A sketchy bar, Baltimore, Friday Afternoon

[soniaroadsqueen]

Dante had found them a great bar. Dingy, grimy, and cheap. In what Ringo was pretty sure was one of the worse parts of town. Despite the time of day, they weren't the only one's there. There were also the sorts of people you might expect to be in a sketchy bar on a Friday afternoon.

People who Ringo wasn't even paying attention to. "Is whiskey the best way to do this?" she asked, glancing over at Dante. "That's what you usually have, right?"

She probably shouldn't be getting drinking advice from Dante, but it wasn't like she had anyone else to get it from anymore.

[ooc: Expecting one.]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante snorted. "Did," he said, "A whole fuckload of times. She stayed a fucking idiot."

Not that whether or not he fucked Kathy had much to do with whether or not Kathy wanted to be an idiot or not, but he didn't need to logic right now, either.

"Can we have two more?" he asked the bartender.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"I'm aware," Ringo muttered. "But she wasn't an idiot. Jus', you know, bad at knowing her own limits."

She turned to the bartender and provided a helpful addition to Dante's request. "Each?"

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante shrugged. "Each," he agreed.

The bartender didn't really seem to care, and slammed down four shots.

"Bad at knowing her limits and full of shit," he said. "That makes you an idiot."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo slammed back a second shot before aiming a scowl over at Dante. Priorities, you know.

"What do you mean 'full of shit'?" Because Ringo had some thing to say about Kathy, a few of them even negative, but that wasn't on her list.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante snorted. "All this 'saving the world' crap," he said. "What the fuck was she talking about? She can't even save herself."

Which he'd already known, well up front. He still resented her for even trying to get his hopes up about life in general.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Just cause you can't do it doesn't mean you don't try," Ringo shot back with a scowl. "She had a responsibility."

Self-imposed, maybe, but a responsibility nonetheless.

[rebelseekspizza]

"She was a fucking eighteen-year-old high school student," Dante said, drawing out each word. "She had dick shit."

He snagged his third shot. "She was a fucking kid, like the rest of us."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"That's got nothing to do with anything," Ringo snapped, slamming her third shot, and actually feeling the alcohol burning down her throat despite the sugar. "If you've got the ability, you can take on the responsibility."

She scowled. "Not that you'd know anything about that."

Which wasn't even remotely fair of her, but Ringo was hurting, and arguing with Dante was an old habit by now, and she definitely didn't know how to hold her liquor.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Responsibility to do what?" Dante asked. Flatly. "To die at 18 in some shitty hospital somewhere? Cut me a fucking break."

There went his shot.

"The world's going to hell in a handbasket whether you do something or not," he said, all false cheer, "Everything else is just bullshit you tell yourself to sleep better at night."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"The world's not just some big thing." Ringo scowled. She had more to say, but was starting to feel the alcohol for real now, and it took her a second to remember what it was.

"It's people. Can't save everyone, but you c'n save some of 'em. How many d'you think she got to?" Huh, Dante? Huh? "Said her family was safe." So at least she saved them.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Did you go there at all after this shit started happening?" Dante said. "If her family made it out alive, great. They get to live another day. Instead it'll be their turn next week, or the week after."

He held up four fingers for the bar guy.

[soniaroadsqueen]

No, she hadn't. Kathy hadn't asked for help, so Ringo had trusted she didn't need it.

"Buying time isn't nothing," she muttered. Sounded like a pretty sullen argument, to be honest.

[rebelseekspizza]

"It's just buyin' time," Dante said. "Nothing to stake your life on if you can get old and grey otherwise."

He snagged a shot as soon as it was set down for him.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo followed suit. Because the alcohol didn't seem to be working. Oh, sure, her head was feeling a bit fuzzy, and her thoughts were sluggish, but she still hurt. And badly.

"Not everyone can just walk away when other people need them." Because, yeah, lashing out at conveniently nearby targets was so helpful, Ringo.

[rebelseekspizza]

"No, 'cause some of you are fucking idiots," Dante said easily.

Like, this wasn't even an argument, Ringo. What were you trying to do?

"You see there's evil everywhere, and you get all these fancy ideas that you can make a dent."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo set her now-empty glass down very precisely and turned to face Dante, hands planted on her hips.

"Sure, a dent. So what? You think one or two lives is no big deal? You think a week or a month of survival doesn't matter?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"No," Dante said. Didn't even need to think about it.

He picked up the next glass, eyeing it. "Y'know, she almost got into my head with this same bullshit," he said. "About saving people. So when she called about the zombies, I ran over there with Anders. Who's in love with her."

That was probably not relevant, but whatever.

"Figured we could do... something."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Well, good on you guys, I guess."

She picked up her next glass and eyed it thoughtfully. "What'd you end up doing?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Tried to get her to go back to the island and bring her family," Dante said, shrugging. "Go on a limb, save one or two lives. Maybe four."

The shot went down the hatch. "She promised us she would go," he said, "But then something promised her she could save more people."

He hammered the shot down on the bar. "That's when I knew she was as good as dead, so I went."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo blinked, trying to process that information.

"You told her you'd get her family out, then left them behind?" Sorry, Dante, Ringo wasn't comprehending things properly at the moment.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante rolled his eyes. "We said we'd wait so she could get her family out," he said, "She was gonna do that, but then Anders healed some kid. That got it back into her head that she could save everyone."

"But hey," he said, poking at a shot on the counter, "Huzzah, do I get an 'I tried' sticker?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"How about a 'fuck you' sticker?" Ringo shot him a glare, the shot glass in her hand mostly forgotten.

"Remind me not to ask you for help with anything that actually matters."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante rolled his eyes, grabbing his last shot. "I'll probably be dead by then anyway," he said. "Who cares?"

More shots. More shots were good.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Your friends?" She said that as if she didn't think he had any.

Even though she cared.

"And how are you going to end up dead if you're so smart about not doing anything dangerous, anyway?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"'Cause anything dangerous loves doing me," Dante said, waving at the bartender. "My life is a fucking shitpile. Things have been trying to kill me since I was seven."

He shrugged.

"Felt for like five seconds maybe I had something good going for me, but hey, I guess Kathy Li and her bag of bullshit were lying to me about thinking my life was worth saving."

He grabbed the shot as soon as it was offered to him.

"But whatever," he said, flashing Ringo a manic grin. Kathy Li and her bag of bullshit'd have been right about that, anyway, if they'd just been straightforward about it before.