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 Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:31 pm
"It's that or chugging straight from the bottle." He said it with a bright flash of a grin up to Tony, his shoulders rolled in a quick shrug. Ever could have been joking, but he wasn't. He actually shrugged a little as Tony went off to grab the cups, setting the pizza box down on a clear patch of table and already reaching for a piece.
He hadn't eaten much today. He was halfway through his slice when Tony came out again, leaning against the table so he was close to the food, mouth full and already looking more relaxed at the prospect of staying in for a night.
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:20 pm
Tony laughed at the idea, though he thought Ever was, in fact, joking. He probably knew better, in the back of his mind, but it hardly mattered. He brought the cups and things out. He even brought some knives and forks. In case they wanted to... eat their pizza with them.
He tried to hide those behind him while putting the other things down.
"Good, then?" he asked, laughing when he saw Ever had already managed to down half a slice. He reached for his own slice after giving Ever a cup, at least, quickly realizing that the other things he had brought would likely go unused. He hadn't had pizza in a while, though not too long considering he didn't have the best diet habits. Nathan just had that damn microwave going all the time, Tony was falling into the habit of eating those kinds of 'foods' as well.
He dug in, sighing contentedly.
"This is what I needed, I think," he said, nodding slowly, examining the booze. "It's easy to forget to just relax."
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:26 pm
Ever made a face at Tony as he chewed; it actually wasn't all that good, but it was cheap and it was filling and he'd been hungry. Didn't eat very well, and that was obvious from the slim frame, the bony fingers...he chewed and swallowed, folding the slice in half.
"Easy to forget when you're drunk as sin." He reached for cheap gin and fumbled to open it one-handed. He'd get it eventually. Unless Tony cut in to help first..."So let's work on that. You out of practice?"
Jibing, easy, he offered a flash of a grin.
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Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:59 pm
Tony didn't mind the taste: he was no pizza aficionado and certainly did not take time to note the 'good' and 'bad'. Though, maybe this was sadly because he had never had good pizza. Or he didn't think about it that much. Either way, he enjoyed what he was eating now.
Though it was a bit greasy, and he had to get a napkin to hold it.
"That is a good point," he laughed, moving to help him get the bottle open so he didn't hurt himself or, maybe worse for them, drop the booze. He sighed, pouring them both, laughing at the question.
"Surprisingly not," he said, thinking back to the last time he had been out of his head drunk. He had robbed a toy store, and stole all the yo-yos in it, for one reason or another. He returned them soon after, but the fact remained. A separate time, he had spent the night on the sofa here at the library. But the time between events was long enough that Tony didn't feel too guilty about it.
He had some rough patches in his life, after all.
"I think you might be underestimating me already," he laughed, taking a healthy swig.
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Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:36 pm
"You do come off a bit stuffy." Not, of course, that Ever minded. He shifted a little, considering his glass for a moment before he picked it up. Down with the rest of the pizza and chase it with booze, his expression still distracted for a long moment.
"...though, I hear that's, uh." He had to swallow, licking his lips and fighting down the near-immediate craving for a cigarette. He could get away with alcohol in here, maybe, but he didn't think Tony'd be cool with lighting up.
"I hear that's kind of a recent thing..." Which was Ever's not-so-subtle way of saying I've heard stories about you. Not many, maybe, but enough.
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Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 3:11 pm
Tony sighed, but nodded his head. He wasn't surprised: it wasn't the first time he had been called stuffy. Anyway, that was, generally, how he liked to appear. Well, maybe not stuffy but at least professional and well put together. He did not like coming across as wild or loose, or something like that. He had worked hard to leave all that behind him.
Except, of course, on small occasions when he let himself go.
He arched his eyebrow when Ever hinted. He didn't seem offended, though, and laughed easily enough, enjoying his drink.
"Well, it depends on how you look at it. When I was younger, right up until I was about your age, I was uhm... not a good person. I was worse than my son is now, at least. I've been working here for some time now, though, and that's straightened me out for the most part. I do have... uh... lapses."
He grinned sheepishly behind his cup at that.
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 3:02 pm
"I like lapses." That came out too quickly, around the lip of his glass, and -- well, really, Ever's turn to blush, his eyes flashing away from Tony and his expression going wry. Flirting with the almost-definitely-straight, too-old-for-him, father-of-at-least-one librarian was a dumb as s**t move and he knew it, but fighting down instincts was near impossible. So he flirted. Alas.
Ever made a noise, watching the door for a moment and gulping down his drink, one shoulder rolled in a jerky sort of shrug. "...I mean. Comparing eighteen years of being really good to almost four of being less so...can definitely tell you which I prefer."
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Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:28 pm
Tony laughed at that, eying Ever skeptically. He grinned, though, apparently not too fussed and not entirely aware that he was being flirted with. He was enjoying his drink, moving to pour himself a bit more as he leaned languidly on the counter. It was very nice, he decided, being able to relax.
