OOM: The latest with Mary Anne

[latino_menace]

Ramon is quiet when he walks into the house. He feels like he's done something wrong, even though he technically hasn't. Not wrong in that he toyed with Mary Anne a bit to get her to tell the truth for once - wrong because the conversation happened at all. Knowing how hurt Random was after he'd kissed her, it feels slightly off for him to talk to her about the situation. Almost as if he's been unfaithful, somehow, especially given that she showed him what might have been.

But he hasn't, and wouldn't - but he still feels the need to tell Random what happened. In a minute though. Right now, he's just leaning his back against the front door and pausing to try and get some of the tension out of him. He has a vague notion that something might just snap if the day carries on like this.

Comments

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"Yes."

Emphatically.

"I also feel like I didn't end that conversation, just escaped from it."

[latino_menace]

'You've got the right,' he says.

'I'm sure it's not something you really want to talk about.'

But he's going to ask him to anyway

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"Doesn't make it a good thing to do, sweetheart."

And now he's waiting, kissing Ramon's shoulder gently, for what he needs to say.

[latino_menace]

'It's...awkward,' he says, slowly.

'Because I thought she just wanted to have sex with me but now I think it's more than that. I think she was in love with me, at some point, though not now because of Ruin. And she told me that if she started an affair with me, I'd be an obsession she wouldn't be able to kick.'

He'll be honest, part of him doesn't mind that thought. If he were single, he'd play on it mercilessly. But the idea of Random having to deal with seeing a woman who secretly wants him like that - it's not fun.

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"You didn't know?"

A curious smile at him, because no one wants for that long, cares that much, hurts that badly, if there aren't emotional stakes envolved.

"Sweetheart."

[latino_menace]

Ramon looks at him oddly, then shakes his head.

'No. I thought she just wanted to sleep with me.'

He's not the sort of person who would automatically assume love is involved anywhere, because love is practically an alien thing to him. He easily knows how he feels about Random but outside of that, it doesn't come into play in his life.

'And now I don't know what to say to her.'

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"Ask her what'd be best."

He shrugs, and lets his forehead rest against Ramon's shoulder.

"She'll know what she needs, and it'll make sense, and then we can just go back to normal, alright? She does have Ruin, she'll be fine."

[latino_menace]

'I know. And it doesn't matter anyway, because I told her that nothing had changed and I still wasn't going to cheat on you. But that was after she showed me what could happen and we both know it wouldn't work anyway - apart from in the timelines where it does - and now I don't think I want to see her anymore, for a while.'

He's terribly confused, which is why its nice to hold Random and know that that's the one thing that isn't changing.

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"Then you'll do fine."

He kisses his shoulder, a little more.

"I've got you, you're away from her, you can stay here for a little while and just pass some time with me. Tomorrow, what say we go up in the plane? Martin's going to a playgroup."

[latino_menace]

'That sounds good.'

Just him and Random, his favourite kind of day. Only...

'...should really sort out the cops first. They'll probably want to see both of us and I'm going to have to clear most of the guns out of the office.'

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"Of course."

He'd been looking forwards to talking to them, anyways.

"What are they going to do when they come? Just make vague threats? Or try to arrest you? Or what?"

[latino_menace]

'Well, they're going to want to know why one of our clubs had drugs worth about five million bucks in its basement yesterday. Lucky it was a small shipment really - if they're clean, they'll tell us about the investigation they're going to start. If they're dirty, they'll hint that it could be made to go away, at which point, I'll pay them off.'

And if they are clean, he'll...find other leverage. Because there's no fucking way he's closing down his operation now.

'I've already made sure that the rest of the places haven't got anything in them. But not obviously because there'll be people watching them at the moment.'

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"I can make any paperwork you need to dissappear simply vanish."

He's good at that sort of thing.

"I do have a few friends in the police force here. I was a witness a while back. Murder case."

[latino_menace]

'Yeah? I didn't know that.'

He takes Random's hand and idly lets their fingers twine. Likes dong that, especially when they're wrapped up in bed together.

'I've taken care of the paperwork already - all on computer anyway and the disks are hidden well. And there's not much actual product around because it went out to the street guys three days ago. Just depends whether they've had surveillance on us and just been waiting for today - we'll need to find out how much evidence they've got.'

And he's wondering how the hell he didn't get tipped off on this one in advance. Obviously he hasn't got well enough connected since he started - that'll have to change.

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"We need to build up our people, yeah?"

He yawns, widely, and squirms to get a little more comfortable.

"Not the top people, I rather like them," and by now, they're all used to Random and his questions about their wives and if their son'll be at the parade tomorrow and would he like to sit with him and Martin, they're alone. "But let me wander around a bit lower down in the rungs. Give me some money, I'll help some people, and inspire some nice loyalty."

[latino_menace]

'The lower rungs is what we need. We need desperate street scum that'll spill their guts on anbody as long as they get paid for it. You can't help them Random, because then they'll be no good to us.'

He feels better thinking about business. This is something he knows inside out. Nothing grey about this stuff.

'And we need more people in the cop stations. More people who can give us a heads up on this shit in advance.'

From tomorrow, Ramon's going to be getting paperwork on every cop in the city and he'll be going through it to identify the weakest of them, the ones with traits that can be manipulated. Random might play nice, but he doesn't - that sort of information is invaluable when you need something to happen fast.

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"If you need me to make someone happy, just tell me."

He yawns again, and nuzzles closer.

"I'm here if you want."

[latino_menace]

'Yeah. It'll be OK.'

Ramon's wide awake now, his brain working over what's going to happen tomorrow. It's the perfect distraction from all the personal shit, and all the stuff he hsn't said.

'Go to sleep Random, you're tired. I might get up and work a bit but I'll be quiet.'

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"I'm just drowsy."

His eyes are still closed though.

"Talk to me for a bit? Just. Talk."

[latino_menace]

'What about?'

Anything, he assumes. So he casts around for a moment and figures people are as good a place as any to start.

'I met an old woman who's kind of like Raven. Goddess-legend thing, you know? She told me how to make applemash whiskey. It's good stuff.'

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"Want to try some together later?"

He could stand to make whiskey with Ramon, for an afternoon. That'd be a nice way to pass the time.

[latino_menace]

'We could. But it'd have to be in a diffrent shadow, where it's hot.'

He chuckles and kisses his cheek fondly.

'Good thing about being with you, we won't have to wait six months for it to be ready. Walk us forward and we can have it in a few hours.'

That'd be awesome, he thinks. That stuff had rocked.

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"Whatever you like."

Just keep holding him like this and telling him things.

"We'll get to it later. Maybe have some on hand for Christmas. 's coming soon. Our second Christmas together."

[latino_menace]

'Yeah.'

Ramon smiles. He'd been thinking about Christmas the other day. He likes it, as a rule, and last year had been nice. Apart from Martin's visit on the day itself. That had been excruciating.

'What do you want to do for it? Spend it here, or somewhere else?'

[underwater-owl.livejournal.com]

"I want to spend it back in Columbia."

He sighs, happily, and settles his head so it's on Ramon's shoulder.

"We can afford a day a year."