[for Wolverine] book ends

[daretodo]

Used to be that if I was in a bar on a Friday night, it was to rough up some mook into giving me enough information so I could figure out who the mook I caught earlier in the night was really working for. There was a natural order to things. A purpose.

Not so much, anymore. This is the second time this month that I've found myself at the Catscratch Club, though this time -- fortunately -- Tony is nowhere to be seen. Good. For a number of reasons, really, though somewhere on the less important spectrum of things is the fact that I didn't come here to see him, anyway.

I spot Wolverine sitting on what I'm guessing must be his usual stool and I am, suddenly, acutely aware that I left Mary Jane's company to come to talk to him. I am similarly aware that she's the reason I'm here in the first place, through absolutely no fault of her own.

I drop down beside him, holding on tight to the edge of the bar so I can lean back, my arms stretched out in front of me.

"We have got to stop meeting like this."

Comments

[exweapon]

"For someone who hates strip clubs, you're in here a lot," I point out, taking my eyes off my beer long enough to size him up.

Which means he was looking for me. More, it's something he doesn't think can wait. Probably. Maybe the atmosphere's grown on him.

...nah. Something's on his mind. I'm hoping it's something I can stab.

[daretodo]

"Yeah, well, for someone who likes 'em, you're-- No, that doesn't work," I say, waving off my not-so-quippy quip. My head's really not in the game, if I can't keep up a verbal volley with Wolverine of all people.

"Look, you're easier to find here than in the jungle, okay?"

[exweapon]

"You ever want lessons in that... ask someone else," I say, with a slight smirk when I hit the second half. Because I figure we're both aware that'd just end with one of us unconscious in the middle of the jungle.

"So, out with it."

[daretodo]

"Out with what?" I ask, innocently enough. Too innocently, really, because we both know that I didn't just pop in here to chat. We don't have that kind of relationship. Which is probably for the best, because... Well, we don't exactly see eye-to-eye on most things.

I'm generally anti-killing people, for one.

"There's nothing to be out with." A beat passes, then I drop the act. "Well, except..."

He hasn't heard the news yet. Or if he has, he's doing a swell job of pretending he hasn't. Gossip travels fast around these parts, but then, Wolvie, here, isn't the sort to sit around gabbing with the gals, now, is he? Blinking hard to rid myself of the mental image of Logan daintily sipping tea in all his hairy glory, I look away from him and stare ahead.

"Mary Jane showed up in my kitchen the other night."

[exweapon]

This place has really put a weird spin on Parker's inexplicable luck with women.

"No $#@%," I say, looking away from my beer to stare at him. "...and you're at a bar?"

Giving me the heads up, I assume. Neighbourly of him. At a guess, that means it's the Mary Jane I actually know.

[daretodo]

"And I am at a bar," I say, taking care to articulate each and every syllable, like doing so will help me make sense of why I'm even here. Though, in the furball's defense, he's been the easiest person to tell so far. On a whim, I turn towards him, throwing on my best enamored look, and slapping a hand to my chest.

"'Cause see, I realized something that night, Logan," I add, in a voice so sincere it can only be sarcastic. "The person I really love... Is you."

[exweapon]

"Hardy har, tiger," I say, leveling a flat look at him. "This about what we talked about last time you were in here?"

[daretodo]

"Can you think of any other reason I'd willingly step foot in this joint?" I reply, letting my hand fall back onto the edge of the bar. Leaning back, I crane my neck to get a look at the staircase that leads upstairs. I've only been up there once, and trust me when I say that once was plenty.

"There's not a heck of a lot of emergencies that involve strippers and beer."

[exweapon]

"Maybe not in your life," I say, fondly regarding my beer. It's true, I've had plenty. Not enough, too many, and someone fighting you for 'em. Good emergencies. Well, except the first one, if it's not resolved.

Not the kind of emergencies that ever involve love and marriage, though. Some of the time I manage to convince myself I prefer it that way. When it comes to the second half, that's easier.

Heck, when I look at Parker's situation, I don't know that I'd want to be in his shoes.

"It's the Mary Jane you're married to, back home? Or... were married to."

