[They're on the same page then. Logan lets that sit in the air for a moment before getting up, throwing his trash into a nearly overflowing trash bin by the counter and going to the fridge for another beer. Sits himself right back down in his seat afterward, leaning back and twisting the lid off with his bare hand this time.]
You stay longer than a few days an' you're signing yourself up to be a babysitter, too. A kid might come around and if she does, you're in charge of making sure she doesn't start any fires either.
[ Wow, no appreciation for his craftsmanship. Stiles stares at Logan like he's expecting more than just a good, and when that doesn't come, he scoffs quietly under his breath and reaches out for that beer. He wants one too, apparently. ]
[Logan looks across the table and notices Stiles' gesture of want, and looks for a moment like he's just going to hand the bottle over. Lifts it, start to move it, but before it gets into his touch? Logan pulls it back and takes a swig. Get your own is implied from there.]
[ Jeez, rude. Stiles is truly offended, splaying his hand over his chest in shock. The nerve? He looks at Logan like he wants to just kinda reach out and snatch the beer from his hand, and really, if he was anyone else, he probably would, but. Well. ]
Have you, like, threatend to break his kneecaps yet? That feels like something you'd do.
[ That's why he doesn't snatch Logan's beer. He gets up and gets his own bottle from the fridge, sighing laboriously every step he takes until he's back in his seat. He tries to mimic Logan, twisting his hand over the cap, but it just hurts and doesn't move at all. He makes a quiet ow noise, then starts gently whacking the neck of the bottle against the table, like he'll pop the cap off that way. ]
Wait. Are we at the stage where you'd threaten to break someone's kneecaps for me yet?
No, but she's got other people that are more willing to do that.
[Frank's having a Time with it and Logan's actually pretty mellow, all things considered. Yeah, sure, there's a faint trickle of anxiety in his spine when he thinks about having the responsibility put on him to give her a Talk or whatever, but... she's a kid, probably will grow out of this shit anyway, right? Totally. Logan stares at Stiles as he starts fucking up the table's edge with the bottle, expression staying blank.]
Use more force. Momentum on the swing.
[And because he's hesitant to disappoint the kid but also not sure what to say:]
You think a guy my age could still break kneecaps?
[ Wait, like this? A few tentative taps and Stiles starts thinking of the beer bottle as more like a baseball bat, and that familiarity is what carries him through. Momentum on the swing - Stiles brings the neck down against the edge of the table one more time and the bottlecap pops off with a loud ding, rocketting forward and onto the ground, and, well. Stiles is shocked that he did it and actually kinda proud of himself. He's trying not to grin too much, but. He's failing. He wipes his mouth with his hand, though, smearing that smirk away while he answers Logan's question. ]
I mean, not most guys your age, but you? Totally.
[ He takes a quick swig of beer, gesturing with his hand when his mouth is full to say that hold on, he's still got more to say, don't interrupt him. ]
Don't get me wrong, you'd absolutely need a nap after taking someone's kneecaps to church, but. A big, scary badass like you? C'mon.
[He really has broken so many kneecaps, Stiles. And so many other bones. Gutted people with claws you don't even know he has. He watches Stiles drink then rolls his eyes in the opposite direction. Big Scary Badass is probably some of the kinder words ever directed his way. He pushes back his chair and stands, moving around in the kitchen area to find the cupboard he left his cigars in.]
[ Oh, totally. Stiles crosses his heart, but he crosses his fingers, too, so it all amounts to nothing in the end. He throws back his beer like this isn't the first time he's been drinking, and - truth be told, a part of him wants to hound Logan about his health, just like he did in rapture. It doesn't seem like he's right on the brink of dying anymore, so maybe drinking less would keep things that way? Ultimately, he doesn't say anything, because stealing Logan's beer while berating him for having any in the same breath seems pretty shitty, but it's on his mind all the same. ]
Gonna take that as passive confirmation that you'd kick someone's ass for me if I needed you to. Good to know. Totally gonna hold you to that promise one day.
[Logan's not a guy who's made a lot of plans into the future for obvious reasons, so tossing that in with a good chance of never having to fill his end of the bargain's fine by him. Reminds him how they met though, with Stiles being an idiot wielding a pipe and asking to get into shit. God, the things Logan would do for some fucking peace and quiet.]
[ Logan's seriously kicking him out already? Stiles, scandalized, gestures at his bottle with a mouthful of beer. This isn't going to drink itself either, dude. Stiles pointedly puts his feet up, really settling in for the rest of the day. Peace and quiet is for cowards. ]
Do you have a wife?
