needlebomb | inbox.

it has it's benefits, don't get me wrong
but there are some things i miss about king's, i guess
i don't know about starting over, though
what am i supposed to do, exactly
gene might be dead, but my mom and my brother still live in a shithole with no money coming in
i can't stay here
and if i go back, the mob's just gonna pick my ass up just like they always planned to
there's no such thing as forgetting king's, marcus
it's a nice dream, though

right. you're right.
sorry. that was insensitive.

[ marcus feels-- stupid, and the innate need to impress billy and make sure that he likes him flares up the same way it did when he swore to kill gene, swore that he was the one who did it. his stomach twists and he doesn't really know what to say to come out on top again. ]

listen, this goes without saying, but when we get back home, i'll do what i can to take care of your family.
i'll take on the mob, figure out a way to get lin to help if i have to
maybe saya or maria have the right connections to cancel your dad's debts
if they don't i'll find someone who does
there's bound to be some rich kid at king's willing to pull a few strings for me

don't worry about it
getting someone else to pull strings will just replace one debt with another
between the yakuza and the vatos, the mob might not be so bad
i'll figure it out when we get back
but until then
we got another ramp to build before the old man can change his mind

[ ... ]

oh hey
do you still have

[ he pauses here for a second, wondering how bad of an idea it would be to ask marcus directly if he has a knife billy specifically gave him to... take care of someone, back when marcus was being blackmailed and they both thought it was some kind of test from lin. ]

sorry
do you still have that butterfly

"don't worry about it", he says...
billy, i was a rat long before i came to king's. i slept in cardboard boxes, wore piss-soaked shoes and ate roadkill. on the lucky days.
if i can take on your dad's debt for you, i will.
you were the first person who gave my life a little worth. kind of owe it to you to get you out of this.
we don't have to talk about it right now, but i'll get you out of this.

[ there's a long pause before marcus follows up on billy's question. he doesn't answer, just - dances around it. ]

why are you asking
do you want it back

[ whatever marcus thinks he's going to do about billy's shitty life ahead, billy just simply isn't going to let him do it. marcus has already lived through a lifetime of bullshit - the last thing billy wants is for billy to have to shoulder more of his own bullshit than he already has. he killed gene - billy couldn't ask for anything more than that.

but he's not going to argue about this right now, not when he knows they'll just talk in circles about it, so he lets it go. ]

at some point, yeah
i don't need it right now though
just asking because i'm getting my shit together to take to the new place and i can't find it
wasn't sure if you still had it and i just forgot, or if it's still here somewhere and i just can't remember where the hell i stashed it

i still have it.

[ it's not that he can't get billy his knife back, exactly, but marcus is a little too paranoid to unearth it if he really doesn't need to. he will, eventually, but marcus is just going to procure billy an upgrade, first; he makes a note to get on that the second they're done talking, maybe claim it as a housewarming present, and hope that billy doesn't ask for his original back. he'll see how it plays out. ]

i'm gonna head out. shower, change, then come over.
i'll see you in a couple of hours?

yeah man, whenever
it's 26A, by the way
actually hold on

[ ... ]

yeah, A

inbox.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject