if any of it stuck. Kane sipped on his own drink, his gaze ticking to Bailey’s empty glass. Could she drink him under the table these days? It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. “I just ... kinda hope hospice calls us when it’s close to time, so we can both be there,” he added quietly.
She knew the right thing would be to be there when their mom passed on, even if the woman wasn't lucid enough to know it. At the same time, Bailey almost preferred to be somewhere else, and to have the nurse or Kane tell her it had happened. But she also knew that was the coward's way out and Bailey didn't like feeling like a coward. Her finger tapped absently against the side of her glass and she struggled to push the heavy thoughts away. "Yeah... I guess we'll see. I mean, they've been telling me it could be any day now for about six months, so... maybe she's enjoying being in bed all day, watching daytime tv while someone waits on her hand and foot."
“Shit, I’d enjoy it too, right at the end,” Kane drawled with a huff. He lifted his arms and leaned back in a stretch, then finished off his drink. He would’ve understood Bailey’s mixed feelings about it -- gods knew he didn’t want to watch his mother die, in either realm. But he did want to talk to her, on some level, try to make his peace with her before she left this world completely. Kane didn’t know if he would get a chance to do that, but he had better odds than most. He sighed and gestured at their empty glasses. “Another round? And wanna like, get your ass kicked at darts or somethin’?” he offered.
Again, Bailey wished things could have been better growing up, that she and her mom could have been closer and less combative with each other. She had always wondered what it would have been like growing up with a mother who gave a shit. But it was too late for that and some part of her felt like once their mom died, she could grieve but also... heal, in a weird way. Exhaling, Bailey glanced down at her empty glass before she nodded, a small grin playing at her lips. "Yeah, another round. And I'll put fifty on me kicking your ass at darts. What do you think?"
Kane had a lot of regrets about their childhood and upbringing, there were a lot of things he would’ve changed if he could. But they could only play the hand they’d been dealt and try to make the best of it now. Maybe they were small steps toward a better sibling relationship, but he finally felt like they were making some progress, at least. “Ohhh, you’re feeling cocky, I see,” Kane countered with a lopsided grin. “I’ll take that bet. Let’s see if all your sharpshooter training in cop school or whatever really sank in. Put your money where your mouth is.” Laughing a bit, he stood up and snagged both of their empty glasses to take to the bar for refills. “Grab us a board.” Some semi-friendly competition was better than heartfelt apologies and heavy talks, and he was ready to maybe actually have some fun with his sister.