closed; Couldn't get it right

[questioningmermaids]

Who: Holland March, Wynonna Earp, Jason Todd
What: An apology tour
When: After the trial
Where: Various Milton-like areas

Wynonna

[ He can't avoid her forever. Not only is it physically impossible here, but it's Wynonna. The only reason they're not joined at the hip is because the girl is out there being Capable and shit, and with everything that's been spiralling rapidly out of control Milton's in a bad way. There's other things to do. That's a perfect excuse for someone who lacks follow-through.

Eventually, though, he catches Wynonna in the community hall, toothpick in his mouth in lieu of a cigarette, and doesn't hesitate to reach out to grab her arm. ]

Hey. Hold up--you got a sec?

Jason Todd

[ Red is harder to track down. For one, March doesn't know his proper haunts, and for two, March doesn't actually want to do this at all. It's much easier to drag your heels on something and actively avoid it if you would rather do anything else, even if you know it's the 'right thing' and you have to try to 'put a little bit of effort in.'

God, he hates that Bigby and Fraser are rubbing off on him. Seeping into him like practical, steadfast and hard working annoyances. Gross.

He spots Red from across the street and decides sure, fuck it, no time like the present. Hands up to show he's unarmed, he whistles loudly to get the other's attention. ]

Hey! Red!

Comments

[pacificator]

[ She's been on edge and snappish since the meeting — trial — whatever it was, exhausted from going back and forth between Milton and Lakeside, from trying to keep an eye on Jopson, from worrying about Little and Louis and the guy currently curling his fingers around her arm. It's maybe a little thinner than he remembers; she hasn't put back on any of the weight she'd lost during those weeks of scarcity.

But it's March, and he looks normal — for him, so: like a lunatic by usual standards — so she just stirs her coffee and picks it up, then turns toward him, her mouth a little tight and her eyebrows lifting in unimpressed arches. ]

Unless you're here to say 'thanks for keeping me from murdering someone, Wynonna, I owe you one,' I'm not sure I do.

[ That's a lie. She'd have gone to find him after getting coffee, if he hadn't rambled on in here first. ]

[questioningmermaids]

[ Oh, yeah. Yup. Definitely in the doghouse. That thin smile is enough to send him reeling, but there's something else. That stubbornness is creeping through and he can't stop himself. ]

He did start it.

[pacificator]

[ Her expression flattens even further, and she tugs her arm back, annoyed, though not quite enough to break his grip. ]

Try again.

[questioningmermaids]

Okay, okay, okay.

[ Goddammit, Wynonna. The fact that he's doing this and talking to Red unprompted is a testament to how much he gives a shit. He sighs and presses his thumb and index finger to the bridge of his nose, wincing. ]

I really was going to say 'thanks for keeping me from murdering someone, Wynonna, I owe you one,' but now I feel like it's kind of not really my own thing anymore since you just said it, so.

[pacificator]

[ She watches him pinch the bridge of his nose like he's got a headache with the name Wynonna stamped all over it. It's not an apology, but it's probably the best she's going to get out of him. ]

Well, knock it off. If I have to hit you in the head again you're gonna wind up with major brain damage. Not that anyone would notice.

[ She twists her wrist to wrench her arm away from him, then goes digging in her pockets, expression still as flat and annoyed as a cat just home from the vet's. A moments search produces what she was looking for -- three slightly crumpled cartons of cigarettes, scrounged from around Lakeside -- which she shoves into his chest. ]

And now you owe me two.

[questioningmermaids]

[ Wynonna shoves a carton of something into his chest, but March is hellbent on matching her quip-for-quip. ]

What are you gonna do, make it so I can't taste, either? Jesus, you--

[ He looks down. His eyes widen, face very sullen, slack and serious. ]

What are these? [ He knows what they are. ] Are these cigarettes?

[ He's looking at Wynonna now, eyes wide. Did Wynonna give him cigarettes? Not a pack, but a carton? ]

These are cigarettes. Where did you find cigarettes?

[pacificator]

Around.

