(Untitled)

[lost_undercover]

Who: Billy Costigan, Inara Serra
Where: Bar, possibly elsewhere
When: During all the shenanigans
What: Costigan needs to unwind a little, hopefully Inara can help
Warnings: Potential innuendo? I doubt anything worth warning about.

Comments

Rofl. That's what I figured. Nicci was concerned.

[lost_undercover]

"..Yeah. I, uh.." He stood awkwardly as she bowed. It wasn't as if he had never bowed in his life, but probably only twice and never in an outfit like this to a woman he was just meeting; he wouldn't have been able to bring himself to do it even if he had wanted to. "William, is fine. It's, uh.. This is a little weird for me. I haven't really seen anyone for anything since the--"

He cut off before he could conclude with 'court ordered shrink.' It was a difficult thing to explain when he was parading himself as a cop. The truth was always that he was both, criminal and cop, but no one really got that without thinking you had a drug problem or were corrupt or dirty or something. He wanted a good reputation with the wardens and a bad one with the inmates; was that so much to ask?

"Since the accident I got into where I had to get my arm put in a fucking cast." The way he swore was different than Frankie. It wasn't graphic to him, to be cool or give a certain facade. It had just become part of his natural vocabulary. Also unlike Frankie, he was the kind of guy that would stop if asked because he generally only really swore when he was upset anyway.

Nothing's gonna change my woooooorld.

[madrassa]

Giving him a small, polite smile, she ushered him into the bar. Inara had already been awarded with several facts about William Costigan upon their first meeting thanks to her training as a Companion. That she wasn't losing her touch was a comforting feeling, and afforded her more confidence to burn in this encounter.

"A year or so, then, since you've seen anyone?" She put a hand lightly on his right arm for just a moment, looking down at it, "A little neglectful on your part." Her tone wasn't accusatory; it was factual. He knew it as well as she did, she suspected. She removed her hand from his arm.

Waving Kurt over to where they stood at the bar, she ordered a pot of green tea for herself, and then motioned to Billy to communicate his choice to the blue barkeep.

Just because I want someone when Im alone doesnt mean Im helpless, that I cant stand on my own..

[lost_undercover]

Costigan moved into the bar as soon as he felt he could, an odd sort of sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when a warden wasn't there to escort him inside. He had never tried to push that feeling enough to find out what would happen or how exactly he might be forbidden from entering without one. The inmate knew better than to push his luck most of the time.

He looked at her with an uncomfortable surprise, then to her touch on his arm. Rather than assuming she was just that observant, he couldn't help but begin to speculate just how much of his file she might have read. It made him anxious, though he tried to suppress it. When she lifted her hand, he shifted his arm awkwardly away from her.

"It wasn't any neglect," he replied in a half-mutter, unconsciously rubbing his forearm. No, the former undercover wasn't going to regale her with that precious gem of beating up guineas from Providence to enable him to meet Costello and get in with the drug lord's gang. Such tales were better left for the excess corners of his mind.

Glancing up to the blue furred wonder, his eyebrows furrowed a moment and he ignored whatever judgments might come. "Cranberry juice."

All we can do is keep breathing. ♪

[madrassa]

Inara's concern for him was heightened with every passing moment. He was irreparably damaged in a way that showed quite clearly. Obviously at his age that sort of damage wasn't unheard of, but there was a paranoia, a tired, natural paranoia that most twenty-somethings had no reason to possess. She tried to push the burning questions she suddenly had to the back of her mind, reminding herself that she was at the behest of this man who took the risk of initiating this interaction.

Still, it would be wildly neglectful for her to encourage his denial of neglect, so she opted to ignore it altogether. When Kurt dropped her pot of tea off with a cup, she began to busy herself with pouring it, and then turned to look Costigan squarely, maintaining eye contact with a hint of a smile. "Cranberry juice? You're not the type to imbibe?"

Sometimes I need someone to say You'll be alright, what's on your mind? ♪

[lost_undercover]

Costigan rolled his shoulders in a stiff manner, feeling the weight of her judgments upon him. Whether those intense perceptions were real or imagined was entirely unknown anymore, but he was still disgusted with the feeling of them. The inmate took his cranberry juice with a soft nod of acknowledgment to the bartender, taking a drink and setting it down before he would even begin to consider responding to her. The question irked him for reasons he could not properly describe without some thought.

"'Imbibe'? What does that even mean? It's like asking someone if they're 'sexually active', am I right? I mean, yeah. Yeah, I drink. But I haven't for awhile, and I'm sure as hell not going to get drunk when I'm meeting a stranger for the first time." He offered without the intent to offend, the response coming as a transcript of his thoughts rather than any sort of show of anything.

I just want back in your head. ♪ I'm not unfaithful, but I'll stray when I get a little scared.

[madrassa]

His attitude was more endearing to Inara than it was anything else. She was tired of pretense, of manners keeping people apart from being truthful and candid. Billy Costigan's sense of candid was in no short supply, and she found herself smiling as he went on his diatribe. She had a feeling it wasn't a diatribe, exactly, so much as it was his normal manner of communication. It was just like home.

She offered a small, light laugh when he was through. "A wise decision on your part, then. I don't drink often at all, myself." She took a sip of her tea, scanning the bar with little interest before turning her attention back to Billy. "Where are you from, William? What's your line of work?"

Leave all our hopelessness's aside ♪ If just for a little while tears stop right here.

[lost_undercover]

Costigan was used to everything he said being torn apart and read into. The result was a defensive and often aggressive nature full of half-truths and a sense of candid speech despite mulling over every word that left his mouth. He did strive toward honesty in some measure, but not much beyond that. It was important to him to remain trusted without being entirely honest, the way he had always been. At her laugh, however, he realized just how defensive he had likely sounded and frowned a little at the thought. His attention returned to his drink and he took another long sip. The tart taste was something he enjoyed in an almost masochistic fashion, wondering if anyone could genuinely like the taste of cranberry juice.

"Boston, Massachusetts, on Earth, 2006." He recalled from his files of her that she was from a far future and had never been to Earth. "I was a State Trooper.. a police officer. I helped catch bad guys and take them to jail."