A Round of Drinks - 8

Chapter 8

Sleep had been more difficult than usual after the very clear reminder that Gotham was still… Well, Gotham.

Fortunately, the kids didn’t return after that one – rather brief – visit and he was grateful for that. He wasn’t too keen on forgetting that they’d been there though, unfortunately for his poor and overworked paranoid mind. Neither had any other group of kids dropped by either, which was added to the relieved part of his mind. Still, he worried, because he knew he wasn’t just worried for nothing. He knew. He just didn’t know when shit would hit the fan and that made things all the worse.

So, more than one morning – if the time when he woke up could be called morning at all – was spent yawning and trying to go back to being a person. Not that Travis had ever been one to wake up easily, but the lack of good sleep wasn’t helping much, obviously. It was a good thing that he worked during the night, because otherwise the whole situation would have been annoying and very inconvenient.

As it was, it was only annoying, because it ate away at what little free time he had… not that he used it for much.

A little sad, maybe, but Travis was still getting used to things, or so he told himself. He’d never had many hobbies, at least not after he’d left Gotham. While he’d been there before, he had some, but none of them were anything he even remotely felt like picking up. All of them were just reminders of who he’d been and why he’d ended up where he had, even those that were “mostly harmless”, as it were.

‘I need hobbies though, or I’ll go crazy,’ he thought to himself snacking on some peanuts while tapping on the bar counter with his other hand. He had free time, sure, and he could technically just sit there and watch TV until opening hour. It was one of those days in which he had nothing to do, not even productive things, in order to distract himself and he was getting bored. Not the first time and not the last one either if he didn’t find something to occupy himself during free time.

‘I need the practice stuff for the flair bartending idea,’ Travis pointed out to himself, and that was pretty much the only thing he had in mind that he’d do for fun. ‘Could set up a dart board. Certainly cheaper than a pool table,’ he mused as he looked around the bar. His father had had those things around back in the day, and he’d used them so much he’d gotten good out of sheer stubbornness and time.

He was probably a little rusty, but that was another idea, he supposed.

‘How sad has my life been these past few years?’ Travis thought, amused in a very sad way. Because ever since he’d left Gotham, he hadn’t even had the time to worry about hobbies much. Sure, he had some free time here and there in between trying to make ends meet while trying to get his feet under him and never quite managing. However, it’d never been enough that he could really stop and consider options, let alone actually go for something. At most, he’d done a thing or two just to fill in the void for a bit, but nothing that lasted.

Travis had had a lot to fix in his life, on top of getting the money to have a life to fix at all.

‘I’m sure you’re feeling very smug about how you had to save my sorry ass,’ he thought to himself, looking at the bar as if it were his father’s remaining physical presence in the world of the living. ‘I was well on my way to managing just fine, I’ll have you know,’ he added, although he wondered who he was trying to fool other than himself. ‘Eventually.’

Being bored enough to have an argument with himself wasn’t a good sign, probably.

Next thing he knew, Travis might put on a suit and go around Gotham calling himself Barman or something. He was not fit enough to put on the kind of suit the Bat used, but maybe he could go with a more regular clothes’ thing? ‘Now, there’s an idea though. Getting a gym subscription, that is. The Bat can keep the punching people schtick,’ he thought, a little amused about how his joke thoughts had led to an actual answer. Granted, he wasn’t sure how much exercise counted as a hobby, but it’d fill in some timeslots, so that’d be good enough for the time being while he got some stuff for actually wasting time.

‘It’ll almost look like I know what I’m doing with my life too,’ he thought with a grin. ‘Can’t get crazier than that, right?’

With that in mind, Travis brought the bottle of soda in his hand to his mouth for a gulp. He didn’t remember if there was a gym nearby or not – hadn’t really been checking –, but he guessed there should be one somewhere close, he’d just have to look for it. Speaking of, he could just check on his phone and then go outside if he didn’t find something good enough. There were always a few establishments that didn’t appear on the maps, after all.

‘What else, what else?’ he wondered idly, picking up a peanut and fidgeting with it for a bit. ‘I mean, while on that thought, I could-’ He didn’t get to finish that thought though, because someone was knocking on his door, which was… rare. Most people either barged in – thinking it was open for some reason – or they didn’t bother at all.

“Oh, hey there,” Travis greeted, blinking as he watched Jason and Catherine come inside. “You’re early,” he added, as an unasked question. That was an understatement if there ever was one too, considering there were a good few hours before he’d have reasonably expected them to be there, nevermind opening hour.

“Sorry about that.”

“Hey there,” Jason said, with that flat, blunt delivery of his contrasting quite a bit with his mother’s hesitant, careful tone. Not that he expected differently from him. “Had nothing better to do, so we came here,” the kid added and Travis looked between the boy and Catherine for a good moment.

