Clocking Off, tag: Pike

[Jackson Tooth]

Scrub out the ovens. Make sure all the deliveries are happily squared away. Put the Long Loaves in to rise overnight. Put up the schedule for the morning, copying numbers and tasks in careful, inexpert script. Corral brothers. Find sister. Scold sister. Corral brothers again. Sweep the floors, tidy the shelves, corral brothers for final time.

Leave before anyone can say a word.

Clad in his heaviest winter clothes, Jax pounded the pavement vaguely in the direction he knew his best friend would be. The thing about having a friend that lithe was that he tended to pop up out of nowhere. Jax would be happily minding his own business and Pike would show up out of bloody nowhere. Usually deliberately.

But Jax had a pasty, so he was pretty sure he was winning. Meat and pastry. Deal with it.

He turned a corner and jumped.

"I wish you wouldn't do that." Chew, chew, chew. "If this is how you go about finding your women...." Jax left it hanging in the air, and gave a quiet grin.

[Pike Daw]

So he was fairly certain that he had this timed right. Usually he did. Jax was so much fun to startle. Pike's goal was to make him drop something important enough to upset him, but, so far, Jax seemed to have a firm grip on everything he tended to carry. It was annoying, but Pike enjoyed the challenge.

Jax came around the corner and then blam! Pike jumped out.

A grin spread across his face.

He loved doing that.

"Don' lie, Jax. You love it. Yer brother told me how, in yer sleep, ya declare your love for me an' my antics." He saw the pastry, and immediately threw his puppy-dog eyes in Jax's direction. "C'n I have a bite?"

[Jackson Tooth]

"Mm, my entire essence is overcome with admiration." Jax liked to use large words where small ones would do. It both annoyed Pike and kept him in good practice. See, he was a productive sort of teen, and if he could earn a little extra for his drinks through a bit of storytelling, he was ready and willing.

And he did a powerful rendition of "My Shepherd is Lost At Sea" on the Pibgorn. It was very reedy.

He scowled at Pike, then shrugged and tore off a bit of his pasty. Pike was a skinny little runt, he needed fattening.

"If I'm spending the whole evening with you, I'll need a drink - again, much like your women." He paused. "Pick a pub."

[Pike Daw]

He beamed and tossed the scrap into his mouth. Then he mimicked the happy bark of a small dog.

"Um." He was terrible with decisions. Hell, he was terrible with most everything, but decisions especially. He pointed forward. "Follow me! Avast ye!" He had no clue what that meant, but he liked to think it meant something along the lines of 'Onward, to victory!' Probably not even.

But he liked saying it.

He didn't know which pub he was heading toward, which Jax probably knew, but he didn't much care either. They were all the same.

Except that one with that barmaid...

"Got it. Know whichun I want." He led on.

[Jackson Tooth]

Jax gave Pike an amused stare. Literally barking mad...

Pike gave a terribly rousing cry and led them quite clearly on a road to nowhere. Jax, for his part, had a similar attitude towards Pike's sense of direction as bystanders do towards a plume of smoke - it always led somewhere worth gawking at.

Then, of course, his friend arrived at a more fundamental decision. Influenced, no doubt, by his south.

"Hundreds of women across the city just felt a slight shiver down their spine." Jax shook his head and followed his friend.

[Pike Daw]

"Yes," he agreed, smiling. "A shiver of pure sexual desire."

He navigated through the the winding streets, avoiding people and things along the way. He had picked up speed a little bit.

Briefly he thought about Ari, but so what if he was just going to ogle some barmaid? He wouldn't have a shot, anyway. It was not a conceivably good reason to get mad at him.

Shut up.

[Jackson Tooth]

Jax gave out a splutter somewhere between a cough and a laugh. "Mhm. Sexual desire. Of course."

He rolled his eyes. Nights like these were devoted to watching Pike make a fool of himself. Cruel, perhaps, but he had long since stopped trying to counsel the blond idiot - he'd get himself into trouble regardless of whether Jax wanted him to.

But see, it was more fun to get to watch. And sometimes Pike needed an escape plan.

Jax eyed the tavern coming swiftly into view.

[Pike Daw]

"Ah! Here we are!" He gestured for Jax to enter first. He liked having his big friend walk in places before him. It always made Pike look more important. Or, rather, important at all.

Maybe just a smidgen.

"D'you 'member the barmaid's name here? The one with the..." he made a round sort of gesture with both hands in front of his chest, eyebrows raised in question.

[Jackson Tooth]

He snorted slightly, going in ahead of Pike. In all honesty, though, it was a good policy. Jax wouldn't exactly say that Pike ever hid behind him, but...well, friends help friends. Even when friends deserve whatever other former friends intend to do to them. Jax was not a violent man, but he did not enjoy loud voices very much, and much practice had been gleaned throughout his years as an older brother.

"The one with the considerable assets." Jax shrugged, then gave a look of realisation.

"Oh yes, her name is Jane." It was not.

OK, so sometimes you had to kickstart the wreck yourself.

[Pike Daw]

"Yes!" He pointed to his friend in a moment of epiphany. Of course it was Jane! Now he remembered. Or so he thought.

He waved vaguely. "Find a seat. I'll order us some drinks." He went over to the barmaid and did his very best to keep eye contact with her. It was hard. He had no clue how Jax wasn't into boobs. They were pretty much the best part of the female anatomy.

Basically.

"Hey Jane," he greeted her, smiling a winning smile. "Nice to see ya again. I--"

"Who's Jane?"

Fucking Jax.

"Um."

The barmaid had an eyebrow quirked and a hand on her hip. "My eyes are up here, bub."

Shit. "Sorry. I, uh... never mind." Red-faced, he turned back and found his friend. "Oh, fuck you," he mumbled as he got to the table.

[Jackson Tooth]

Jax dumped himself onto one of the chairs nearer the fire and covered his growing chuckling by shedding his winter coat. Of course, he positioned himself close enough to hear the conversation.

"Who's Jane?"

His chuckling rumble grew into an infant laugh.

"Oh, fuck you."

He was laughing properly now; really, only Pike's failure could encourage his mirth so. Digging around in his pockets, Jax found a couple of coins.

"You gave me a laugh, I give you a drink. Fair, eh?" He was still sniggering.

[Pike Daw]

He was still grumbling, but nodded. "Fine, ya assface."

[Jackson Tooth]

"Now that's just cruel. I have to find some enjoyment. Not all of us delight in the interplay of breast and bra to such an extent as you."

He heaved himself up and went to order drinks. By the time he returned, a band had started up in the corner and the pub was growing crowded enough to get drunk to.

"Plus," he said, as if their conversation had never been interrupted, "a master of seduction such as yourself should have no problem finding a replacement."

Jax innocently took a sip.

[Pike Daw]

He rolled his eyes. "Ya jus' want somethin' else to laugh at." Not that that had ever stopped him from making a fool of himself before, but it was worth pointing out, at least.

[Jackson Tooth]

"I will laugh, but I will avoid active sabotage. Compromise, eh? Like mature adults."

He grinned, and took another long drink.