damned_institute | Day 28: Crossroader's Bar and Casino

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Day 28: Crossroader's Bar and Casino

[ from here. reserved for Reno. ]

White sneakers gleaming in contrast to the dusty floorboards, Dean approached the bar at a snail's pace, hopelessly immersed in his surroundings. It was a taste of something close to home. He was in his element.

And he loved it.

His face seemed to ache the instant he smiled his first genuine smile of the day. Previous shakiness in his bearing abandoned, he swiveled on a chair to allow his restless eyes the chance to roam the features of the tavern that really weren't as captivating as the hunter found them. His wry expression faded as he glanced disapprovingly at himself. These clothes made him look like some overgrown kid who'd taken a wrong turn on his way to the Nerd Convention.

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Dean snorted, giving a short laugh that warmed his formerly wry appearance; internally grateful his ally had changed the subject.

"'n how do you propose we do that, huh? 'less you're sayin' you wanna volunteer..." He straightened in his seat, an impish grin planted on his lips now. He allowed for a meaningful pause as he scrutinised the peanut in hand, lifting it in the space separating the two of them and balancing it on his fingers - like he were readying a catapult.

Before flipping it full force off his thumb (he had an evident knack for this activity), aimed to strike Reno's shoulder.

"Hey!" Reno managed to catch one half of the peanut as it bounced off his shoulder. The other half disappeared somewhere to the floor.

"See, now—" Letting it rest flat on his thumb, he flicked it right back at Dean with equal force. "—look what you just made me do. I don't usually misbehave like this, you know."

"Aw, c'mon, man. Was an accident and you know it." He chuckled, picking a third one from the counter. He didn't raise it, though, eyes averting to an open palm that he rested against one thigh. There was a small silence on his end. Smile weakening, a shiver was sent through his insides that didn't show on his exterior.

"Heh... y'know, me 'n my brother, we... we used to goof off like this all the time. When we were kids, anyway." Hell, he and Sam both knew it happened in the current day; whenever they were too bored to throw the usual verbal slur. Or when the elder was fed up during those lengthy drives.

The man cleared his throat, moving his dull gaze to the bar.

"So, uh..." He tossed the peanut at Reno with little effort, suddenly feeling rather uncomfortable. "You said you... had a partner." He fidgeted with the next peanut he'd chosen. "... Must be rough."

Sensing the slight shift in the air, Reno tilted his head in half-curiosity at Dean. There seemed to be a bit of a mild mood swing going on here with the man. The mention of his partner, though, threw him off guard for a second, and he blinked once. The peanut fell to the floor unnoticed.

"Kinda," he admitted after a moment. He smiled faintly. "I can't blame shit on him now."

People had always accused him of being unstable, but without Rude, Reno was starting to actually feel that way himself. And he missed Rude's presence overall. It just felt weird, after always having him there for all those years.

"So the guy that crashed into you the other night," he said, in an attempt to change the topic. "That your brother?"

Dean smirked. Seemed Reno and his partner were tight, probably maintaining a somewhat fraternal relationship. Guess he couldn't frown upon that. Turks weren't run-of-the-mill, ordinary citizens. They must've been pretty isolated in their lifestyle... something the hunter could relate to without a doubt.

Recollections of that night reminded him of that unpleasant feeling he'd experienced – of one's world being turned upside down. Come to think of it, that'd been the last time he'd spoken to Reno. Was he unconsciously afraid that talking to the guy could mean getting a lecture from Sam? He didn't know. But he was talking to him now. And evidently, those two (or... however long it'd been) days of separation hadn't triggered hard feelings.

He kind of missed those first few nights he'd spent with the Shin-Ra group. Less deep thinking involved.

"Yeah," he growled in response. The dour expression was swiftly replaced by a tough look as he folded his arms, revolving on the chair and leaning his back against the bar. Any sign of scrutiny from the redhead was met with a fairly blank stare. "Sort o' wish he'd never arrived, now I've seen he's OK." He couldn't believe he was admitting it, but it was the closest to the truth he'd stated aloud to anyone. Sure, he'd suffered those brief episodes of panic when he'd reflected on his brother, and the life-threatening situation he'd left behind...

A storm had begun inside him since their reunion, and it existed with the purpose of worsening over time. It had intensified Dean's personal belief that Landel's Institute was some kind of Hell.

Well, this was new. In truth, Reno had been expecting a simple yes or no to his question and maybe a dry remark somewhere. On the other hand, that did explain why Dean had been seeming a little off today.

For a moment, he really wasn't sure what to say to it all. If it'd been possible, he probably would've given Dean a shot of liquor or something in response. Which was unfortunately not an option right now. He didn't want to pry into what was clearly a personal issue, but obviously, he had to say something because silence would be awkward. And awkward sucked.

In the end, all he could offer was a simple, "Yeah?" in hopes that it would be open-ended enough for Dean to go forth in whatever direction he was looking for in this.

His features soured. Lethargically shifting himself in the chair again, he twisted to face Reno. He absent-mindedly pressed one side of a peanut and had it slide across the counter. Glowering at the bartender, he grumbled sulkily:

"Least they could do is hand a man his drink."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Reno could use a drink right about now, too. Actually, he could've used one a long time ago.

He rested his chin back into the palm of his hand, peering at the top of the counter. "We could distract him and pilfer it," he suggested dryly. "Or hypnotize him. You got any hypnosis skills along with those peanut-throwing ones of yours?"