The woman looked pretty similar to how she’d shown up for her interview. Fidgeting with her hands, shuffling in place, restless was the best word for it, he supposed. She seemed unable to look at him, while Jason seemed to be channeling every stubborn bone in his body to stare right at Travis. It was almost like the boy was daring him to say something, to do something. He didn’t know what that was, but he was putting pieces together in his mind.

The best whole puzzle that he could arrange was that… Catherine was approaching her breaking point again. One of them, probably Jason but he wasn’t sure, had suggested they come to his bar. Maybe they thought the place would be enough of a buffer, or maybe they were expecting him to be a presence that would deter Catherine. Wild attempts both, but he knew how desperate people in such situations could get.

Anything and everything was worth trying.

Or he could be completely wrong. Travis was keenly aware that it was always a possibility that he guessed wrong. It had happened and it would happen again. It never stopped him from trying and he did have a fairly good success rate all the same. ‘Good thing I don’t have to act on this guess though,’ he mused, somewhat relieved. Because right or wrong, he wasn’t going to do anything too differently in either case.

“Well, make yourselves comfortable,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I could use the company myself. Was getting bored out of my mind,” he added and wasn’t that the truth. He was actually kind of happy to see them. Having them around was better than the alternative.

Being alone with his thoughts could very easily spiral into something he’d rather not.

Something he’d really rather not.

“What even is there to do here when we’re not around?” Jason asked, and at least he was kind enough to try and hide the slight mocking tone. Travis appreciated the effort… maybe. All the same, he answered with a wave of his hand towards the TV. “And before you got that?”

“Preparing stuff for the bar, thinking of ideas for it. Haven’t been here for too long so I still have to figure out a lot of things,” he answered, which was the truth, if not the whole truth. He had kept busy doing that. There was actually quite a lot that needed to get done to run the place, more than he’d expected. Granted, not all of it was strictly necessary, but it certainly helped smooth over things here and there, so he might as well do it. Especially since he was trying to kill time with that rather than sitting doing nothing in the bar that saw him grow and his home from childhood.

That was a recipe to get haunted by memories.

“That’s very sad, you know?” Jason pointed out with an unimpressed look on his face that was rather hurtful, if Travis did say so himself. Why was he even entertaining the little shit again? “Don’t you have like, board games or something?”

He stomped on the urge to point out that most board games needed more than one person to play. It’d make him sound even more like the lonely sad fuck that he was, but Travis was also picking up on the slight possibility that it was just Jason’s way to ask to play something. He hadn’t looked at him while delivering the words, for one, and for another there’d been an odd change in his voice towards the end, as if he were pushing the words out and his act crumbled a little with each one.

“I have something better,” he answered with a grin. “Do you know how to play cards?” he asked and there was a very obvious shift in his eyes at the question. For a split second, Travis almost would have said the boy was excited. He perked up, his eyes widened and his lips quirked up the smallest bit… and then all that died a quick death, slammed down by a frowny pout that he probably thought looked “mean” or “scary” or “serious”. It only made him look even more like a child. Travis felt the urge to make him some hot chocolate looking at it, honestly.

“Cards are for cons,” the kid said and Travis raised an eyebrow. Really? “What? It’s true. Everyone cheats playing cards.”

“Then you gotta learn how to cheat or how to catch them,” he pointed out with a grin. “Sounds like you’re just not good enough, which is fine. No shame. Everyone has their strengths.” ‘And their weaknesses,’ went unsaid and the kid very obviously caught it. Not that Travis had been very discreet. That’s not what he was going for.

Sure enough, the scowl worsened and he could visibly see Jason’s pride pushing him to do something he normally wouldn’t. People like him were way too easy once you found the right buttons to push and the right way to push them. Travis would know, he’d been like that once. Oh the troubles that had gotten him into. And the worst part was that there was no way to stop that, not unless you faced consequences that would literally shatter that away.

A horrible thing when it happened and when it didn’t.

Pride sucked.

“You’re not good enough,” Jason hissed and Travis could have laughed if he weren’t sure that’d make the kid shut him out.

“Prove it then. Come on.”

And that’s how he found himself explaining card games to the kid. No cheating involved, in the teaching or on his part. It was a close thing, admittedly. Old habits die hard and all that.

“Ready to lose?”

“You wish, old man,” the kid replied with a half-smile that was probably meant to be menacing or something. At that age? Jason would be so lucky if he could pull that off, but he wasn’t. Not at all.

It became even more clear when, not a minute later, he was already accusing Travis of cheating after he lost.

[}-o-{]

“Maybe I should have let him win at least once,” Travis commented, a smile on his face as he looked at Jason furiously scrubbing dishes and glasses. It was kind of funny, how angry the little guy got. Not a surprise, but certainly amusing, that was for sure. He had absolutely expected it, after all.