[ It's ask personal questions until Logan legitimately throws him outside time, apparently. ]
[Bad question. Logan looks at him for a beat, turns away to slam a kitchen cupboard shut and ever so eloquently exits the kitchen with his cigar in hand. He's going for the front door, leaving Stiles in the kitchen to sit unknowing to what he might've stirred up besides Logan's annoyance and having his buttons pushed. He uses his claw while outside to crack the tip off his cigar and get it lit, metal retreated into his knuckles soon after that - the blood dripping down to the porch as he sits in one of the uncomfortable wicker seats. One way or another Stiles will be outside or out of his hair. He doesn't care which.]
[ Ah - okay. Bad question. Stiles' dad never reacted like that when people asked about Claudia, but he figures this is Logan's equivalent of stifled west coast awkwardness. He winces at the noise and stays at the table for a second or two, just long enough to try and give Logan some space to calm down a little, then slinks outside in his shadow, nervously scratching the back of his neck. ]
What about - family? Like, a mom or a dad or a brother or a sister or something.
[ A daughter, or a granddaughter, maybe, if that's the kid he's been looking after since coming here - Stiles doesn't want to ask, just because he's getting a picture of Logan's homelife here, and he doesn't want to hurt the guy by prying into things he shouldn't. Immediate family feels safer to ask about, but Stiles is aware he's still taking a risk here by asking about it. He's hovering in the doorway, eyes flicking to the blood on Logan's hand but saying nothing. He figures Logan must've-- punched something since coming out here, and christ, Stiles feels like a dipshit. ]
Friends? Pets? Houseplants? I'm just - sorry, man, I just wanna get to know you better. I didn't mean to...
[ ... something. Ask too much. Stiles nervously taps his fingertips against his bottle, pressing his lips together and shutting himself up. ]
[Sure enough, Stiles comes stirring. Logan has the feeling the kid can't sit alone for too long without losing his cool - he's full of energy, funneling it out of himself however he can. Unfortunately for Logan that means through his mouth right now, and as he chomps on his cigar and sighs - he's subjected to another bout of questioning. Which he really doesn't want to get into?
So he looks at Stiles. Stares at him and - okay, maybe it's unkind:]
Tell me about your mother, then. If we're getting into fun family dynamics.
[ Okay, wow, yeah. Stiles tenses up, folding his arms tight over his chest. He's not offended by Logan bringing his mom up, exactly, but he knows she's dead, knows she died from the thing that's killing him now, and this just feels like a dig to get him to feel like shit and leave him alone. ]
She croaked. Bit the big one. Bought a pine condo.
[ Unfortunately for Logan, it just sparks the defensive, shit-eating spark in Stiles that gets him into so much trouble. He digs his heels in, not about to take this. ]
No wife, then? Girlfriend? Husband? Both? I'm not gonna judge, James, you don't gotta get all shy on me.
[There's a touch more venom in Logan's voice than there ought to be as he flexes his hand, rubbing the blood off his knuckles and onto his pants. They're playing a game of taking swipes at one another with a razor blade here and he doesn't like it. He feels like he's getting pushed into a corner and that never bodes well.]
You like playing this game, pissing me the fuck off? Leave good enough alone. You were ahead there, for a second. Then you ran your mouth.
[ The tiny little crumbs of satisfaction he got from working his way under Logan's skin doesn't really last. He snaps, lashes out and Stiles stands his ground, for the most part, but when Logan starts to say the same kind of shit he could picture his dad saying if he got frustrated enough, it kinda stops being fun. Stiles clenches his jaw, blinking a little too hard, and he looks away, torn between being angry and just wanting this to stop. ]
Alright. Alright, c'mon.
[ It's the fact that he still doesn't want to be alone that tethers him here when he could be storming off. Stiles doesn't apologize, but he at least tries to wind this down a bit and take the L. ]
If... if you really wanna know about her, and you're not just bringing her up to be an asshole - my mom's name was Claudia. She and my dad got engaged while they were in college. She... yeah.
[ Stiles shrugs, looking down and trailing off. Doesn't really feel worth talking about her in detail if Logan's just gonna use her as ammo later. ]
[Logan wants to stew in his gritty, pissy mood right now but Stiles won't leave or take the hint and that's probably a good thing. Logan smokes his cigar, blowing smoke to the side and breathing in shallow pants that are either from the irritation or the shitty healing factor. Could be both. He leans back in his chair and doesn't look back to Stiles, but is very aware of his presence.
He doesn't speak for a good long period of silence that might hint he's not wanting to speak again at all. That maybe he doesn't want to hear about Claudia, maybe he doesn't care. Doesn't want to care. He's supposed to be keeping his distance from people and yet here he is somehow chatting it up with a kid about his emotionally charged life. He grunts, running his hand down the front of his face.]
