Escape the daily grind with me (Mirath & darkleather)

[Mirath]

Danny took another sip and looked at Steve, nodding his head and raising his own glass to the man’s salute.

Wayne rest his folded arms on the bar.

”Let’s keep it simple. Loser has to pay for this round and the next.”

Trying to keep that air of confidence, of being sure of himself, Danny flashed a smile at Steve, lightly waving his glass back and forth before he drained it with a satisfied sigh, amber droplets circling the bottom. “Y’know, I could really go for another.”

[Darkleather]

Steve chuckled "That seems fair.  You'd best rack up then, so you can pay for the drinks."

He picked up a cue, chalked the end and waited while Danny started off

[Mirath]

”Well, wasn’t that fun to watch.” Wayne commented with a grin as he poured the two men their next round.

“Yeah, yeah…” Leaning back against the bar, Danny grumbled to himself as he ignored Wayne’s teasing, tucking his wallet back in his pocket once more. Sure, he’d managed to claw back a game after Steve had won the first game, drawing them even, but ultimately the third and final game had gone to Steve - it had been close though.

[Darkleather]

"Ah well, Danny, never mind"

Steve grinned as he slapped Danny on the shoulder.  "At least we weren't playing for high stakes."

He settled himself onto a bar stool, swigged his beer and looked around.

"So, this is your local, is it?"

[Mirath]

Settling back down, sitting on the bar stool next to Steve as he rest one arm on the bar and the other picked up his drink, Danny had to chuckle as his new friend asked if this was his local.

“This place? Yeah, I guess it is.” The man shrugged before he took a drink, the whiskey warming him from the inside out. If Steve hadn’t been here, he’d have downed it in one and then asked for another - but he had to show some level of self-restraint, even if he was always nervous about the things to come. Mostly about the stability of his job, when it came to it.

“Prolly weird for ya, hm? I work all night in a bar, come home, then spend my day off in this bar.”

”Cause we’re better!” The bar manager jokingly called over from where he was stood, having just overheard the conversation as he’d passed on by through to the back room. Danny shook his head with a laugh, then put his attention back on Steve.

“I don’t live too far from either, so it’s only a short walk.” He explained further.

[Darkleather]

Steve laughed along with the manager and Danny, then leant in close to Danny to whisper "Wow, he don't give you much privacy does he?"

Steve ordered another round, enjoying himself as he relaxed.

"So, Danny, you didn't really finish the story about why you moved here?  Were you chasing a girl?"

[Mirath]

Laughing even then as he shook his head in answer to the whispered question with a mouthed ‘nope’, Danny soon looked happier as he finished his glass just as Steve ordered another round.

And, as Steve asked, he shook his head again as his new friend asked if Danny had been chasing a girl. No, his life wasn’t like the songs and movies.

“No, no, not me. I moved here with my friend a few years back, Vinnie - he wanted to study and see more of the world, so I thought ‘ah fuck it I’ll go with him, find some bar work’. He’s, uh, he’s not around anymore… But it’s okay, because he got to do what he wanted, see what he wanted.” Danny shrugged, swirling his drink around before downing half of it in one go. “I guess… I haven’t really wanted to go back home. I mean… I do but I don’t… does that make sense?”

Even though Danny very much had a preference for the harder spirits, it was certainly what was making it easier to talk and relax.

[Darkleather]

"Yeah, sort of.  I spend every day wishing I was back home, but... you know, going home would seem like a step back."

Steve took a gulp of his beer.

"And I'm such a hick here.  Those guys we passed on the way in - we ain't got nothing like that back home."

He paused

"Still, I guess you Limeys are all more so-phis-ticated than us yanks, that it's all the same to you."

[Mirath]

“Hah, yeah, somethin like that.” The blonde man laughed. “Born workin class and I’ll sure as hell die workin class. I’ll drink t’ that.”

Having said that, Danny raised his half-full glass to toast his old friend, and now his new one, wallowing in memories for a moment as he looked at Steve.

“Ya’d have liked Vin, he was studyin Forensic Science, had big plans t’ join ya guys when he finished his degree. Used t’ share a bigger apartment, and he never blew me off for anyone. Miss him.” Danny chuckled, albeit sadder, and drained his glass in one go before he shook his head - if he drank any more he’d be regretting it.

