Reed Jensen (_rube_) wrote in willowbrookrpg, @ 2014-03-07 07:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | !thread, colin redding, day: december 01, player: kelly, player: lisa, reed jensen |
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Who: Colin and Reed
What: getting drunk
When: Sunday afternoon
Where: Reed's apartment
Rating: just a lot of cursing and drinking
Status: incomplete/started in gdoc
It wasn't like Reed had never asked for Colin's help before. He had asked the negator to void his powers on multiple occasions, typically to allow Reed to get a tattoo. But he hadn't gotten any new ink in a long time. One thing Reed had never asked for before, and wasn't even sure if it would work, was for Colin to negate him in order to get drunk. Reed had never been drunk before. Ever. When he was at Purdue with humans, he'd been forced to pretend. It would look suspicious for a man to drink that much with absolutely no side effects. So Reed studied the behaviors of other men while they drank and mimicked them. It wasn't hard. Not at all. Reed was no actor, but playing dumb and clumsy was hardly 'acting'.
Today, he didn't have to fake it. "Shit," he said with a laugh while quickly dabbing his hand over his chest. Beer had somehow slipped out of the glass without sliding down his throat. And now his shirt was wet. Apparently his pants too. "Beer tastes better than I remember," he said with a slight slur.
”I can get you a straw,” Colin said laughing softly at his friend. He’d never seen Reed drunk and this was going to be entertaining at the very least. They hadn’t really gotten to the reason why Reed wanted to get shitfaced but there was time for that. Colin, for his part, was pacing himself so he wouldn’t get drunk and lose focus on his true task.
He thought back to the times when he helped his friend get tattooed. The first time they went, they had to play it safe not knowing if the artist was a mutant or not and Colin had to hold it together until they got outside before ‘letting go’ of Reed. When he did, the tattoo healed up almost instantly - to what Colin thought was totally unfair. Would the same happen with drinking? If Colin stopped, would Reed be instantly sober? “So why the binge drinking tonight?” he asked, as he continued to nurse his first beer.
Reed practically giggled at the straw suggestion. He had started with shots, then Colin had suggested Reed slow down and switch to beer. Liquor then beer, never fear. Beer then liquor, never sicker. Or something like that. The rhyme sounded familiar when Colin said it. Reed vaguely remembered hearing it at a frat party.
"I told you why. Kat." As though her name alone explained everything. It did in Reed's mind. "She's," he gestured then screwed his eyebrows together as he thought and changed the direction of his hand. "That way. Seagram is that way." Yes. Maybe. He couldn't be sure. Thinking was hard right now!
Reed more or less was waving in the right direction of Seagram Tower but Colin shook his head. “Yeah but what else is there? This can’t be just because she’s at Seagram. Is this still fall out from the holiday?” he asked, finally finishing off his beer. Reed really never went into detail of what happened and he may have to if he wanted to avoid alcohol poisoning. “You have more than just friend feelings for her?” Standing up to get Reed another beer, he glanced back and looked at his friend. He was fairly drunk and they’d discussed before Reed started to drink, just how far this should all go. “How you feeling?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he grumbled, pouting as he did so and slumping low into the cushions until he could have turned his chest into a table for his beer bottle. “She’s a member of the Syndicate. That’s what matters.” Because it meant he could never be with her. It would be dangerous and stupid. Being her friend was a big enough risk. But it wasn’t satisfying. Not really. “Why do all the perfect women have to be at Seagram?” Colin understood. Colin was going through the same thing. Sorta.
Colin passed him another beer and sat across from him. “Clearly there is something more than friendship if you are this … .broken up over it. I’ve never known you to want to get drunk like this.” Colin knew what Reed was feeling. It wasn’t like either one of them could just waltz over to the tower and meet up with the women in their lives. They’d end up getting themselves shot and killed. No matter what their powers were. “Were you ever recruited?” he asked softer. Reed was a genius and he could understand if the Syndicate wanted him.
Reed ignored the first part of what Colin said and just drank. A lot. He chugged down the beer Colin had handed him. Drinking was better than talking about his feelings. They were stupid feelings that he needed to put in the past. It would never work.
He shook his head at the question. “No one would ever look at me and think I could be turned.” He was too nice. The Syndicate knew that. Reed was also exceptionally honest. He sucked at lying. He would usually just dodge a question or conversation he didn’t like, but it was obvious that that was what he was doing. Like now.
Sitting back in his chair, he put a foot on the coffee table and got comfortable. His beer could wait. “How long have we known each other? Hmm? Damn near forever it seems like some days. Do you think you can dodge with me? I know all your tells, it’s why I enjoy playing poker with you so much. You’re terrible at it,” Colin said with a laugh at his old friend’s tactics. “I know you better than you think I do. You really like her don’t you?” He would leave the question hanging there until Reed answered it.
Reed tossed his empty beer bottle at Colin. “I need more.” Which translated to ‘yes, I really like her, so stop asking me!’ Reed just wanted to forget about it. Drinking was supposed to help, wasn’t it? “I thought alcohol was supposed to make you feel better. Is there something wrong with it?” He felt drunk, absolutely, but he didn’t feel better. He needed to feel better. Monthly meetings with Kat didn’t leave him feeling so shitty and sad. Maybe because those meetings were brief. Their trip to Indiana was long and emotional. It had gotten under his skin and made it much harder to shake all those damn feelings.
Colin caught the can as a the few remaining drops dripped on him. Not Cool. “Drinking isn’t about feeling better, Rube. It’s about getting numb and forgetting for a little while. You’re thinking about this all wrong,” he explained as he stood to get his friend another. Colin really hoped that once Reed was no longer negated, his healing powers would kick in and counter the alcohol in his system or he’d have one hell of a hang over the next morning. Or would he? They’d never done this before like this; the times before were for Reed to get his tattoos and that was a whole different body reaction.
He returned with a new can for Reed and sat again. “I can only assume by your non answer that you have more than friend zone feelings for Kat. What are you going to do about it?”
"I never been drunk before. How the hell would I know how to act or what I'm supposed to feel?" Numb would be good. Anything would be better than how he'd felt. He was lost and confused and struggling to figure out his next move. Maybe there was no next move. Maybe he just needed time to let his emotions fade.
Reed started drinking the next beer. "Nothing. I'm doing nothing about it. There's nothing I can do. I just have to get over it." And he'd made great strides in that after returning from college. He'd known then that his future with Kat would have to be strictly friendly. Nothing more.
Colin took the snap in stride and chalked it up to first time drunknesses. However if it happened again, Reed would get a warning shot back. Even if this was a one time thing, there was an etiquette about it.
Letting out a soft laugh when Reed said he was going to just get over it, Colin shook his head. The two friends were in the same boat - too loyal to defect, in too deep to just walk away from the women they cared about. “You think you can do that? Just get over it?” he asked with more seriousness to his tone that intended.
Reed shrugged. He had no idea. "I did alright when she joined the Syndicate." He was blaming this relapse of romantic feelings on all the time spent together over the holiday. They were with his family and friends, frequently discussing relationships. Was it any wonder he suddenly felt a revival of that flame within himself? He'd stomped it down a few years ago, but it hadn't been extinguished apparently, just dormant. He should have known it wasn't gone. Any attempts at dating since then had been a waste of time, so he'd mostly focused on work. It was usually enough to distract him. Not anymore.
Leaning back in his chair, he put his foot back up on the table and opened a beer of his own. “You’re a better man than I am then,” he said before taking a drink thinking of Emma.
…..