[ For the first half of that long silence, Stiles keeps his eyes on Logan. He alternates between feeling like shit for being ignored, feeling like shit over the idea of leaving and being alone, and feeling like shit for expecting Logan to find it in his cold dead heart to talk to him like a human being. Stiles eventually sighs and gives up, focusing on his drink and staring at Logan's limo, trying to muster up the willpower to either clean or leave and find some other couch to crash on, but he was really hoping it'd be okay here. Logan's the only one who really knows about the dementia, so. The night terrors would have been a lot easier to stomach.
Logan says he has a kid, though, and Stiles startles out of staring into the middle distance, looking back at him. He narrows his eyes - this is a fucking minefield. He has no idea what he can say that won't set this prick off again, but he appreciates his effort too much not to try. ]
Can I... get a name? Or an age? Favorite color? Food? Are they a horse girl? A racecar boy? Democrat? Republican?
[ Are they alive - that's what he really wants to ask. Are they here. ]
[He admits a few more details here - bringing this back to Laura and letting Stiles know that she's here just the same. It's weird admitting she's his, but the last thing he wants is another nose punch or the sad look on her face that came from the last time she thought he didn't care about her. Thank God he lucked into a situation that works for him - Frank and Wynonna do the heavy lifting.]
[ Ah, well, that's not exactly a surprise, which is a good thing, because Logan probably wouldn't react well to Stiles getting all expressive and reactionary over him divulging a piece of personal information like that. Stiles nods, setting down his empty beer bottle on the porch and walking towards Logan's car, talking as he goes. He figures putting some elbow grease in might keep him on Logan's good side. ]
Okay. Cool. Laura. Laaaura. Good name. An american staple, really. I've got a friend - his sister's name is Laura. So. Laaaaaaura.
[ Laura. Laura, Laura, Laura. Stiles says Laura enough times that it stops sounding like a real word, which he then repeats a few more times just to test out how bizarre that feeling is, but he quickly glances at Logan, realizes he's talking too much and probably pissing him off, then immediately shuts it down. No more Laura. Laura. Laura, Laura, Laura. Weird word. ]
You seriously didn't give her boyfriend a shovel talk? You are not the kind of dad I assumed you were.
[He says without - meaning to, but he gets annoyed again at Stiles running his mouth. Logan would prefer not to get into the nitty gritty of how he barely knew the kid a week before he got here, but he'd also prefer not to sound like the asshole he tends to be. Took him a long ass while not to ditch the kid, it's still a work in progress. From the porch he watches Stiles, puffing on his cigar and speaking around it.]
She was here before me, she's got an adoptive family. They do the talks.
[ Right, okay. Stiles nods, taking this in, making assumptions in his head about what Logan's relationship with Laura must look like. Maybe she lives with her mom's side of the family back home - maybe Logan's wife is dead, or something, and he never stepped up and took custody. Maybe they're just divorced and doesn't count among the people he misses. It'd make a sad kind of sense. ]
Glad she's got people looking out for her. Glad you've still got a place in her life, too.
[ Stiles finds the hose attached to Logan's house and unravels it, bringing it to the yard, then disappears inside for some supplies - soap, a bucket, a sponge. He's carrying it all back outside when he picks up the conversation again. ]
[So take that into consideration however you want, Stiles. It'd probably fit the obvious narrative that Logan's not used to this, not good at this and honestly didn't want any of this. But he ended up with it anyway, plans thrown aside, and here he is. Making the best of a superbly shitty situation and finding himself once again too loyal for his own good. But also still a prick.]
She'd probably be better off without me. Most people are.
[ Stiles is filling up the bucket, immediately frowning at Logan's most people are. He's not really the kind of guy who lets people dwell in their dumb, self-defeating bullshit like that, and for a second he looks like he's gonna jump down Logan's throat the way he would Scott or Jackson or Isaac. He narrows his eyes and gives Logan a quick once over, and then just - changes his mind. ]
I've barely known you that long and you've already made my life way better. I wouldn't feel half as safe here if it wasn't for you.
[ Logan's not a teenager. If he says people would be better off without him, he's had a long, long lifetime of mistakes to make to get to that conclusion. Stiles soaps up the water and starts cleaning off Logan's car, slapping a sponge to the window while he talks. He'd rather just speak to Logan honestly right now than get on his case for being a sadsack. ]
You've made her life better, too. Like, legitimately, practically better. You gave her food in Rapture and now she has the freedom to come visit you here, away from all the creepy mayhem in town. You might have some lost time to make up for, but that sounds like a pretty beneficial relationship to me.
