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Liv Moore is an alabaster badass (livmoore) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-05-18 09:56:00

Who: Dan and Liv
What: Dan moves out :(
When: Early May
Where: Their Liv's place
Rating/Warnings: Low
Status: Complete!


Someone had once asked Dan if he ever thought he would retire. At the time he was still working full-time as a black market handy-man and using his bar as a cover. Back then, he had shrugged off the question and answered that he’d worked in the business for so long, he didn’t think he’d be able to do anything else.

That had been before Liv. Before he realized what he was willing to do to be with her, including retiring and living out the rest of his days as the owner of a dive bar. Dan loved Liv. He was happy with his life, happy with his life with her.

Then Qrow Branwen had shown up out of nowhere, cashing in some favors and recruiting Dan for a mission. Liv hadn’t been happy with it, but she understood the situation; that Dan had been recruited to rescue one of a set of two kidnap victims. So long as Dan promised not to kill anyone and that this would be the final job.

The mission had reminded Dan how much he had enjoyed his previous line of work, how he had actually enjoyed being the Hellion. It had felt good to be back at it again, even temporarily. Once he returned home, he tried to forget all about that, put it all behind him and settle once more into his life as just plan old Dan Smith.

He was somewhat successful. Then came the offer of another “final” job.

It was a simple job, recovering family heirlooms which had been swindled away from their rightful owners by an unscrupulous antiques dealer. However, it had required Dan to leave California for an extended period of time in order to track the items’ locations, confirm they were the items he was looking for (one grandfather clock and a set of silver candlesticks), swindle the swindler and return said items back to the family that had lost them.

Now it was over and Dan was back in California a little richer.


Dan may have come back richer. But Liv was a hell of a lot poorer. While Dan was away retail therapy have been her choice of dealing. Though she wasn’t sure she could blame it all on Dan. Part of it was definitely the brain. Okay a lot of it was the brain. But still Dan had left, to take on another job. Something he knew went against Liv’s morals. Something they had discussed when they first got serious. And again a few months ago when he took on ‘one last job.’ Which had clearly been a lie.

To say Liv wasn’t please would be an understatement. She couldn’t live her life like this. With her boyfriend just going off for weeks at a time to do who knows what. But she did still love Dan. She didn’t see that changing anytime soon either. But that also didn’t erase the fact that she was pissed.

Liv walked into her apartment that was full of new clothes- the closet was overflowing there were outfits hanging in in the bathroom, bags all over the living room, after work. And amongst all those clothes was Dan. “You’re back,” Liv said coolly dressed in all black, including the polish on her nails. She brushed past him not having much else to say, making her way to the freezer. It was time to prepare her brain for the night.

Dan hadn’t expected their apartment to look quite so crowded when he’d entered. The sheer amount of stuff was shocking. And it was everywhere. At first Dan thought that maybe Liv had eaten the brain of a hoarder, which was worrying to say the least. However, it soon became apparent that there were much more pressing concerns when Liv entered the apartment.

All things considered, Dan actually liked the all-black look. It complemented her hair and complexion. However, the greeting she gave him was less cordial than one would give even a roommate they barely saw. Dan knew Liv wasn’t happy with him taking the job and he hadn’t expected her to be overjoyed seeing him again, but it still hurt when she brushed by him without so much as a look.

“Aye, I’m back,” he answered her and followed her into the kitchen. He stood in the doorway and watched her get her brains out of the freezer. “I missed you, Liv.”

Liv bit back the urge to say, ’Then why’d you leave? Though part of her really wanted to. It wasn’t just the being away from her part. She could handle a few weeks without her boyfriend. It was the knowing that he was doing something that went completely against her morals. Something he had promised he was done with. And yeah he had also promised her that he wouldn’t be killing anyone, but it was a slippery slope. How many more ‘one last jobs’ could there be before he got back to murder?

“Yeah,” Liv replied coolly carving off a chunk of brain to prepare. She put the rest back in the freezer. Next she grabbed some bread, prepared to make a peanut butter, jelly, and brain sandwich. Liv liked to put her brains on regular food. It made her feel more human. “Maybe you should stop taking jobs then,” she finally settled on saying.

Dan lingered at the doorway to the kitchen and watched Liv prepare her sandwich. He understood she was afraid he was going to murder someone. It wasn’t exactly an unfounded fear. While it had been a long time (a couple of years, in fact) since he’d been hired to kill anyone, he had actually killed people before. Nevermind the extralegal activities his jobs often required him to do. Liv understandably thrived on her morals and everything Dan’s jobs represented went against that.

He frowned, the corners of his mouth pulling down against his face. He also understood the feeling he had when he was on a job, how he craved their thrill and excitement. It was something his bar couldn’t really offer him. Orange County had its moments, sure, but they were so far out of Dan’s control. At least when he was on a job he had some control over what was going on around him.

Dan folded his arms. The last thing he wanted was for Liv to think that he wasn’t happy with her, but he wanted her to understand his side, at least a little. “I like doing jobs,” he told her. “I helped out a family and no one got hurt.”

