"Sometimes I think that makes it easier for us to bounce back when we fight." Lark agrees. He has lots of people he knows and cares about, but very, very few he could really call friends. "At least so far."
"I agree," he says, nodding as he leans against a wall, looking at Lark to see if he needs any other medical attention. "It doesn't hit as hard, and there's fewer grudges to get over."
"Which says something, because I hold many grudges." There are some scrapes that hve stopped bleeding, but which need cleaning. Lark considers them, and his first instinct which is to transform and lick them clean.
But he won't be changing shape for at least a few days, not without ripping out stitches, so he eyes Tommy. "What about you? You seem like you love a good vendetta."
He eyes them too, but he knows as well that Lark won't be changing for a few days- so he reaches for the kettle and puts it on the stove while it's still hot, to boil some water.
"I only hold grudges for as long as I need to solve the conflict. When it's done," and by that he means 'when I've come out on top', "there's no need to hold on to it. They shouldn't get in the way of business."
"I've only ever had one grudge my whole life." Some small rivalries, some tensions, yes. But not a grudge. "But being here makes it tempting to take on more."
Lark nods, because he gets that. And at least Tommy admits it readily. "I've thought about what I'd do if I graduated. If I'd stay here--I wouldn't, obviously. I don't have anything I'd ask the Admiral for. And I can't decide if that's a character flaw on my part, or a sign that my life is not up against a wall like it seems."
He exhales slowly, thinking about that. He's considered it before, many times, but always just to himself.
"No. I may as well hate a tornado for all the good it would do me. Arthas killed him and look at how that panned out. He presents the idea that you can create order by throwing us into chaos, and that's how this works. Hell, if I had a good enough reason, I'd start cashing cheques on the backs of abducted prisoners, too. But there's nothing in my life that I haven't been able to get on my own, or live without if I couldn't get."
"Sometimes I think the same," he comments, which is a confession he shouldn't be making to Lark but here he is- after the things Lark has told him he owes him.
"But there's Nux, now. Finish that and see what follows." He'll definitely think that in a few weeks, when he sees and hears what becomes of him even when Kimber dies.
"Did I tell you what it is? Ever?" He suspects not: it's very personal, and their relationship hasn't always been stable enough for secrets of this magnitude.
"Only that it was for family, I think." The only time they discussed it was when Tommy was detoxing, and nothing said then can be counted on as reliable.
The water comes to a boiling point, and he fills up a low ceramic bowl with it before drenching a cloth in the hot water.
"Lean forward," he mutters, reaching to clean up around the shallower wounds before he speaks again.
"I'd been planning for months. Billy Kimber controls the racetrack pitches for most the country outside of London, and you don't do a thing without Kimber's permission. I'd gotten into his good graces, doing protection, we got ourselves a pitch on the edge of the tracks. The Lee family had caused trouble for him, so we chased 'em out, but when John married Esmee it was us against him. Yeah?"
"Maybe is right. I made that pact with the queen," and it's obvious he isn't talking about the King's wife, here, "so that they would help us, eventually."
He washes out the cloth, then reapplies it to see what's blood and what's a wound. "Until Black Star Day. I'd written it down, somewhere, but with my family up in arms against me over something else I hadn't told anyone else. We were all gonna go down to the Worcester Races, the Lee boys already on their way as muscle, when we were told that Kimber wasn't at the races at all. He was coming down to Birmingham."
The way he ducks his head is still, after all this time, indication enough of his badly this hurts.
"I learned long ago to hate my enemies, but I'd never loved one before," he murmurs. At least his voice is calm. "She'd told that copper who hated me, and he'd notified Kimber of my plans- I presume."
"She regrets it," he reminds him softly. It's a grievous mistake but one that, he hopes, Tommy understands. Lark respects her reasons as he's been given them; who in this room could say they didn't respect vengeance? "And it takes a lot to feel regret when you've worked so long for what you get."
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(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-27 10:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-27 10:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-28 06:48 am (UTC)But he won't be changing shape for at least a few days, not without ripping out stitches, so he eyes Tommy. "What about you? You seem like you love a good vendetta."
(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-28 08:43 am (UTC)"I only hold grudges for as long as I need to solve the conflict. When it's done," and by that he means 'when I've come out on top', "there's no need to hold on to it. They shouldn't get in the way of business."
(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-31 09:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-31 10:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-31 06:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-31 06:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-31 07:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-31 07:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-31 07:21 pm (UTC)"No. I may as well hate a tornado for all the good it would do me. Arthas killed him and look at how that panned out. He presents the idea that you can create order by throwing us into chaos, and that's how this works. Hell, if I had a good enough reason, I'd start cashing cheques on the backs of abducted prisoners, too. But there's nothing in my life that I haven't been able to get on my own, or live without if I couldn't get."
(no subject)
Date: 2015-12-31 07:52 pm (UTC)"But there's Nux, now. Finish that and see what follows." He'll definitely think that in a few weeks, when he sees and hears what becomes of him even when Kimber dies.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-01 05:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-01 07:06 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-03 10:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-03 11:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-05 10:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 06:46 pm (UTC)"Lean forward," he mutters, reaching to clean up around the shallower wounds before he speaks again.
"I'd been planning for months. Billy Kimber controls the racetrack pitches for most the country outside of London, and you don't do a thing without Kimber's permission. I'd gotten into his good graces, doing protection, we got ourselves a pitch on the edge of the tracks. The Lee family had caused trouble for him, so we chased 'em out, but when John married Esmee it was us against him. Yeah?"
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-09 11:21 pm (UTC)"So you could make trouble with the Lees...or turn on Kimber, and maybe take what he owned?"
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-10 08:27 am (UTC)He washes out the cloth, then reapplies it to see what's blood and what's a wound. "Until Black Star Day. I'd written it down, somewhere, but with my family up in arms against me over something else I hadn't told anyone else. We were all gonna go down to the Worcester Races, the Lee boys already on their way as muscle, when we were told that Kimber wasn't at the races at all. He was coming down to Birmingham."
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-21 08:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-21 09:05 am (UTC)"Because I'd told one person-- one person, who I thought worked for me but turned out to work for someone else."
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-21 10:34 pm (UTC)Lark knows a thing or two about betrayal. But he's never been betrayed by someone he actually loved.
"Not...Grace?"
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-22 02:49 am (UTC)"I learned long ago to hate my enemies, but I'd never loved one before," he murmurs. At least his voice is calm. "She'd told that copper who hated me, and he'd notified Kimber of my plans- I presume."
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-23 06:40 am (UTC)(no subject)
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