[daretodo]

"Am married to," I say, defensive as much as I'm disbelieving. As grateful as I am that Mary Jane accepted our strange new circumstances right off the bat, it's still hard to wrap my head around, my guilt almost suffocating.

"She's from some point between where I left and where Cap left. We haven't started warring civilly yet, but the New Unpaid Avengers are already assembled."

[exweapon]

"So that's what you know about her side of the time apart," I say. "How much does she know about this side of things?"

Not entirely as delicate as it could be, I guess -- although I' not trying to land any points here, that's for sure -- but I'm not exactly a delicate guy. Look at where we are. They didn't give me claws to do surgery with.

[daretodo]

"The relevant parts," I say, which... Is actually the truth, surprisingly enough. The first thing I did was tell her about the other Mary Jane, and as difficult as that had been, I don't know that I would've been able to look in the mirror the next day if I hadn't. Not telling her wasn't an option.

Disbelief overpowers my defensiveness when I add, "She... understood."

[exweapon]

That pulls my eyebrows up. There might be a logic to it, and I can understand how it all happened, but I'm a lot less emotionally invested.

Hell of a woman, really.

"You'd rather she didn't?"

It's possible, on some level. Us hero types can be masochists.

[daretodo]

"No," I'm quick to say. Maybe too quick, if I stop to think about it, though I can't honestly answer yes to that question, anyway. After all the losses I've suffered, I don't know that I could handle getting her back only to have her leave me by choice, even if I'd deserve it.

Which is maybe the real issue at hand. Just barely resisting the urge to bang my head against the edge of the bar, I hunch over regardless.

"I just... Don't know how we get over this. How I make it up to her. It's like... I should've known, you know?"

[exweapon]

"That eventually the Mary Jane who was here would disappear, and then the one you knew from back home would show up?" I ask, giving him a pointed look. "If you've got those kind of skills, I'm bringing you along next time there's a casino night."

[daretodo]

It's funny. When he says it, I sound like a crazy person, but in my head, I swear it sounded like a perfectly well-reasoned argument. I look up and away, fidgeting some.

"...well, you've seen my luck."

[exweapon]

"I've heard all about your luck," I say, putting the emphasis on heard. "You ask me, this doesn't exactly qualify. Unless you're saying your wife showing up is nothing but bad?"

[daretodo]

"No," I say again. Jeez. At this rate, it's quickly becoming my favorite word.

"Just that seemingly implausible things kinda crop up a lot when I'm around. Maybe I couldn't have seen all the details, but it's not like I haven't been through stranger."

Slumping forward, I finally let my forehead fall so that it's pressed against the bar. It's far from comfortable, but then, that's been the theme for the past couple days. Even when I have every right to be happy, circumstance gets in the way.

[exweapon]

"You didn't call it," I say. No way he could have, if you ask me. Doesn't matter if he thinks he should have, even. Too late for that. "Don't waste time wishing you did, unless you and Stark are whipping up a time machine."

[daretodo]

You know what's the exact opposite of a good time? Telling your best buddy -- the one who is slowly dying until we figure out a way to recreate a brand new element -- that your wife's shown up when his girlfriend is currently lying in the clinic with an arc reactor in her chest. That meeting could've really gone better.

"Don't talk to me about Tony," I reply with a grimace, rubbing my hand over my face as I sit back up. I didn't call that one, either.

[exweapon]

"You ask me, I shouldn't be talking to you about anyone," I say, raising my glass. "Go home, Parker. You're not going to make yourself feel better talking to me. Go make it up to your wife."

[daretodo]

"God, I hate it when you're right," I grumble, bracing myself on the edge of the bar so I can pull myself back up to my feet. I don't feel better, no, but at least I don't feel worse, either, which is more than I can say about some of the other conversations I had this week.

I wouldn't go so far as to wish this place had crime, but lemme tell ya: the best therapy I ever had was just talking through my problems while I dealt with whatever mook of the day happened to cross my path while on patrol. This is about the closest I can get to that without throwing a couple punches. It's almost sad.

"I'll tell her you say hi."