whitetwoguns | But I ain't no madman.

I got'im a beer. [Okay his smile is getting bigger.] He was a little different, a face like Captain America with the completely wrong kind of attitude.

[But still Johnny Storm at heart. Freddy could tell.]

Just a beer?

[No movie or food? The smile is enough though. It'll be a highlight for a long, long time.

For a split second he feels like tonight shouldn't be the night for this news. If not tonight then when? There will always be another reason. Any longer than this and he will look like an evasive liar. As far as Dimick is concerned, they're past that point in their relationship.]

Just right like he should be where it counts then.

[Now it's Freddy's turn to nudge Larry.] Just a beer. No autographs, I'm not desperate.

[Nothing more, because he wasn't gonna marry the guy or anything fff. More om nom nom on his foods. You have a window of opportunity right now, Dimmy.]

Just that cool.

[Swallow.]

Super cool.

[Talking to superheroes. Taking them for beers. Now sitting in the car with an older man who loves him and who is a crook. Crooks have a tendency to be liars about as much as cops. Huff. Well. Here goes nothing.]

I did run on into Blonde. Nothing bad happened but [say. it.] found out that the guys got a pulse.

[Chew chew chew chew swallow. He stares at Larry.]

When? Today? Shit did he come by the apartment? What happened.

[He's not mad or anything only because he's assuming this happened today by coincidence. Yep.]

No. No, man. He didn't come to the apartment. I ran into him at the store.

[Larry takes a break to let that sit there and cut the tension while he gets another sip of his soda.]

No way that fucker would go to our place. No way.

He don't know where we live.

[Freddy says more to himself than to Larry, just to remind himself that's the case. Nobody's told Blonde anything. Eames wouldn't dare.]

So he's got a pulse, he's gotta be tellin' the truth.

Exactly.

[Phew. Holy hell if that motherfucker knew. Who would tell him? Not Pink. Pink dunno where they live, and he's never going to know for that reason. Survival of the fittest. It's up to him if he wants to let the guy into his own house.

Larry wads up the rest of his trash to shove on into the bag.]

That's how it seems, man.

[Except still, still. It all seems like it's too wonderful.]

We know he can snap in a second's notice. I'm sure that don't change.

How'd you get hand on him? What happened?

[Shaking his head. Sorry old man he just wants more detail he wants to know what happened in case he has another run in with the guy. And then suddenly he realizes:]

Why didn't you call me?

[Or message him. Something. Anything.]

He got all shook up because of some curse.

[Trapped. Trapped like a goddamn right. There's no other way out, so he's gotta come on clean. Maybe Johnny Storm's radiating glee will not make this as bad as it could be.]

The ticking got to him.

[There's your when, kid.]

I needed to get a grip on it on my own. I didn't know what to say or what to tell you. Fuck, I touched that motherfucker's wrist.

[And he wanted to break it or something.]

[A curse he says...there ain't been a curse in days. Days. And that curse was definitely days ago.]

So you thought the best idea was to just keep it to yourself then buy me dinner and break it to me nicely?

[Fuck Johnny Storm for a goddamn second.]

Keep it to myself? Kid, I had to figure out what the fuck I was gonna tell you and how. It wasn't planned like that. The last thing I wanted to do was to give that motherfucker one more goddamn thought outta my head.

[Here he goes again, consuming more of their time between them. Also it feels pretty shitty to have those caramel apple green eyes cut through all the bullshit to get right to the bone.]

Tellin' you while you're happy makes it easier. I dunno if it's good or bad that Blonde's alive.

[So you think it's better to harsh my high than to hit me while I'm down?! Okay calm down Newendyke just calm down. Hey don't you have something to tell him? Huff huff puff.]

Okay...I got it. I'm cool.

[Looking away now and taking another breath before he looks back at Larry.]

I saw Saya turn into a spider.

[Now they're even. He gets a cigarette out.]

[No right way. But Larry's about sure now that the right way isn't waiting for a few days.]

I'm sorry.

[For taking so long, for it to be shitty news about Blonde. Except he can't help that Blonde is a fucking maniac. Thanks Joe. Thanks a million.

Larry shakes his head and is going for a drink and stops dead.]

What?

Yeah. [Lighting it, then puff puff on his cigarette.] Last night. Now we're even.

[He blows smoke aside then leans forward to cut the bitchy attitude.] I had to make sure it was her and look that shit up. Do you know how fuckin' hard it is to classify woman-turns-into-a-giant-spider. I mean okay what I really saw was a giant fucking spider turn into a goddamn woman. And that goddamn woman was her.

You saw her go all-?

[Both paws out and fingers curled like legs. His mind is trying to wrap around it. None of that is impossible because look at where they live.]

Look it up where?

[No, no that doesn't matter. Larry waves his hand to dismiss it.]

That's fucking crazy.

The library? The network? Look I didn't believe it when I saw it either so.

[Cigarette in his mouth, he's going for his phone to show Larry the photo of a clearly spidernoid type female skittering down somewhere dark. Possibly into the Underground. It's right after a picture of him and Johnny Storm. And right before a naughty picture he sent to Larry not too long ago.]

[Not a word of doubt at any of those sources. He's not a research sort of a guy in that sort of a sense. Manuals for cars, magazines for popular things, word of mouth for about everything else. Oh. Encyclopedias now and then.]

Jesus Christ.

[Upon seeing the picture. Clearly something not quite right. Heh. Glad the kid has a picture of Johnny Storm. The dirty one...why is that still there? Does he get off on the fact he sent it? That question takes back seat in a big way.]

Did she see you?

No. I don't think so. If she did she ain't sayin'.

[Shaking his head. Phone tucked away now for more puffing.] I knew she was something, I knew it. Pretty sure Paisley and Argyle still have their copy of the surveillance shit.

[That's an idea. A look at Larry again.] Anyone see you with Blonde? You ever meet his little 'roommate'?

[Calm enough now to talk business.]

Yeah well, just in case we gotta get someone in on it. Paisley and Argyle would be the way to go. Even if we're not gonna do a thing about it. Fuck. They should know for their own necks.

[A spider woman could be eating people. What then.]

The clerk at the store could have. It was nothing big. He was alone. Sounded like he got up to something big earlier on. I didn't want to know.

Right. [He's thinking the exact same thing about spider women. Pat pat to the back of a broad paw now.] M'glad you're okay...

[That's the honest truth, Lawrence Dimick, even if Freddy might still appear a little huffy.]

[Slowly that paw turns to grip his fingers. He's testing the waters because the more it's out there, the more apparent that maybe that was not a good idea.]

I am too. It turned out better than I could have imagined it to.

[Are you gonna go and let the old man hold your hand?]

[Fine. Fine fine fine. He can hold Freddy's hand...the kind don't mind (he likes it).]

Even if he's the real deal he doesn't need to know shit, no diamonds, no nothing.

[The kid's fairly certain the old man's already figured that part out but just repeating it helps solidify the plan and smooths out Larry's hide if Freddy's been making it stand on end with his little(?!) outburst.]

[Grateful paw holding bear is grateful.]

Not a damn thing, man. We got outta there. That's fucking that.

[Oh he's been riled, but not to fight. No big blow up or small tremor it still came to mean that he is not pleased.]

I didn't give nothing away.

[Repeating, tattooing the facts.]

I didn't think you would. You know, professional stuff.

[Freddy quips, giving Larry a casual shrug like it's no thing at all.]

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