He smirks a little, "Sounds about right," he shakes his head and takes another sip of his beer.
There's a shrug of one shoulder. "Same as usual," he leans back a bit, something like annoyance creeping u to his features. "correcting Lewis' fuck ups." And it gets so old, so fast. He would rather run his own jobs than fix someone else's lack of planning.
Mention of Lewis only makes his scowl deepen. "So why not run your own crew? If anyone got word of some of the stuff you've pulled," him, not them, "they'd follow."
"Or at least do it on the side, make better money. Might know a couple guys interested in work too."
"I've thought about it," he admits with a slight nod. "it's about getting the right people together." There's a slow slide of a glance at Mick at those words. Yes. Mick is one of those people. And in all honesty, without him, Leonard is less likely to want to run a crew anyway.
"Who?" He asks with a curious tilt of his head. "Anyone I know?" He wonders exactly when he decided to keep things all business like this between them. It's a little like a knife plunging in his chest as he realizes how far removed he's become.
He wants to ask. About Leonard, about Lisa. If they're okay, if they're getting enough in terms of money or even food. Mick picks at his beer bottle label. Attempts like that are rebuffed anymore and he doesn't want to be pushed away again. Not when Lenny went to the trouble of seeking him out.
"Yeah. I know a couple guys. Good wheel man, takes orders good enough. Other one's good in a fight." People he'd met drinking, or fighting or some mixing of the two. "They ain't Family either."
If this is all he can do now, all he can be for Leonard, then it'll have to be enough. Because life without him is unthinkable.
He might secretly appreciate the question more than he'd show. Sometimes, Leonard wonders if the distance and the shift in their dynamic is going to be too much, too far, too different and force Mick to leave. He always said he wouldn't...but things were very different between them when those promises were made. People change, circumstances shift, promises break.
"You'll have to introduce us," He trusts Mick implicitly, and he knows he has good judgement for this sort of thing, but doing a job with people before meeting them and getting a feel for them himself is like asking to get caught.
That's the problem now, isn't it? Leonard might secretly appreciate the question as much as Mick might silently appreciate something as simple as touch. But neither one of them knows how to cross that breach between them, how do to things that had once been as simple and easy as breathing.
"Yeah. You get something lined up and I'll pull them in. Make sure they can be trusted."
A pause as he finishes his beer and waves for another. "I left the apartment on Seventh. Lease ain't up until the end of the year if you need it," a lame offering, but it's something to fill the silence between them.
Truth be told, Mick couldn't stand being there anymore. If he stayed he'd wind up torching more than a ratty old couch - he'd take out the entire building.
He nods a little, "All right, I'll let you know." He says with a swig of his beer.
The next comment throws him off. Enough that he actually glances at Mick, the tiny shock of surprise he's feeling showing a little too plainly for a short-lived second. "Thanks..." The word is awkward, stilted, and has a ton of unasked questions attached. Like why he left. What happened. Where is he staying now.
Not a single one manages to make it last his lips, though. And his chest squeezes like a vice.
"I ain't ever far though," he offers after a moment. Because while Leonard might not have asked, while that might have hurt Mick far more than he was going to admit, he still has to tell him he's close by. That he isn't leaving him. Or Lisa.
"Bouncing between a couple places for now. Duvall's crew usually needs muscle so.." so that's what he does. Who he is now.
"Oh. Okay..." is the only, dumb thing he can manage yo force out of his mouth at that piece of information. It's nothing like what he would have ever wanted between them. Not what it was supposed to be, what they'd planned for literal years. But it isn't Mick leaving, either m, and maybe that's more of a comfort than he wants to admit.
He finishes off the rest of what's left of his beer and flags down the bartender for another one. He needs a lot more where that came from.
This isn't how it was supposed to be. Mick wasn't supposed to be running with other crews who only needed muscle and Leonard wasn't supposed to be running jobs with his idiot old man, fixing his mistakes. They were supposed to be doing them together. Dreaming up jobs and taking Central City for all they could get. Partners.
.. course back then partners meant more than just.. whatever it is they were now.
Mick keeps his eyes fixed on his beer. "Lise okay?"
A sidelong glance with an unspoken added question. Are you?
He groans at the question about his sister-- nor because the question itself is anything like unwanted or deemed unnecessary, but because the answer is problematic.
"Well, she's wearing way too much makeup and sneaking out at night, and let me tell you, covering for her is my least favorite game, but she hasn't been caught yet," Because he's good at protecting her, regardless of anything he may think of himself. "One day, she's gonna get it, and I'm gonna lose it on that old man for it, though."
Lisa as a teenager has been a trying time, because she is far too independent to live under a thumb of an asshole that made it very clear how little and to what extent he'd ever wanted either of them. She's not the tiny little girl Leonard can bribe into being good to stay out of trouble anymore, either. It worries him. A lot. Beyond Lewis, there are boys now and he's vaguely sick thinking about it.
The groan in reply to his question draws the closest thing to a real smile out of Mick. That's his Princess all right. "You taught her how to take care of herself," not entirely true - they both had. "She'll be okay Lenny."
A slip he hadn't meant to make but what's done is done. "She's a smart kid. Tough."