It was true; they could always lift the stuff and bail. Create witnesses... and then maybe Bobby, whom he guessed was probably searching for them by now (having not heard word from any one of the three of them would've worried him, surely...), might skim through this town and trace them back to the Institute...

However, Dean knew that somehow that sort of plan wouldn't play out to their liking, let alone to their advantage. The staff seemed more unforgivably cunning than to leave an obvious loophole like that. They'd definitely showed him that hope in his situation was often short-lived.

So he abandoned the hare-brained idea.

As for the question of whether he had hypnotic abilities...

"Yyyup." He stared into the distance for a moment - not really thinking but giving off the impression he was in the midst of profound reflection - before setting his eyes on the Turk. "... But I ain't that desperate for a whiskey," he added with a hint of cheek, a wry smile forming.

This lack of booze was cruel, though. Especially with it so close by. For someone who essentially had at least one drink on a nightly basis, going near two weeks without was...stretching it. Reno was just lucky he had things trying to eat him and the people around him. It kept him from being bored and boredom was the main reason why he felt the need to drink in the first place.

He laughed shortly. "Of course not." There was a beat as he tapped his index finger once and then shot Dean a half-amused look.

"From plotting escape to plotting how to snag some booze," he remarked. "Seems like we're finally getting our priorities straight, yeah?"

"Damn right," he replied, fingering at a peanut and squeezing it in the palm of his hand. He gradually granted his friend a weary and satisfied grin. "... Pretty sweet shot I got in last time," he said in a tone that proposed a challenge, preparing the peanut for launch.

Man. Easy to tell when he was bored to tears.

"You were lucky. Now gimme a damn peanut," he said, leaning forward across the counter with as little movement of his body as possible. He managed to snag the edge of the peanut bowl with the tip of his fingers and drag it closer to his side.

"How much you wanna bet?" he asked as he fired the peanut without warning, aiming for just below Dean's chin.

About to fire his own, the one Reno had launched for his neck was automatically blocked by Dean's hand, except the peanut in motion collided perfectly with the one between his fingers and sent both shells flying to the floor.

The hunter raised an eyebrow at the redhead and let out a soft 'ha!'.

"Bring it on," he taunted, promptly organising a set of ammunition beside him.

Reno blinked, surprised at first by the outcome of his attack, before a snicker escaped him.

He grabbed a handful himself, pausing to munch on a few as the remainder rolled a little on the counter. He suspected they didn't have long before they got tossed out for this or something. Better make the most of the time they had.

"You don't know who you're dealing with," he shot back. "My talent with spit balls was unmatched back in high school."

"Know why?" Dean tilted his head, equipped for repartee as his smirk continued to widen by the second. "'Cuz I wasn't there."

Without further delay, he willfully flicked a peanut, intended to strike the other man's neck.

The peanut Dean flicked was caught mid-air in the fist of one extremely pissed off looking proprietor. He glowered at both men and dropped the nut to the counter, setting both hands down after it. Now Mathers was used to rowdy behavior and he was responsible for some of his own, but when crazies came into his bar and started shooting peanuts around it caused him some problems. Namely, other customers would get bothered and wouldn't come to the bar for a drink.

"You two want to take this outside or do I have to make you take it outside?" he growled, clearly unimpressed with their immaturity.

Damn, so soon. And they were just getting started, too.

Oh, well. This still had potential for entertainment value and damned if he was going to let the opportunity escape. He hadn't fooled around like this in awhile.

"Sorry," Reno said, looking as innocent as possible. "It was just therapeutic, you know? The doc says we're supposed to revisit memories of childhood activities."

"Catch," he whispered in awe as the airborne peanut was seized in front of him.

"No sir, we don't want trouble," he said to Mathers, a somewhat sardonic tune running through his words. A terrible sneer threatened to spread on Dean's lips at Reno's remark. He snorted and shook his head, sliding off the chair. "Barkeep's shunned us, man." He feigned a wistful sigh. Slowly making his way to the exit, the smirk re-emerged along with the smart mouth, and he coolly threw over his shoulder: "Kind o' place denies its customers a laugh?"

Mathers watched Dean go with a scowl perfected over time and then turned on Reno. The town as a whole had agreed to let the good Doctor bring his nutcases in for a spell, but that didn't mean Mathers had to like it. His bar might have a reputation for being seedy, but flicking peanuts around was just too much. "Revisit them in your heads. If you're here to drink or gamble, do it. If you're here to flick peanuts around like four year olds, go to the park."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw what looked like a group of minors waltz in and he groaned. This was a bar, not a daycare center. "You're free to sit here with your friend, but don't go shooting the place up with peanuts or I'll kick you out."

With that he moved off to take care of his newest problem.

Another snort slipped past Reno's lips as he followed Dean out the exit. Actually, that was one of his more tame experiences at a bar. Tseng would be proud. Or something.

He let the door swing shut behind him and tapped Dean on the arm with the back of his hand.

"I gotta go find my boss," he said, a wry smile still on his lips from the incident just back in the bar. "Don't get yourself kicked out of every place in town, yeah?"

[going here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/244463.html?thread=17905647#t17905647).]

"Later," he responded, the remains of a grin lingering on his face.

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Day 28: Crossroader's Bar and Casino

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