i'll tell you now, i didn't even mean it — open

[heckofashot]

Who: Maccready & You!
What: A chance for people to follow up with Maccready following the shooting of Bigby & Kieren.
When: Mid to late May.
Where: Around Milton.

Content Warnings: Discussions of gunshot wounds, lingering effects of Glimmerfog. Anything else in headers.

Comments

[wolf_lover]

[Well, this had been bound to happen sooner or later. Connor hadn't precisely been keeping it a secret that he and Bigby were related but he also wasn't out there advertising it either. If it came up in the natural course of talking with someone, he'd acknowledge it, but so far it hadn't.

Still, you'd think he would have at least come up with a more succinct explanation for the moment it actually finally happened for the first time. But he hadn't. This is why Connor was as pretty as he was brainless sometimes.]

Yeah. I'm his son.

[There was an awkward pause before he went on.]

I know it sounds weird.

[Bigby looked maybe like he was in his late thirites at the oldest and that was on a bad day. The math definitely didn't look like it was going to add up here with Connor being somewhere in the range of his early twenties.]

[heckofashot]

Oh.

[ Well. Shit. He shot someone's father. Unbidden, the thought enters his mind of just how many people has he hurt, or killed, who had families? It's different at home, sure. At home, it's about survival, but he can't help think on it. ]

No, it's uh, well. It's a little weird, I guess, but…

[ He gives a small shake of his head, the faintest trace of humour present across his features for a second, before falling back into something more neutral. More appropriate for the situation. His assumption, based on how Bigby had spoken, is that there's been some timeline fuckery. It's the only plausible thing on his mind, and it wouldn't be the first time he's experienced such a thing here.

It doesn't matter, that's not important. ]

Look, I— There was— [ Trying to verbalise why it happened, that's not really important either. It's not really an excuse. ] … I'm sorry.

[ It's quiet, but genuine, and he meets Connor's eyes as he says it. Sure, he's not the only person who should be getting an apology, but it feels justified, given the apparent closeness. ]

[wolf_lover]

[Connor took in a big breath and let it out as a long sigh before he answered. He couldn't lie and say some part of him wasn't mad at the other man for shooting Bigby in the first place. But it hadn't been done maliciously and so he wasn't about to hold onto a pointless grudge.]

Apology accepted.

[Then he added on:]

You know, if I thought you'd done it on purpose, you'd be missing a few teeth and have a broken nose right now.

[He wouldn't have killed Maccready, not when Bigby hadn't died, but he would have been all too willing to beat him up a little to gain some satisfaction. And really, it would have been a shame to bust up someone as good-looking as RJ was, so Connor was glad he didn't have to.]

[heckofashot]

[ How is it possible for a sigh to sound so ominous? Maccready doesn't know, but he's certain it can't be good — he braces himself, for curses or angered outbursts; all of which he'd deserve — the fact that that's not what happens is frankly a little baffling. He's so used to operating on the laws of the Wasteland, or lack thereof, that the reality he hasn't already had his face caved in is nothing short of a miracle.

When Connor makes as much known, that that is what would have happened, Maccready almost finds it funny. Almost, because he doesn't doubt Connor could have — and should have, really — done a number on him. Maccready's no stranger to being on the receiving ends of someone's fists, he's almost certain he's had his nose broken at least once. Absent-mindedly, he rubs the bridge of his nose with the pad of his thumb.

Still, he finds it hard to believe. He blinks, owlish almost, at the other man. ]

You're— That's it?

[ He's not trying to push his luck, truly, but he expected something… more. More resistance, more anger, more hostility. Not whatever this is, a simple acceptance. ]

[wolf_lover]

[Connor sighed again, biting the inside of one cheek as he put his gloved hands into the jacket he was wearing. It looked a bit oversized and ill-fitting on him, so it wasn't hard to guess it actually belonged to Bigby, though that could only really be confirmed by getting close enough to the odor of cigar smoke that completely permeated the fabric.]

What, do you want me to hold a grudge forever? Look, I'm not saying having my dad get shot didn't piss me off immensely, and under different circumstances I wouldn't be so quick to forgive you. But it was an accident, so there's no point in acting like you were deliberately try to kill him. We've got bigger problems on our hands right now and fighting among ourselves is only going hurt us all when there's so few of us here.

[Connor could be a bit of an impulsive dumbass sometimes. But he'd grown up in a wolf pack and as a Fable, so he knew there was times to be angry and times to set that aside for the good of the group. Right now, it was better that they all tried to work together, so that was influencing his thinking quite a bit. The fact Bigby wasn't holding a grudge either was also a big deciding factor in how to approach the situation.]

[heckofashot]

Well, no, not really, but…

[ He'd really rather not have grudges held against him over this, truthfully. Though, he'd understand if people did, he'd just prefer that grudges came with like… actual intent on his half, at least. Those he can manage, those he's used to. He shakes his head, tilts it to the side. ]

Forgiveness is a bit of a foreign concept at home.

[ Not unheard of, but certainly short in supply — in Maccready's typical circles, anyway — being on the receiving end of it for something so significant feels a little… Odd. Uncomfortable? Not that how he feels is of any priority in this instance. Or maybe it's the implication it was an accident. He very much had been trying to kill Bigby, granted he hadn't entirely been in his right mind but… he was aware of it, his actions, twisted by images he never thought he'd see here. Accident feels far too generous. ]

I don't… I knew what I was doing, even if why I was doing it wasn't exactly— [ he sighs, searching for the right words. ] If it hadn't been for the fog, the insomnia… Seeing things? It never would have happened but… Well, none of that matters right now, I guess.

[ This isn't about him and his trauma. He's not about to unpack all that in the middle of a snowy street. ]

Is he… Is he alright?

[wolf_lover]

Yeah, well, get used to it.

[It wasn't really a concept known to either wolves or wind spirits. Wolves saw things mostly in black-and-white and wind spirits were fickle as the changing winds themselves. But there was also a large portion of Connor that was human as well. So sometimes he leaned more into that side of himself than he otherwise might have.

At the mention of Bigby, Connor's jaw tightened up a little bit, though he wasn't so much made at RJ as he was at the entire situation they were stuck in, which just fucking sucked on so many levels.]

....He's been better.

[Connor said in a short tone, betraying that he was perhaps a little more annoyed than he'd first let on. Though mainly he was just upset that his dad was hurt at all. It was a deep-seated fear, that his family would get hurt and he would be helpless to protect them.]