[Logan just makes a grumbling, low noise in response to that. He's not really one to get to talking about how he feels - how he wants to say, and finally after a beat does in a whispered tone, murmur that he 'owes her a little' for something. Notably for dying on her the first time - he's got to keep kicking and keep his eye on her, regardless of how he still fights with the concept that she's better off without him.]
Funny, you've just been a pain in my ass.
[Not said with truthful intent - he still owes Stiles too, it seems, for the whole slug diagnosis. And for not asking all the questions he could (beyond the ones he has,) that must be boiling up in his head. Logan's not been all that forthcoming with details about the idiosyncrasies of his life. Like how he's wiping his hand clean on his shirt and below the blood there's not a mark. Again.]
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deerington | inbox for James "Logan" Howlett
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[They're on the same page then. Logan lets that sit in the air for a moment before getting up, throwing his trash into a nearly overflowing trash bin by the counter and going to the fridge for another beer. Sits himself right back down in his seat afterward, leaning back and twisting the lid off with his bare hand this time.]
You stay longer than a few days an' you're signing yourself up to be a babysitter, too. A kid might come around and if she does, you're in charge of making sure she doesn't start any fires either.
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The hungry one? How's she doing?
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Good. She's got a boyfriend apparently.
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Have you, like, threatend to break his kneecaps yet? That feels like something you'd do.
[ That's why he doesn't snatch Logan's beer. He gets up and gets his own bottle from the fridge, sighing laboriously every step he takes until he's back in his seat. He tries to mimic Logan, twisting his hand over the cap, but it just hurts and doesn't move at all. He makes a quiet ow noise, then starts gently whacking the neck of the bottle against the table, like he'll pop the cap off that way. ]
Wait. Are we at the stage where you'd threaten to break someone's kneecaps for me yet?
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[Frank's having a Time with it and Logan's actually pretty mellow, all things considered. Yeah, sure, there's a faint trickle of anxiety in his spine when he thinks about having the responsibility put on him to give her a Talk or whatever, but... she's a kid, probably will grow out of this shit anyway, right? Totally. Logan stares at Stiles as he starts fucking up the table's edge with the bottle, expression staying blank.]
Use more force. Momentum on the swing.
[And because he's hesitant to disappoint the kid but also not sure what to say:]
You think a guy my age could still break kneecaps?
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I mean, not most guys your age, but you? Totally.
[ He takes a quick swig of beer, gesturing with his hand when his mouth is full to say that hold on, he's still got more to say, don't interrupt him. ]
Don't get me wrong, you'd absolutely need a nap after taking someone's kneecaps to church, but. A big, scary badass like you? C'mon.
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Don't put me in a position to ever have to.
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Gonna take that as passive confirmation that you'd kick someone's ass for me if I needed you to. Good to know. Totally gonna hold you to that promise one day.
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[Logan's not a guy who's made a lot of plans into the future for obvious reasons, so tossing that in with a good chance of never having to fill his end of the bargain's fine by him. Reminds him how they met though, with Stiles being an idiot wielding a pipe and asking to get into shit. God, the things Logan would do for some fucking peace and quiet.]
Car's not going to wash itself.
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Do you have a wife?
[ It's ask personal questions until Logan legitimately throws him outside time, apparently. ]
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What about - family? Like, a mom or a dad or a brother or a sister or something.
[ A daughter, or a granddaughter, maybe, if that's the kid he's been looking after since coming here - Stiles doesn't want to ask, just because he's getting a picture of Logan's homelife here, and he doesn't want to hurt the guy by prying into things he shouldn't. Immediate family feels safer to ask about, but Stiles is aware he's still taking a risk here by asking about it. He's hovering in the doorway, eyes flicking to the blood on Logan's hand but saying nothing. He figures Logan must've-- punched something since coming out here, and christ, Stiles feels like a dipshit. ]
Friends? Pets? Houseplants? I'm just - sorry, man, I just wanna get to know you better. I didn't mean to...
[ ... something. Ask too much. Stiles nervously taps his fingertips against his bottle, pressing his lips together and shutting himself up. ]
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So he looks at Stiles. Stares at him and - okay, maybe it's unkind:]
Tell me about your mother, then. If we're getting into fun family dynamics.
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She croaked. Bit the big one. Bought a pine condo.
[ Unfortunately for Logan, it just sparks the defensive, shit-eating spark in Stiles that gets him into so much trouble. He digs his heels in, not about to take this. ]
No wife, then? Girlfriend? Husband? Both? I'm not gonna judge, James, you don't gotta get all shy on me.