"Yeah, I guess we did," it might seem like a slip in the distant facade he's pushed between them, but it's a purposeful choice of words, there. Leonard wouldn't deny Mick his right in Lisa's upbringing, no matter what else was happening between them. He'd been her rock, probably even more than Leonard in some ways.
"She's gettin' real catty in her teenage years, though." And boy is it annoying.
That slip doesn't go unnoticed, his eyes flicking over to Leonard again. No. Mick won't dare hope that it means anything. What they had was in the past and while he doesn't know what he did to make all that change, he isn't sure it's something he'll ever get back.
A hollow smirk as he picks up a beer. "A catty teenage Snart," his hum is almost thoughtful because yeah, he's already had experience with one pain in the ass teenage Snart.
He can't stop the slight smirk at Mick's reaction, already knowing what he'd thinking even without him saying it outright. There's even an amused, teasing lilt to his voice when he says, "Shut up," before letting his laugh be lost in his beer as he tips it back.
Something about that smirk, the echo of a laugh that loosens Mick's shoulders and he nudges his partner gently. "Lise can handle herself. Things get too dicey she can still come hang with me when she needs to hide out from the old bastard."
He nods a little, "I know she can," he's just terrified of letting her. He looks over at Mick again and smiles. "Thanks. I'm sure she knows that, but I'll make sure she does."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2018-01-26 03:56 pm (UTC)There's a shrug of one shoulder. "Same as usual," he leans back a bit, something like annoyance creeping u to his features. "correcting Lewis' fuck ups." And it gets so old, so fast. He would rather run his own jobs than fix someone else's lack of planning.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-26 04:07 pm (UTC)"Or at least do it on the side, make better money. Might know a couple guys interested in work too."
no subject
Date: 2018-01-27 03:04 am (UTC)"Who?" He asks with a curious tilt of his head. "Anyone I know?" He wonders exactly when he decided to keep things all business like this between them. It's a little like a knife plunging in his chest as he realizes how far removed he's become.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-29 01:45 pm (UTC)"Yeah. I know a couple guys. Good wheel man, takes orders good enough. Other one's good in a fight." People he'd met drinking, or fighting or some mixing of the two. "They ain't Family either."
If this is all he can do now, all he can be for Leonard, then it'll have to be enough. Because life without him is unthinkable.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-29 04:05 pm (UTC)"You'll have to introduce us," He trusts Mick implicitly, and he knows he has good judgement for this sort of thing, but doing a job with people before meeting them and getting a feel for them himself is like asking to get caught.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-29 05:43 pm (UTC)"Yeah. You get something lined up and I'll pull them in. Make sure they can be trusted."
A pause as he finishes his beer and waves for another. "I left the apartment on Seventh. Lease ain't up until the end of the year if you need it," a lame offering, but it's something to fill the silence between them.
Truth be told, Mick couldn't stand being there anymore. If he stayed he'd wind up torching more than a ratty old couch - he'd take out the entire building.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-29 06:35 pm (UTC)The next comment throws him off. Enough that he actually glances at Mick, the tiny shock of surprise he's feeling showing a little too plainly for a short-lived second. "Thanks..." The word is awkward, stilted, and has a ton of unasked questions attached. Like why he left. What happened. Where is he staying now.
Not a single one manages to make it last his lips, though.
And his chest squeezes like a vice.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-29 06:48 pm (UTC)"Bouncing between a couple places for now. Duvall's crew usually needs muscle so.." so that's what he does. Who he is now.
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Date: 2018-01-29 07:20 pm (UTC)He finishes off the rest of what's left of his beer and flags down the bartender for another one. He needs a lot more where that came from.
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Date: 2018-01-29 07:38 pm (UTC)Mick wasn't supposed to be running with other crews who only needed muscle and Leonard wasn't supposed to be running jobs with his idiot old man, fixing his mistakes. They were supposed to be doing them together. Dreaming up jobs and taking Central City for all they could get. Partners.
.. course back then partners meant more than just.. whatever it is they were now.
Mick keeps his eyes fixed on his beer. "Lise okay?"
A sidelong glance with an unspoken added question. Are you?
no subject
Date: 2018-01-29 08:10 pm (UTC)"Well, she's wearing way too much makeup and sneaking out at night, and let me tell you, covering for her is my least favorite game, but she hasn't been caught yet," Because he's good at protecting her, regardless of anything he may think of himself. "One day, she's gonna get it, and I'm gonna lose it on that old man for it, though."
Lisa as a teenager has been a trying time, because she is far too independent to live under a thumb of an asshole that made it very clear how little and to what extent he'd ever wanted either of them. She's not the tiny little girl Leonard can bribe into being good to stay out of trouble anymore, either. It worries him. A lot. Beyond Lewis, there are boys now and he's vaguely sick thinking about it.
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Date: 2018-01-29 09:42 pm (UTC)A slip he hadn't meant to make but what's done is done. "She's a smart kid. Tough."
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Date: 2018-02-01 08:50 pm (UTC)"She's gettin' real catty in her teenage years, though." And boy is it annoying.
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Date: 2018-02-02 03:41 pm (UTC)A hollow smirk as he picks up a beer. "A catty teenage Snart," his hum is almost thoughtful because yeah, he's already had experience with one pain in the ass teenage Snart.
.. he misses it.
"Must be hell."
no subject
Date: 2018-02-03 10:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-04 07:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 01:40 am (UTC)