“He always was too proud for his own good,” Catherine replied, standing beside him on the other side of the counter and occasionally glancing around in case anyone needed her. Travis was almost startled by her words, but especially the way she said them. Her tone was fond, and there was none of the usual hesitation, or lethargy, or twitchiness. If he didn’t know she was an addict, he never would have believed it if told at that moment. That was the real Catherine, realized, shining through despite everything for the first time since he got to know her. “I’m surprised he didn’t throw the cards at you and refuse to play because you were cheating.”

“Excuse me?” he asked, leaning back and placing an offended hand over his chest. “I’ll have you know I played those games fairly,” he argued and the woman only gave him a slight smile, half amused and half disbelieving. “Well, most of them,” he admitted with a growing grin.

“Hm, that I can believe,” Catherine replied, apparently having fun for once instead of walking on eggshells around him. Travis was happy to see that. He’d rather have one more friend rather than a terrified employee. He needed more of those and he knew it. “I think he likes you,” the mother added as she glanced towards her son.

“God only knows why,” he shot back with a grin that said it was all in jest. Except it really wasn’t. Why would a kid like him? Especially a kid like Jason? He remembered being that age, he remembered being like Jason. Travis was exactly the kind of guy they’d all make fun of, the kind of guy they’d all say was lame. They would have been right, but that didn’t mean they were any better, so there was that.

Catherine looked like she wanted to say something about that, but her brief moment of clarity seemed to slowly bleed away. In its place, he found the woman that he’d gotten used to seeing, the hopelessly hopeful addict fighting a losing battle but still trying. He didn’t think that Catherine was lesser, not at all, but it was painful to see her all the same, when the alternative had seemed so… nice.

Maybe one day, he might be able to help that Catherine come out more, or even permanently.

He’d never learned not to hope, evidently, much as he knew he should have.

Unfortunately, that was not the day and the woman walked away after a man at a table raised his hand. Travis, for his part, stood there, waiting for an order and looking around in case anyone else decided they wanted something. By then his body was starting to go on autopilot while on the job, like it was getting trained to switch between Travis and bartender. He appreciated that though, even if sometimes it turned a job that wasn’t all that bad into something quite dull.

Sometimes he just needed to get back to it and tell his brain to shut up though. It wasn’t something he was doing for the first time either. Routines, they became boring quickly, but they also offered stability that he hadn’t had in his life, because of his own mistakes. Once he got it though, it had helped immensely. Because sometimes a boring life was preferable to what one had.

He would know.

“Stop pouting, would you?” he said all the same, when Jason finished a batch of washing and went about moving the stuff for Travis to have closer at hand. “I’ll teach you how to play better tomorrow, yeah?”

Then, Jason went through the funniest transition of emotions on his face. He counted happy, angry, offended, excited, angry again, suspicious, offended again, excited again, and so it went for a bit. It was also a little sad to see, admittedly, because it meant that such a simple gesture meant a lot, one way or another. Travis just hoped that whatever emotion Jason settled on when he finally got control of his expression and scowled wasn’t too bad.

“I’m going to be beating you in a matter of days, old man,” he grumbled, turning around and starting with another batch of dishes.

“You’re at least a decade too young to be beating me at anything, kid, but we can see if you prove me wrong. Maybe you’ll manage in nine,” Travis replied, and he saw the boy pause for a second with his back firmly turned towards him. Maybe he hadn’t made the fact that he said that jokingly clear enough? Maybe Jason was one of those people that couldn’t take a joke? He didn’t think that was the case… much, but… He had to wonder, watching the boy go back to what he was doing, what that was about.

Alas, he didn’t have time to ponder that too much, because there was work to be done, drinks to be served and food to be prepared. He had actually gotten quite a bit of time to rest there, honestly, but that time had run out. ‘Suffering from success, honestly,’ he thought, even though he was pretty sure he was starting to get less people. The novelty was wearing off, probably, but considering Travis had expected the fall to be a lot sharper, he was doing alright.

Maybe the improvement of the bar had lessened that hit? Or maybe the bar was actually good enough, just by having decent food and drinks. Who’d have thunk?

[}-o-{]

Another day entirely, Travis found himself alone again and this time the Todds weren’t there to break the silence of the empty bar.

With only his thoughts for company and having run out of things to think about, be it ideas for hobbies or plans for his business, there was only one thing in his mind. Well, two, but one of them stood out more than the other. The one given less attention was the possibility of going out there to try and see if he found any friends… but he dismissed that idea rather quickly.

One trip had been enough for him to justify not doing it anymore, apparently. Beyond that though, he’d spent quite a bit of time out there before and he’d found next to nothing. He rather doubted he would have better luck if he went a second time. That’s what he told himself, at least, but he knew he was fooling precisely no one.

