(Untitled)

[inabmovie]

Will was... not happy.

The whole thing with walking in on Magnus and her boyfriend, and then their fight, and then his moving to the compound, had him in a funk that he just couldn't shake. He was not glad he'd moved out, even though he knew it was the best thing, and it was really eating at him

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[rhymingdevil]

I've never been much of a drinker, no matter the fact that I was still underage unless I went overseas, but I like the idea of bars and the people you can see there. Happy people...there were plenty of those having plenty of fun, the quieter types who just wanted to relax and then this guy, who looked like he just lost his best friend. Or his puppy. Or both.

I settled down next to him and waved a hand to try and get his attention.

"Bad day?"

[inabmovie]

"Eh, something like that," Will said, looking at his empty glass. He rolled it back and forth between his palms, watching the last few drops at the bottom roll around. "This island needs a rewind button," he decided.

[rhymingdevil]

I was reminded of Ann and her tape in the story I'd never finished, how she saw the tape that showed her how she was going to...well, that was just morbid. Anyway, I bet Ann wanted a rewind button. I did too, from time to time, but if I hadn't gone the way I did, I would have never met Shari. In that way, I figured it was good I went out that way.

Still, that wasn't helping this guy and I frowned a little at the empty glass.

"I think alcohol can make it numb a little while," I offered, "But there's no do-overs. Life sucks that way. Do you want to forget it or talk about it?"

[inabmovie]

"Oh, forget it, definitely," Will said, with a very big nod for emphasis. "I ask my patients that all the time and try to get them to talk about their problems, but forgetting is so much better."

[the_beta]

Remus had stopped in for dinner earlier, but as it tended with island life, time had simply gotten away from him. First it was his book, then it was hiding from that mortifying waitress behind his book, then it was a drink to get him over the fact that one cannot really hide from a waitress when one is expecting to e waited upon, and suddenly it was getting dark and he was tipsy enough to give up on both hiding and waiting for his next drink to materialize on the table.

And of course the one time he goes to get it himself, he trips over an errant chair leg and spills it all over someone. At first he just stares, the only thing he feels being disappointment over the loss, then the moment clarifies and he's left sobered and completely fucking mortified. "Dear God," he rasps, depositing the emptied glass carefully on the table and casting helplessly about for some sort of rag to offer. "A thousand bloody pardons, I can't believe this."

[inabmovie]

"Crap," Will blurted, the cold and wet enough of a surprise to startle him from staring at his empty glass for a minute. "No, it's okay..." He looked around for something to wipe it up; someone behind the bar tossed him a towel and he used it to mop up most of it from his shirt and his lap. "No harm done. Mostly." He attempted a grin to show that he wasn't pissed about it. "Guess that's a cosmic sign that I've had enough for one night."

[the_beta]

"For both of us," Remus agrees dryly, "though I can't say I haven't my share of accidents while sober." At least it was only alcohol, this time, and the face he pulls at the memory of that mess is only partially hidden by the hand he puts to his face.

"I feel dreadful, really," he adds with a frown, even if the clothes on the island are free and admittedly nothing irreplaceable. "I've got a jumper with me, if you need something to wear home," he offers.

[inabmovie]

"Nah, it's okay," Will said. "Like I said, it's probably a sign I should stop drinking for the night." It really hadn't been that bad of a spill; thankfully most of it had ended up on the chair and the floor instead of on him.

[anger_sideways]

When Hawkeye strolled into the Winchester and saw Helen's friend, he seriously considered turning tail and running back to his hut. It wouldn't have been a good idea, though - he'd promised Helen he'd go and apologise, and anyway, he was pretty sure that Will had noticed him enter, and it wouldn't send a very good message if his reaction was to immediately leave.

Anyway, how bad could it be? A little bit of the patented Hawkeye Pierce charm could smooth over the roughest of situations.

He slid onto the barstool by Will and flashed him a winsome grin.

"Hey there. Will, wasn't it?"

[inabmovie]

Pierce was the last person Will particularly cared to see, besides Magnus herself. But it wasn't like he could just ignore the guy. Will wasn't quite drunk enough to pull that off.

"Yeah. Will Zimmerman." He tossed back the rest of his drink and signaled for another.

[anger_sideways]

"I'll have what he's having," Hawkeye added, leaning an elbow on the bartop. He didn't know much about Will, but he hadn't pinned him down as the heavy drinking type, which suggested he was in a bit of a sulk right now.

"Look," he said, lowering his head and doing his best to appear contrite, "We didn't meet in the best of circumstances, and I shouldn't have dismissed you like that. I may have had my hands full -" And it was a feat of great moral strength here that he didn't make the joke he desperately wanted to there. "-but that's no excuse. I know Helen meets a lot to you, so I don't want you to get the impression she's dating a total jerk. At worst, I'm only a partial jerk."

[inabmovie]

"Magnus's personal business is none of my business," Will said slowly, after processing that for a few seconds. "I just work for her." He was just an employee. Which meant he really didn't need to know about anything she did when they weren't working together, or who she did it with.

[fear_no_words]

Uhura didn't frequent the Winchester a great deal, its location a little too far north to be on her path everyday. But after a day on the north shore, even just relaxing under the sun, she was too tired to walk all the way back home for something to eat.

She had a brightly patterned sundress on over her bikini, sandals on her feet and a small bag over her shoulder, a faint glowing sheen on her skin as she walked in. Catching sight of Will at the bar, and noting the hunch of his shoulders and quiet way about him, Uhura strolled over in curiosity and concern and slid onto the bar stool beside him. "I'd offer you a credit for you thoughts," she said with a careful, gentle smile. "But that'd be just as useless around here as a penny. So I'll just ask. How are you?"

[inabmovie]

Uhura was definitely a welcome sight, if an unexpected one, and he almost--but not quite--managed a smile. "I've had better days," he said, and finished off the last of his drink.

[fear_no_words]

"There's still time left in the day," Uhura replied, folding her arms on the counter. "We could make it better. What's wrong?" The best way to fix a problem was to know what it was, and even if it couldn't be fixed, sometimes talking helped. It was at least better than Will stumbling home stinking drunk later.

[inabmovie]

"Too late," he said. He ordered another drink and ran a hand through his hair. "It's more like a crappy week. Couple of weeks. Something. You know, I can't even keep up with the time here. It just sort of... goes."

[wishesandsmoke]

The Winchester wasn't far from where Eden lived, and though her leg had mostly healed in the last couple weeks, today the idea of walking all the way to the Compound was unspeakably unappealing. Besides, the Winchester was such a great little place - an opinion she seemed to share with a high percentage of the island's residents.

There weren't all that many free seats around, so she headed over to the nearest one, hesitating before she sat. "This seat taken?" she asked, feeling a little bad for it. He looked like he had enough on his mind without being interrupted by some stranger.

[inabmovie]

"Nope," Will answered, tipping back the rest of his drink and signaling the bartender for another one. "Well, someone was sitting there about an hour ago, but he's long gone, so I'm guessing it's pretty much free."

[wishesandsmoke]

"Thanks. Yeah, after the hour mark, I think it becomes fair game again," Eden said lightly, sliding into the seat and reaching for a menu. The man was familiar in the way most people were here, nothing more, but she'd never let that stop her. "Long day?"

[inabmovie]

"More like a long week." Normally Will was constantly sizing people up, using what Kate always called his 'freaky eyeballs' to pick up on people's mannerisms and everything that gave away, but lately he just didn't bother. So instead of watching the way she held the menu or whether she sat on the edge of the seat or in the middle, he tipped back his newly arrived drink.