[ She gives him an unimpressed look, reaching for the coffee he'd so rudely interrupted her from. ]

You keep reaching for them. [ That continual reach to his breast pocket, the way he keeps remembering, over and over, that he doesn't have any smokes. So, fine; she found a small cache of them tucked away in a Lakeside cabin, and it's not like she was gonna smoke 'em. ] It was bugging me.

[questioningmermaids]

[ Wynonna got him smokes. Not just a single one, not a pack, but a carton. Delightful, musty, terrible smokes. March drops them.

In his defense, it's because he has both of his hands immediately on either side of Wynonna's face, scrunching her cheeks up slightly as he plants a very firm, very pleased kiss directly onto her. ]

[pacificator]

[ The next thing she knows, she's being kissed; March's mustache tickling her upper lip and her coffee forgotten in her hand. It's a fucking relief; once again, there's no mystery here and no hoops to jump through; she curls her fingers into the fabric of his jacket and doesn't have to worry about it. ]

I'm still mad at you, [ she informs him, once the kiss breaks, but she's visibly mollified, like a cat that's been soothed and petted back into a good mood. Her fingers are still in his jacket, the coffee steaming in her other hand. ]

So try not to get into a mess for a little bit, huh?

[questioningmermaids]

Scout's honour. [ March was never in boy scouts. But Wynonna is a doll and March pulls away to tear at the carton like a feral wolverine. ]

Look, I really am sorry. I didn't--that wasnt me, dig? That was other March.

[ he puts a smoke in his mouth, lifting his finger up to snap and light it. He exhales and lets his eyes slide closed, sighing and tilting his head all the way back. ]

[pacificator]

[ Watching the way he leans his head back makes her annoyed all over again that he stopped her here in the community hall and didn't let her come to his place, where there wouldn't be anyone around. She doesn't smoke, but she still breathes a little deeper as he breathes out, the scent of burning tobacco and paper and all the other shit in there tugging at the hidden string deep inside her that says home. ]

Yeah, well, you weren't the only one who got whammied. That shit messed everyone up.

[ Almost everyone, anyway. ]

You're lucky it was me who found you and not someone who'd shoot first and apologize to your buddies later.

[questioningmermaids]

[ March's response is to widen his arms in a very loose, very annoying shrug. ]

Could also be because I can't die.

[pacificator]

I changed my mind. Maybe I will shoot you. You deserve it.

[ Asshole. ]

Say hi to Nixon for me.

[reneger]

( the secret to avoiding being found is to avoid having anywhere that could be called a local haunt. jason doesn't let himself be seen in specific places more often than others, because he doesn't want people to come looking for him. damian and tim will manage it regardless of how easy or hard he makes it; avoiding everyone else is the real goal.

avoiding march being among them, but - it's a small town, and the guy finding him isn't all that surprising. jason's on his way through the 'town', hands shoved into his pockets when he hears the familiar voice that had called out to him last time very similarly to this before he'd gone and intentionally pissed jason off.

and jason - gives much the same reaction this time as he had then. raises a brow, chin tipped back to look towards march. )

Gonna start shit again?

[questioningmermaids]

No. [ Jesus. March is already annoyed with this conversation. It has nothing to do with Red whatsoever, of course, it's just that he hates examining himself and his actions and would much rather drink himself into an early death. But he can't exactly numb his way out of this one, so, yeah. He's going to do this. He's going to complain the whole time, but he'll do it. From the other's face, he looks just as happy already that this is happening, too.

Fantastic. ]

I'm not an idiot. Got one of these bad boys-- [ He'll thumb his chest to denote an amulet. ] so I'm peachy keen now and forever, dig? It's, uh. You know.

You got a minute?

[reneger]

( he says that, as if march expects jason to know what the hell the thing on his chest is. jason doesn't, but he doesn't ask for clarification either. instead, he opts to leave it as-is; they can come back to that later if he feels it's necessary. )

's not like I've got anything else going on.