[Darkleather]

Steve chuckled as he finished his beer and ordered another round.  He was enjoying the chance to relax and feeling chilled out for the first time since he came to the city.

Steve looked over at Danny.  "So, where's the wild night life in the city?  Any good clubs?"

He wasn't sure why he was asaking about clubs - he didn't like a lot of modern music.  But he wanted to know what Danny was about and thought this might keep him talking

[Mirath]

“Askin the wrong guy.” Danny laughed as he shook his head in an offered apology, “I think some of the better clubs, the ones I’ve heard mentioned, are more in the heart of the city. HighWing and Neons are two of the more pop’lar ones. Ain’t my thing, but ya hear the same clubs mentioned.”

The blonde man looked thoughtfully at his glass, as if considering to even drink it, before he swirled it around in his answer. He was definitely starting to relax around Steve, whiskey or not.

“This is gonna hafta be my last, otherwise ya gonna hafta walk me home.” He admitted with another apologetic smile. “Mean, there’s booze at mine, be a bit stupid if I didn’t, but… y’know…” Rambling, Danny soon shrugged and kept drinking.

[Darkleather]

Steve looked at the smaller man, who was definitely starting to ramble a bit.

"Yeah, maybe we'd better make this the last one."  He finished his beer and settled his tab with the barman.

"I'll walk you home.  Never know what might happen in the big city."

Steve stood up and waited for Danny to get himself ready

[Mirath]

Humming as he drank the rest of his glass, Danny looked over at Steve as he just caught the man’s movement just in his peripheral vision, putting his glass down as he too got to his feet, although floating delightfully as the alcohol seeped into his system. Not that he could think of anything else to do, and certainly not in the mood to be thrashed at snooker again, Danny had to nod at Steve’s offer to walk him home.

“Every nightsss different…” He thought out loud, trying so very hard to keep quiet lest he bored Steve entirely. He’d only met the guy twice for gods sake. “But yeah, let’s… let’s go...”

[Darkleather]

It wouldn't be the first time that Steve had walked a drunk friend home -- or had the same done to himself.

He thought about calling a cab, but Danny said he lived in walking distance.

Steve held the door for Danny, then slipped an arm around him to help keep him upright.

"Ok, Danny, which way are we heading?

[Mirath]

Hm…

“Big strong Steve…” The tipsy man chuckled as he felt Steve’s toned arm securely around his off-balance being, but floating mind unable to place its location aside from ‘waist up’. That in itself made him giggle - surely Danny, of all people, should have remembered where his alcohol limits lay. But, he had his reasons aside from just liking the taste of harder spirits, and tonight was just a very different occasion, and not just because Steve had wanted to see the city with him.

“Go… up the street…” Danny directed with a jerk of his head to the right - bit too fast as the world shuddered. He shuddered. “Y’know… Parkside? Big block’a apartments? Thas where we’re goin.”

[Darkleather]

"Okay, Danny, off we go."

Steve helped Danny down the road and in the direction of the Parkside apartments.  He wasn't having too many problems keeping the littler guy walking, but he'd obviously had way too much to drink.

As they got to the apartments, he shook Danny.  "Hey, what number?  And where are your keys?"

[Mirath]

Being shaken into focus by Steve certainly made the world sway, the drab building moving from side to side as if to mirror the action. Trippy.

Danny fought to think, some words slipping. He could do with a nap, or a drink, him and Vin could share another drink, even if only one of them would actually be drinking.

“Me?… Two-One-Ssseven… um… keys, keys…” Danny muttered as he used a hand to search his pockets, letting out a happy sound as he felt the familiar metal and shape brush against his fingers.

“Keys…” He repeated in his focus, fingers not working as he fumbled and nearly dropped them, yet only just managed to keep a grip on his house keys until the moment that Steve would take them off him.

[Darkleather]

Steve grabbed the keys before they fell down the nearby sewer grate and steered Danny towards the building.

Once inside, he worked his way through to Danny's flat and let the two men in.