“This time,” Liv shot back immediately. How long was it before someone did get hurt? Before Dan hurt someone? Liv knew she couldn’t be with him if he kept going down that path.

“So what you’re telling me is there are going to be more?” Liv went on. “That wasn’t the last one.” It wasn’t like Liv wanted Dan to be unhappy. For him to not do what he enjoyed. She just didn’t want him doing anything illegal. Her morals were the one thing she could always hold on to, no matter what brain she was on.

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Dan grunted in response. “Maybe not. Depends on what comes my way. Maybe if someone needs my help.” He shrugged. “I’m not going t’ kill anyone, Liv. I’m not going t’ take on any hits. You gotta understand. I did this fer a long time. It's the only thing I’m really good at. I need this.”

“You’re breaking the law,” Liv replied coolly. She should have known it was too good to be true when he quit over a year ago. “Dan,” Liv began. She frowned trying to think of the words to say. “I get it. I get that this is part of who you are.” Just like the personality changes were part of who she was and Dan put up with those. “I love you,” she continued. “But I can’t be with a criminal. I can’t be with someone who leaves for weeks on end and I have no idea what they are doing. How many laws they are breaking. I just can’t.”

Dan sighed and rubbed his eyes. The cop in him knew Liv was right. That same cop also knew that sometimes the law just didn’t work the way it was supposed to. But what was he supposed to do? Give up his life with Live because he couldn’t shake a habit? That would have been stupid. Liv had been the best thing to ever happen to him.

“Aye, darlin’, I know you can’t,” he said with a sigh and dropped his hands from his face.

Liv abandoned her peanut butter, jelly and brain sandwich leaving it on the counter. She stepped closer to Dan. “So what does that mean?” she asked her voice soft, eyes focused on Dan. If he couldn’t stop taking on more jobs and if Liv couldn’t be with someone who did jobs like that. What did it mean for them?

Liv was almost scared to find out.

“Ye’ve given me an ultimatum,” he answered. “Either I give up that part of me or I give you up. What am I supposed t’ do? I can’t just walk out the door and everythin’ we’ve fought for.” he shrugged a bit helplessly. “I can’t put my happiness ahead o’ us. Ahead o’ you. So…” he shrugged again.

“Don’t,” Liv replied growing angry again. “Don’t put this on me. You chose to give it up. I didn’t ask you to.” It had been something that made Liv fall even more in love with him. It was back when they couldn’t be together. When Liv was a zombie and Dan was a human. And he still chose to be done with that life.

“And now what? We’ve been together a while so you want to go back on that decision?” Liv questioned swallowing a lump in her throat. If she had known back then that he would end up resenting her or trying to go back to that life, she wasn’t sure she would have let herself fall this in love with him. Let herself move in with him. All of it.

Okay, she probably still would have. Because he was Dan and she loved him more than anything. But that wasn’t the point. All of this had been his decision. She never forced it. And now that he was changing his mind she was just supposed to accept it? No. She couldn’t. Liv had her morals.

“I’m not puttin’ this on you!” Dan snapped back at her. “This ain’t just about you, Liv. Don’t make this sound as though I was just waitin’ fer you to get comfy so I could go back t’ my former life. Don’t make this sound as though I planned this, because I didn’t!” He bit back the next thing that came surging up his throat for fear of saying something he’d only regret later. Dan had very few of those and he didn’t want to start racking up more because he couldn’t keep his foolass mouth shut.

He closed his eyes, forcing himself to take a couple of deep breaths to calm his blood down. “I know ye have yer morals. I know how important they are t’ya. Its one of the many things about ye that I admire. But I don’t have the same faith in the system that you do. I can’t.”

He paused another moment to catch his breath. “If I had my way, yeah, I’d go back t’ doin’ jobs. I enjoy them. I’m good at them. Doin’ a job is exciting fer me. Hell, they make me feel as though I’m doin’ something important. Somethin’ worthwhile. But this ain’t about just me either. This is about us, and what’s best for us.”

Liv crossed her arms leaning against the counter. “Not what I meant,” she said coolly. “I know you didn’t plan any of this. But don’t act like I’m suddenly giving you an ultimatum. You made the choice. I never asked you to.” She paused taking a breath, her face softening just a bit. “Do you know how much more in love with you I fell in that moment?” Liv asked. Because she had already been in love with him. But she fell so much harder for him that day.

“Maybe,” Liv said her voice shaky. “Maybe what’s best for us is space. You still have that apartment above the Double Tap, right? Maybe,” Liv paused swallowing again, eyes glistening with unshed tears. “You go back to doing jobs. Without worrying about me. And if that’s the life you really want,” she paused a tear falling down her cheek. “Then we’ll have to figure it out.”