( so he's got a minute. he'll even start towards march, taking his hands out of his pockets just in case he does opt to swing a fist at him again. )

[questioningmermaids]

[ March hardly clocks the other's hands, far more intent on soothing his own ego. Maybe that's the bad way to go about it, but it is a way to go about it. Baby steps and all. No one ever said he wasn't an asshole. The Nice Guys agency is a bit of a misnomer, after all. ]

Great. 'Cause, uh, I guess I gotta do the whole...

[ He tilts his head to the side, scratching the base of his neck. ]

You know.

[reneger]

The whole what?

( he's getting it now. this is an apology of sorts. probably. but he's not going to let march get off that easily. he knows it wasn't intentional, that march wasn't the only one who was going a little batty, but. it wouldn't be very jason-like if he just let it go. )

[questioningmermaids]

[ Don't make him say it, man. Shit. He's gonna, isn't he?

Goddammit. He is.

March's nose wrinkles, clearly distressed at the thought of having to 1. apologize, but more importantly 2. admit more weakness. ]

You know.

[ Fuck. ]

Uuhhh. Like, I'm sorry the aurora made me go crazy and wanna shoot you, I guess. Even though you're perfectly fine so it's not really relevant.

[reneger]

( he could leave march hanging for a bit longer. give him shit about the whole, taking a gun out on jason nonsense. he was already in shit shape before they went at each other, but - it's not as if jason's ever in good shape these days. instead, jason narrows his eyes as he looks to march for a few moments before lifting his shoulders in a shrug. )

's fine. Better me than someone who can't handle it.

( if wynonna hadn't come between them, one of them would have left that a lot more fucked up than they did. luckily for march, she did get her sticky fingers in the middle of their mess.

his expression darkens a little, brows pinching together. )

Next time you say shit about me hitting women, I'll cave your face in. Got it?

[questioningmermaids]

[ Wow. So that's it. A 'fine' and there we go. Forgiven. Probably not forgotten, but March isn't expecting that at all. That little shrug Red gives off seems bigger to the blond. He barely resists a grin. ]

Yessir.

[ Oh, no. There's the grin. ]

You can really throw a punch, huh?

[reneger]

( the grin makes march's face that much more punchable. luckily for both of them, jason is managing to resist the urge. for now. instead: he returns the grin with one of his own. )

I can do a lot more than throw a punch.

( the theater kid in him almost runs off into a whole spiel, but march isn't someone jason wants knowing his secrets. not yet. it'd be one thing if he was stuck out here by himself, but with tim and damian also around, well - it changes shit. )

And if I were you, I'd be careful not to pull shit.

[questioningmermaids]

It's not like I did it on purpose. But, y'know. We're copacetic. It's all gravy. We can go back to... whatever it is we were doing.

[ He did do it on purpose. Technically. He squints. Why does he feel the need to defend himself? Guilt, probably. Most likely. Definitely. He feels kind of bad about it. Is he going to admit that? Absolutely not. ]

You a boxer or something? Martial artist? One of those kung-fu kids?

[reneger]

( he thinks of three absolutely bullshit answers by the time march says kung-fu, not one of which has even an ounce of truth hidden in it.

any of them would work. one of them would be a lot funnier than the other two. but what jason decides to go for isn't any of them. he goes for the truth, which, frankly, sounds a lot more like bullshit than any of the lies would have. )

I was shipped around the world by one of the deadliest women on the planet to learn how to fuck up the one guy who pissed us both off, which included learning a bit of everything. Boxing, Silat, Kali, Krav Maga, Akido, Muay Thai - you name it, I could probably kick your ass with it.

[questioningmermaids]

[ That sounds like bullshit. but it should sound more like bullshit, is the thing. March brings a hand to his chin, rubbing at his facial hair. The problem is it sounds more like truth than it sounds like bullshit, which is wildly confusing.

Occasionally, March's rampant alcoholism and general shitty behaviour ebbs and gives way to the fact that he's a decent detective when he actually tries. And he's fairly certain, as wild as that whole schpiel is, that Red's being completely genuine. ]

You should teach me.