Working for a future

[ronfiction]

A few days after the dust up by the lake Lou can be found during late hours at the dinner, cleaning up as usual. He's waited for most people to leave for the night because he finds it easier to clean up without all the people in the way. He managed to walk off any limp he may have gotten during the fight but he's still got some bad bruising and he's currently wearing an eye patch over one of his eyes. Occasionally he pauses and rubs a section of his back with a groan but then starts back up on what he considers his therapy.

[sndwurks]

One of the first nights in town, Billy St. Francis remembers repairing an Exit sign with Lou late that night at the AAA Diner. It is the first place Billy would look if he wanted to find Lou.

And apparently, that is just what Billy does the evening Lou is back in town and cleaning. Billy slips in quietly through the backdoor, standing aside and watching for a second before stepping fully into the empty diner.

"Lou," he greets. "You look like shit. How you feeling?"

[ronfiction]

"The pats are 9-0 and it hasn't started snowing yet. Things are going great."

Lou said with a smirk and gave Billy a nod. Lou was always one to down play things and did his best to cover up things with mundane conversation. The art of small talk was lost to a lot of folks in Whisper Hill but Lou knew that Billy was more subtle than most.

"As for the looks, well, I wasn't much to look at to start with."

He says and offers his hand for a shake with a chuckle.

"How have you been man?"

[sndwurks]

"Busy, but it's that time of year, ain't it?" offers the shaman with a wry chuckle, and a smile that fails to quite reach his eyes. Nothing really does anymore. Not fear. Not happiness. Just a sense of exhaustion, and attentiveness. "Good to hear about the Pats, though. Never was that big into football, but I know some people in the tribe who make good money when the Pats are winning."

Billy takes the hand in his own, gives it a firm shake, and looks at Lou in the eye. He takes in the other man evenly, playing his own cards close to his chest and revealing little in his expression. Just measuring him up for the moment

"You still clean up this place?" Billy asks, finally glancing towards the diner itself while keeping Lou in his periphery. "What, the Mill not pay you enough, you have to moonlight? Or you just sweet on Flo?"

[ronfiction]

Lou shakes his hand and motions to a near by table with some stools set up.

"Community service."

Lou says as he sits heavily on the stool and lets out a tired sigh of relief. He leans on the table and encourages Billy to join him.

"We all use this place. Everyone does their part. Some do more than others."

Lou says and motions around the diner.

"Some people make messes. Some people clean them up. Someone's got to do it, might as well be someone who's good at it."

[sndwurks]

Cleaning up messes. There is a ghost of a grin across Billy's lips at that one, and he nods to Lou, accepting the answer.

"So, you're not sweet on Flo," Billy replies with a hint of challenge in his face. He watches for Lou's reaction, not quite letting it get verbal before continuing on. "Still, it's good of you to do your part, Lou. You fit here better than most, when all is said and done, and I'm pretty sure the locals notice. The locals notice a lot."

Billy pauses at that, his eyes going from scanning room during his words to focusing back on Lou's expression.

"Heard you got into a bit of a scrap."

When Billy stops dancing around, it is the private investigator that comes out. He leans against a wall just outside Lou's easy reach, arms crossed over his chest, and smile not quite reaching those odd, off-brown eyes. He's watching Lou carefully, and not hiding a readiness in case of a bad reaction. Billy's guard is up, but he's continuing forward.

"Some locals were talking about you tussling with one of the out of towners. I did a bit of digging, and found out got into it with V. Considering how you look... it could have gone worse. He's not in the habit of leaving people alive when they cross him."

Pause.

"Few out of towners are."

And those words left to hang in the air between the two men, heavy and dangerous. But Billy is still leaning against that wall, arms crossed over his chest, with a dead-eyed smile. It was easier to read him before he learned just how broken of a toy he really was. Now, Billy seems to just rest easy in shallowness of his fake emotions.

[ronfiction]

Lou heaves a huff and gives the P-I a nod. He rubs his face and casts a gaze around the dinner. He looks over the objects left in the dinner by the folks from out of town. His attention settles on their usual booth and he thinks back to the time he's spent there.

"I do count myself luck about a great many things. We'll chalk this one up to just an other time where I dodged a bullet. I'm starting to get good at that."

Lou said and then shifts his focus back over to Billy and takes note of his stance. His one good eye looks him over and then he gives the man a shrug.

"V and I don't see things eye to eye anymore."

Lou said and brings a single finger up to his uncovered eye.

"Thousands of years of human history and some times we still settle thing like cave men and hockey players."

[sndwurks]

"The fact that you settled it with fists is the least of my concerns, Lou," says Billy simply. "The fact that it might not be settled is what's bugging me."

The shaman shifts his weight to move off of the wall, letting his arms drop to his sides. His hands rest naturally on his hips, even without the pistol he usually keeps there. He keeps his gaze evenly on Lou, watching.

"I want you to tell me what happened. Walk me through it. Because if this gets messy? It isn't going to be the Sheriff who is going to be cleaning this one up. He has enough on his plate. Which would have meant Mason would have been cleaning this up, but..."

Mason left town.

"What happened, Lou? And don't give me bullshit about not seeing eye to eye with him... you don't like people knowing it, but I know you're smarter than that."

[ronfiction]

Lou smirks at the mention of him being smart. It wasn't a matter of intelligence for most issues, just a matter of paying attention. Lou rubs his sore ribs some and shifts on the stool.

"I'm ready to do what needs to be done, what Gus had to do for us. I'm ready to make sure it happens. V is not. He's either holding out hope, or ready to sacrafice everything for nothing or..."

Lou pauses for a moment and cringes some.

"Or he's already gone and I had a fist fight with darkness wearing a V coat."

He says and looks around the dinner once more.

"When I say we don't see eye to eye on things, I mean big things. This isn't Red Sox verses Yankees bull shit. This is something bigger. You know what I'm talking about. You know better than most in town. The locals... We're ready. The tourist... Well..."

He says, trailing off with a shrug allowing billy a word.

[sndwurks]

"And you're ready to fight for it, if that is what is called on you to do?" asks Billy quietly. He lets his voice drop to where his words will not carry, even in the empty diner. "You're willing to murder an innocent girl on the belief that it will buy this world another year? Or are you willing to take your place on the stone should that be asked of you? Because one of those is what Gus did, and it wasn't the hard one."

Billy takes a deep breath, and shakes his head just slightly. He moves to sit on the stool opposite Lou, resting his elbows on the table. Billy runs his hands over his face, rubbing slightly at the scars which connect his scalp to his face, and lets the breath out slowly.

"You're not a local, Lou," he offers quietly. "Neither am I. We're just closer to them than others, and there are reasons for that. There are doors open for you that will never open for me, and I'm not talking about the ones at the local grocery store... though it might be for the same reason."

Just a hint of a smirk at that. At least Billy can make fun of the question about if he has a soul or not.

"Were you trying to save V, or convince him you were right by getting in a fight with him?" Billy asks quietly. "Or were you just making your disapproval known? What did you hope to accomplish?"

No judgement in that tone. Just curiosity.