Dan could tell just by looking at her that having him move back to the apartment over the bar was not the easiest thing for her to suggest. He wasn’t a huge fan of it either. He also didn’t see how that would change matters any. He didn’t think that a few weeks with him above the bar wouldn’t suddenly make Liv change her own morals. It was her utter belief in what was right and what was wrong -- her morals and her values -- that had influenced him in the first place.

“Aye, I made the choice,” Dan said. His voice was low. He was still upset, but he wasn’t looking to make matters worse. Just explain the position he was in the first time the issue of his jobs had come up. “Ye didn’t ask me t’, but I saw the situation fer what it was. Ye couldn’t be with me, if I was still doin’ the work.” His eyes moved over to her peanut butter and brains sandwich. What was coming next was not something he really wanted to admit, not even to himself. But, no one cared about him the way Liv did. So after a breath, he pressed on, not having any clue how Liv would react. “And...You made me want t’ be a better person. I thought, at the time, that was the best way to achieve that. I still want that…” His eyes slowly moved from the sandwich back to Liv. “But when Qrow came int’ the bar and tol’ me about those two girls, how they’d been kidnapped, the type o’ danger they were in -- I couldn’ tell’im no. Maybe I should’ve, but I know men like Jaqcues Schnee always get their way. Their pockets be deep enough t’ buy their way outta any situation, no matter what it is they’ve done. An’ the two siblings I worked for this time...it wasn’t just about the grandfather clock or the candle sticks. They were hurt. They were embarrassed that they’d let someone they thought they could trust manipulate them int’ givin’ up things that had been entrusted to them. They ‘ad no idea how the antiques world works, or what they were signin’. Maybe I should’ve told them no too, but I couldn’t.”

He let out a long tired sigh. “I dunno. Maybe I can’t be a better person. Maybe the only way fer us to figure this out is fer me t’ move back to the bar. Just...I don’t know.”

It wasn’t that Liv didn’t understand where Dan was coming from. She knew there was grey area out there. That the police couldn’t always get the bad guy. She had been known to go outside the box, outside her duty on occasion to bring justice to one of the victims in her morgue. But she had never killed anyone (minus the guy that had tried to kill Dan and put Liv in full on zombie mode. And her mistake at the hospital back in Seattle.) But that was different. Dan was literally hired to kill people. And yeah maybe now he wasn’t taking those kind of jobs anymore. But how long would that last? The no jobs at all thing had only last a year. Liv couldn’t compromise her morals like that. Not even for Dan.

“Dan,” Liv began frowning slightly. She didn’t know how to say any of this. “I never thought you were a bad person. I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you if I did. Even knowing what you did for a living.” When she found out she hadn’t loved him any less. But it was just something she couldn’t have in her life. She couldn’t look pat murder. She put murderers away, or helped Leon do it at least. No matter what the reason was, she couldn’t look past Dan doing that.

“I don’t want you to leave,” she went on swallowing another lump in her throat, her voice breaking a bit. “But if you’re really feeling like this. Like you need to do jobs to be happy. Then I think it’s for the best.”

Liv may not have thought he was a bad person, but Dan was less convinced. He was less inclined to resort to murder these days, but that didn’t change that he had murdered.

He thought about telling Liv to forget everything he said and that he’d give it all up, but now that it was out, neither one of them could ignore what he’d said. Besides, he had sworn that he’d never lie to her.

“I don’t wanna leave either, Darlin’,” he said. “But maybe yer right.” He felt so tired suddenly so completely and utterly drained. “I haven’t unpacked yet, so I’ll just grab my bag, a few other things, and I’ll head over to the bar.”

Liv swallowed, but the lump in her throat wouldn’t go away. Neither would the tears she was trying to blink back, a few falling from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks. Dan was leaving. And Liv’s heart was breaking. But she knew they couldn’t go on like this. Something had to change.

“Okay,” she finally said her voice quiet and small. Liv watched silently as Dan gathered his things. Not moving from her spot in the kitchen. That was until it was time for him to leave.

“Wait,” Liv said making her way to the door. She pulled Dan in for one more kiss, tender and sad, but still full of the love she felt for him.

Dan had gathered his duffle bag and stuffed a few extra sets of clothes inside along with a few other things he needed to have with him at the bar, most of which was related to the business. He also grabbed a few of the books on the nightstand on his side of the bed. He couldn’t (and had no desire) to take his entire library with him, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to be sleeping tonight, no matter how tired and drained he felt. He also didn’t want to spend the evening inside his bar having to explain to Sara why he was there on one of her scheduled nights. He was going to eventually have to explain to her that her boss was going to be living upstairs. It was not a conversation he was particularly looking forward to.

Duffle in hand and jacket slung over his shoulder Dan headed for the door, not wanting to linger and drag this out, potentially only hurting the both of them more. He stopped only when he heard Liv call out, turning in time to pulled down for a kiss.

“I love you too,” he said softly when their lips parted. “I’ll have my cell with me. If you need anything…”

Liv nodded not even bothering to attempt to swallow the lump in her throat, letting a few tears slide down her cheeks. “Goodbye, Dan.”