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[There's a touch more venom in Logan's voice than there ought to be as he flexes his hand, rubbing the blood off his knuckles and onto his pants. They're playing a game of taking swipes at one another with a razor blade here and he doesn't like it. He feels like he's getting pushed into a corner and that never bodes well.]
You like playing this game, pissing me the fuck off? Leave good enough alone. You were ahead there, for a second. Then you ran your mouth.
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Alright. Alright, c'mon.
[ It's the fact that he still doesn't want to be alone that tethers him here when he could be storming off. Stiles doesn't apologize, but he at least tries to wind this down a bit and take the L. ]
If... if you really wanna know about her, and you're not just bringing her up to be an asshole - my mom's name was Claudia. She and my dad got engaged while they were in college. She... yeah.
[ Stiles shrugs, looking down and trailing off. Doesn't really feel worth talking about her in detail if Logan's just gonna use her as ammo later. ]
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He doesn't speak for a good long period of silence that might hint he's not wanting to speak again at all. That maybe he doesn't want to hear about Claudia, maybe he doesn't care. Doesn't want to care. He's supposed to be keeping his distance from people and yet here he is somehow chatting it up with a kid about his emotionally charged life. He grunts, running his hand down the front of his face.]
I have a kid. That's all.
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Logan says he has a kid, though, and Stiles startles out of staring into the middle distance, looking back at him. He narrows his eyes - this is a fucking minefield. He has no idea what he can say that won't set this prick off again, but he appreciates his effort too much not to try. ]
Can I... get a name? Or an age? Favorite color? Food? Are they a horse girl? A racecar boy? Democrat? Republican?
[ Are they alive - that's what he really wants to ask. Are they here. ]
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[He admits a few more details here - bringing this back to Laura and letting Stiles know that she's here just the same. It's weird admitting she's his, but the last thing he wants is another nose punch or the sad look on her face that came from the last time she thought he didn't care about her. Thank God he lucked into a situation that works for him - Frank and Wynonna do the heavy lifting.]
Laura.
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Okay. Cool. Laura. Laaaura. Good name. An american staple, really. I've got a friend - his sister's name is Laura. So. Laaaaaaura.
[ Laura. Laura, Laura, Laura. Stiles says Laura enough times that it stops sounding like a real word, which he then repeats a few more times just to test out how bizarre that feeling is, but he quickly glances at Logan, realizes he's talking too much and probably pissing him off, then immediately shuts it down. No more Laura. Laura. Laura, Laura, Laura. Weird word. ]
You seriously didn't give her boyfriend a shovel talk? You are not the kind of dad I assumed you were.
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[He says without - meaning to, but he gets annoyed again at Stiles running his mouth. Logan would prefer not to get into the nitty gritty of how he barely knew the kid a week before he got here, but he'd also prefer not to sound like the asshole he tends to be. Took him a long ass while not to ditch the kid, it's still a work in progress. From the porch he watches Stiles, puffing on his cigar and speaking around it.]
She was here before me, she's got an adoptive family. They do the talks.
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Glad she's got people looking out for her. Glad you've still got a place in her life, too.
[ Stiles finds the hose attached to Logan's house and unravels it, bringing it to the yard, then disappears inside for some supplies - soap, a bucket, a sponge. He's carrying it all back outside when he picks up the conversation again. ]
Do you, uh - live together back home?
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[So take that into consideration however you want, Stiles. It'd probably fit the obvious narrative that Logan's not used to this, not good at this and honestly didn't want any of this. But he ended up with it anyway, plans thrown aside, and here he is. Making the best of a superbly shitty situation and finding himself once again too loyal for his own good. But also still a prick.]
She'd probably be better off without me. Most people are.
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I've barely known you that long and you've already made my life way better. I wouldn't feel half as safe here if it wasn't for you.
[ Logan's not a teenager. If he says people would be better off without him, he's had a long, long lifetime of mistakes to make to get to that conclusion. Stiles soaps up the water and starts cleaning off Logan's car, slapping a sponge to the window while he talks. He'd rather just speak to Logan honestly right now than get on his case for being a sadsack. ]
You've made her life better, too. Like, legitimately, practically better. You gave her food in Rapture and now she has the freedom to come visit you here, away from all the creepy mayhem in town. You might have some lost time to make up for, but that sounds like a pretty beneficial relationship to me.
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Funny, you've just been a pain in my ass.
[Not said with truthful intent - he still owes Stiles too, it seems, for the whole slug diagnosis. And for not asking all the questions he could (beyond the ones he has,) that must be boiling up in his head. Logan's not been all that forthcoming with details about the idiosyncrasies of his life. Like how he's wiping his hand clean on his shirt and below the blood there's not a mark. Again.]
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