Danny was still out of it, so Steve took him through to his bedroom and dumped him on the bed.  Thinking about what he was like when he had been that blasted, he hunted around the kitchen until he found an empty bowl and he returned to the bedroom with that and a glass of water.

Steve left them beside Dannys bed and then headed out.  At the door, he stopped.  If something happened, he wouldn't forgive himself, so he settled himself down on a seat in front of the TV and resolved to sleep there

[Mirath]

Luckily for Steve, even when drunk Danny was a deep sleeper, out cold within minutes of his blonde head hitting his pillow. Of course being drunk helped to speed that process along, the barman having grown accustomed to ignore any loud outside noise - and the racket from his very-awake daytime neighbours.

His front room was sparse, the small wooden coffee table in front of the matching dark red armchair and sofa covered in an assortment of maps and travel paperwork… which were all spread out underneath the TV remote and a half-drunk mug of tea - obviously Danny had gotten distracted whilst trying to find what he wanted to show Steve.

[Darkleather]

Steve ignored the mess under the coffee table and spread out on the sofa.  He planned to watch TV for a while before going to sleep, but the beers he had drunk soon had him dozing while the TV talked away to itself.

Steve's unconscious went crazy and he had an odd dream where things were mixed together: Danny, his patrol mates, the memory of a time he'd been drunk like this and ended up hogtied by his friends, the guys from the bar, people he'd seen on the street.

He jerked awake to see that the TV had now reverted to some awful shopping channel.  His head was pounding with lack of sleep and he grabbed a drink of water, turned the TV off and then went to sleep

[Mirath]

It was a good few hours before Danny started to stir from his sleep, focus blurry and head pounding as he sat up far too quickly, barely registering that he’d slept in his clothes and what was around him until he’d taken two very unsteady steps towards the small tiled en-suite. So he breathed in deep, slowly starting to regain a sense of himself as the room stopped pulsing in time with his own heartbeat, before he continued on his short journey, the cold tap water splashing on his hair as well as his face to try and get himself back much quicker.

Grabbing a towel, he rubbed over his hair as he walked into the front room, intent on crashing on his sofa to have some movement, but stopping as soon as he saw Steve fast asleep.

The hell is he doin there? Must’ve… Must’ve…

Well, Danny knew what he was trying to get at, even if he couldn’t put it into words. The fact that Steve had stayed, just showed that people did still care, there were still good people left in the world.

[Darkleather]

Steve opened his eyes and looked up to see Danny looking down at him

"Hey.  You're looking ... conscious.  Which is a surprise."

Steve stood up and stretched, his head aching a little - not a hangover, but enough to remind him that he's drunk too much last night.

He grinned sheepishly at Danny.

"So, guess I should get going then."

Steve grabbed his jacket and swung it on as he walked towards the door.  He turned as he got to the door

"Nice place, by the way"

[Mirath]

“Stay!” Danny blurred out, far too loud even as he regretted it, lowering his voice. “Stay, please.”

He sat down on the sofa and looked at the assortment of maps that were spread in front of him, running a hand over the pile before he found what he was looking for. He picked the folded map up and looked over at Steve before getting to his feet once more, intent of making himself a hot drink to try and stay awake.

“This was what I meant t’ give ya.” Danny explained, nodding to the map in his hand.

“Tea? Coffee? Or are ya a hot cocoa kinda guy?” The blonde man asked - the last option was certainly an enjoyable way to spend a day, hungover or not.

[Darkleather]

Steve was glad that Danny didn't want him to go - but still unsure exactly what was going on.

"Coffee - after yesterday, coffee seems like a good idea."

He walked over and looked at the map

"Oh, so this is the hiking area you were talking about?"  To Steve's eye it hardly looked rural at all, but would be better than his current concrete jungle

[Mirath]

“Uh-huh. Not bad for, well, here.” Danny answered as he grabbed two empty mugs that weren’t chipped or faded and set them down. “Vin liked goin there ‘cause it was cheap. And he liked the view. Saved him from starin at the same four walls, y’know?”

Thinking about it, the blonde set the coffee maker going, walking back over so he could continue talking to Steve. Or, trying to, resting his hands on the cold counter.

“So, whaddya think? It’s nothin like back home though.” He asked, not intending to force the man to go - which made him chuckle.