[Open] Nothing comes easy / And that's a fact / Nothing comes easy / But a broken back

[johnny_rockfort]

It’s been a rough time - Johnny used to have a whole gang of thugs to order around, but now he’s got friends, and it’s not the same

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[4am_dreamer]

In comes an Ann looking for beer and finding Johnny at the sink.

"Hey, you ok?"

[johnny_rockfort]

"I'm fine."

Automatic response is automatic.

"Looking for something?"

Johnny: to the point.

[4am_dreamer]

"I was going to get something to drink, but you're over the sink..." She replies.

[johnny_rockfort]

Oh, puh-lease.

“There’s piss in the fridge,” Johnny groans.

[death_kl0wn]

And at long last, here comes a Ryuk, phasing through a wall, pausing with just his head protruding. "Saw yer note, Johnny-boy," he says. "Sorry I didn't come back sooner. I was spending New Years in a Christmas tree with no lights and no presents, neither. Didn't come back till I was sure the house wasn't gonna go boom again."

[johnny_rockfort]

Well, that's an entrance. And Johnny starts like he hasn't in a while - the beer he was about to chug is spilled all over his shirt, and he groans, then throws the can at Ryuk.

"You could have left a note, you ass-hole," Johnny yells at Ryuk after the initial jump and yelp (he'll deny it). "What's wrong with you not telling me where you were? And what's this bogus excuse, you fucking phase through walls! The whole place could have crumpled and you'd still be levitating around like some creepy and annoying Buddha!"

He's angry, but it's really that he's missed you, Ryuk.

A couple exchanges, then we prod Lou for the girls?

[death_kl0wn]

"Eh, I might be unkillable, but flyin' debris still hurts like a bitch," Ryuk says, hovering the rest of the way through the wall. "Didn't happen in my world, but it does here. Weird.

"Buddha? Me? Naaah, Buddha's borin' next to me. Doesn't drum as mean as I do."

Works for me!

[johnny_rockfort]

Ah, fair point, and without a drummer, D&M will probably lose its torque. Johnny frowns.

“Fine,” he says, and then, because he knows Ryuk won’t care, he has to ask.

“Did you know? About Nina?”

[nuns4money]

Secretly, Eda is overjoyed that you're ok Johnny. Really. But she'll never show it.

She comes in and spots him. "Johnny?"

[johnny_rockfort]

At least the complete absence of visible response is mutual. That's something.

"Hey."

Johnny: helpful as ever.

[nuns4money]

"Hey." Eda replies.

"Is the bar okay?"

Because apparently she knows whats important here.

[johnny_rockfort]

Priorities, you got them, Eda.

"Do I fucking look like the bar's okay?"

Johnny is smooth as ever.

[everdo2you]

Bobby Ray wanders into the kitchen, heading to the fridge in the hopes of finding a cold six-pack. He spots the barman, and offers him a wave. "You know, I should introduce myself, as much as I'm belly up to your bar," he walks over, offering a handshake. If Johnny has a bandaged hand, he'll notice, but won't comment on it yet. "I'm the kid you ran off at the party too," he adds. "I'm Bobby Ray."

[johnny_rockfort]

The guy’s face is decidedly familiar. One of the regulars. “Right, Bobby Ray,” the thug replies. “Johnny Rockfort. Nice to put a name to the face.”

He takes the handshake in spite of the potential bandage, it’s firm and assured.

“So you actually were an adult stuck in a kid’s body? That must have sucked balls, man.”

[everdo2you]

"It sucked so bad, I don't even want to talk about it. But if it ever happens to you, you better not ask me for a beer," Bobby Ray quips, a wry smile. "Any idea when we'll have a bar again?"

[johnny_rockfort]

Johnny does recall saying something like, you don’t want to see me as a kid, and he meant it, so he just shrugs.

“Soon as the bloody thing’s fixed,” he says tiredly. “But so far it’s me and the girls, and…”

And Ryuk, who is pretty much useless, actually. Or rather, unpredictable and kind of unreliable, much as we adore him.