The second option was more plausible, at least for his denial ridden mind, but it was more scary than stepping out into the streets of Gotham. He wasn’t sure why, really, but it was. It wouldn’t put him in danger, after all… or, at least, not physical danger. He imagined he could be plenty hurt all the same, but he knew, deep down, that he was just lying to himself to justify not doing it.

Contrary to the other option though, denial wasn’t enough in this case.

‘Do it,’ he told himself, tapping on the counter with his fingers as if that’d urge him to go for it. All the same, it still took him about half an hour to gather the courage to do it. ‘Come on… just, do it, coward,’ he thought, pursing his lips, nodding and tapping on the phone’s screen. ‘God, I hate myself,’ he added before bringing the device to his ear.

“Hello? Who is this?” a voice greeted and he nodded, taking a deep breath in.

“Hey, Matchstick,” he replied, trying to sound casual and not at all like he was internally panicking. He’d already had a good conversation with Holly when they met. Surely it couldn’t go badly to call. She had left him her number, after all. Surely that meant it was fine, right?

Except he was keenly aware that something happening in the moment was different than having a few days to think about things. Holly could have decided that he actually was an idiot for having ditched them all when he left. She could have decided that he wasn’t worth the effort after the surprise and the cheer of seeing him again wore off. She could-

“Fool! I thought you wouldn’t call, what the hell?!” she asked and he could hear the indignation in her voice. It eased a knot in his chest that had strangled him for days while his cowardly self stalled. “Did something happen?” she added afterwards, a tinge of worry in her voice that further relieved him, even if that made him feel like an asshole.

“Nothing happened, I’m fine. I just… I was busy,” he said, first the truth and then lying through his teeth. Immediately, he grimaced. No, that wouldn’t do. ‘Come on, be a man, Travis,’ a voice that sounded eerily like his father said at the back of his mind. “And I was kind of being a coward,” he admitted, his voice barely over a whisper.

“Oh… Yeah, well, you are Fool,” Holly replied and he chuckled weakly. He didn’t deserve this one friend, but God was he happy to have her in his life again. He promised himself… he promised himself to try and never mess up as badly as he had before. He couldn’t promise not to do it, he was aware, but he could damn well try anyway. “How’s everything been?” Holly added and he appreciated the slight chance to move on.

“Pretty good. I bought a TV for the bar, seems to be a bit of a hit,” he answered, a smile forming on his lips. “I’ll make a decent place out of this dump eventually.”

“Good luck with that,” she told him dryly and God did he miss stupid shit like that. Why had he put the call off for so long again? Oh right, insecurities and fears. Those always sucked.

“How’s it been for you? Everything alright?” was his turn to ask. Because he remembered that she’d been a little… worried the last time, what with needing a place to stay and all that. Yet she’d never come back, so he had to assume it was all fine. Either that, or she’d been waiting for his call to ask again… which would really make him want to hit himself.

“Things are… Things aren’t great, no, but I’m managing.” That did not sound good. Not at all. He was getting the impression that his latter guess was right and he needed to do something about that yesterday. Or, better yet, immediately.

“If you need a place, door’s always open for you here, Holly. Just to let you know,” he offered without reservations. Holly had opened her arms for him without any issues, even with all that had happened. The least he could do was offer her a place to stay and feel a little safer. Not knowing what the issue was mattered little to nothing. Holly had been with him through some serious shit back in the day. So, unless she’d messed with one of Gotham’s crazy pieces of work, then it was all fine.

And even then, it’d be debatable.

“... I… I really appreciate that, Travis,” she said and he paused at the use of his name. It would take some getting used to, if she kept doing that. When he’d been in Gotham, it had been just Fool almost all the time. It’d been different out of Gotham, but his mind seemed stuck in those times since he got back.

“Anything for a friend, Holly,” he replied, meaning every word. “Especially one that’s way too kind to the mess that’s me.”

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Well, a fairly chill chapter, but we’ll get there. Gotham’s really taking it easy on Travis, huh? Maybe he’ll even be the one guy in the entire place that’ll have a good time without issues. I’m sure that’s a possibility that could happen…

Right?

That aside, I have to say, I’m having way too much fun setting things up. Lots of things right off the bat that I have within reach to work with, even if it doesn’t look like it. I’m not used to that kind of thing in a story. Usually I have to struggle to find the first few arcs and plots to get the ball rolling. Either I’m getting better or DC/Gotham is a setting that’s actually working for me. Unusually kind of the hellworld/hole, I gotta say. That’s… interesting.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: How are you at playing cards? I’m… decent enough at several games, but I never got really into any of them, really. The more life goes on, the more I realize that I’m average at everything I do. It’s kind of wild… and a little sad.

See you.