He did notice a change in Ever, frowning thoughtfully. Maybe it hadn't occurred to him that the younger man would even be interested in flirting with other males. Tony did have a difficult time picking up on things like that. Hell, it took him years before he realized a woman he worked with was trying to get his attention, and he only noticed because she gave up on tact.
"Eighteen years, really? I was younger than that, and my ah... rebellious... stage lasted until I was... in my mid twenties? I guess I started tapering down, but it wasn't an easy slope. In any case, I tell myself I prefer things now, but when I get to let loose... have fun."
He shook his head, looking wistful as if imagining it. Remembering it.
"You don't seem all that bad," he said, snapping out of his reverie a bit. "I mean, you show up for work. That's a good show of character."
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:38 am
"...I like books." Weirdly, Tony's words -- definitely meant as a compliment, as a sign of Ever's reliability and diligence -- made the young man fidgety and uncomfortable, left him gulping at his drink and then ducking his head to go fishing for more pizza. The simple fact of the matter was that Ever didn't want to be reliable. Didn't want people to expect thing from him, or to depend on him. Didn't want them to trap him so neatly in a web of responsibility...
He cleared his throat, rolling his shoulders as he flicked another look up at Tony. "Home was kind of restrictive. I'm still working it out of my system. Probably things would have happened sooner, if not for the home-schooling, but..."
But never mind. He looked away again and bit down of his pizza, shrugging away the rest of that idea.
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Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:06 pm
Tony hadn't meant to make Ever feel awkward, of course. He thought it was a good thing, learning a bit of responsibility. He wished Nathan would, as he stalwartly refused to be useful in any way, to any one, as far as Tony knew. At least Ever was making some effort, just by coming to the library when he was asked to. Or near enough to those times, anyway.
He found himself drinking easily now, slipping back into old habits. He couldn't deny that being tipsy or buzzed, or drunk, made life a lot easier to deal with.
"You were home schooled? That's a difference between us, at least. I want to public school. Well. For a while, anyway. I always wondered about home schooling, though. Things were... strict?"
He tilted his head. "But what?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:29 am
That got a quick look, and Ever made a face, licking his lips and folding the pizza carefully in his hand. It was supposed to be dismissive, but instead it went toward thoughtful -- whether he wanted it to or not. He watched the pizza as he considered, instead of Tony, remarkably self-conscious for someone who usually barreled in head first and didn't worry about his words.
"You know. Parents. Rules. Filtered information." That sounded weak, even to his own ears. He fumbled for lighter words, but they froze on his tongue. The glib things he might have said to someone his own age felt wrong with Tony. "Um. We don't talk much anymore."
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Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 12:32 pm
Tony noted that Ever was more reserved than normal, if only in a passing way. Maybe he was a quiet drunk? Tony was generally a goofy drunk, and had a habit of laughing at the slightest of prompts. And making bad decisions, of course.
He tilted his head. It seemed home life wasn't something the younger man wanted to talk about. Which Tony could understand, in a way. His own home life, the time he was actually at home with his parents before running away, wasn't something he brought up willingly, either.
He nodded his head, grinning broadly and moving to clap Ever on the shoulder. He at least made sure he hadn't been eating or drinking for it.
"Don't worry about it. Let's talk about something else, huh?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:19 am
"...hmp. Yeah, like whatever it is you did during your 'rebellious phase'." There was only a twinge of sarcasm in Ever's voice as he flicked a look up at Tony, his head tipped to take another large bite of pizza. The clap on the shoulder relaxed him more than anything else: it seemed like 90% of the Negaverse was in the 'don't want to be touched' camp, but Ever -- well, he was on the other side.
"I heard you have a tattoo." It was mumbled around his food, perhaps intentionally. Admitting he'd heard it was like admitting he'd been asking around. Oh well.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:49 am
Tony got a bit red at that, looking down at his cup and tilting it to get a healthy dose of distraction from it. He coughed a bit, shaking his head and making a face.
"I'm not sure that's the right topic, either," he said with a laugh, half forced. He grinned, though, knowing it wasn't fair to make Ever talk about his past and not talk about his own. Luckily, he had a lot more past to draw from. "We can talk about my first years at the library, if you'd like."
Which he knew was the most boring topic.
"Uh... tattoo? No... I don't... have..." he cleared his throat. He did have a tattoo, and he didn't know how Ever had found out about it. Of course, he had been running around in almost no clothes when they were in that lava dream, so maybe he had seen it then? But then he wouldn't be asking about it...
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:10 am
"You do!" Or maybe, just maybe, Ever had been entirely shooting in the dark. It was hard to tell, but at least he was settling back into himself, now. This was a much more comfortable line for him -- and was really only enhanced by how uncomfortable and fidgety it made Tony. Ever clearly wasn't as good of a person.
He set down his half-finished pizza, shooting a look around the place as if to make sure no one else was listening or watching or eavesdropping in any way. "Come on, it's not that bad, I'm sure...I bet it's something literary."
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