A Round of Drinks - 6

Chapter 6

“What’s with the short hair? New you or something?” the woman asked him when she eventually pulled back from the hug. He could appreciate the attempt at casual conversation, but it fell a bit flat. She seemed to realize that, because he saw her expression twitching as if going to grimace and taking it back.

“Of a sort, I guess,” Travis answered wryly. “I can say you look the same as you always have,” he added, following along despite the failure. Because, if he didn’t, then what else was he supposed to do? There weren’t online guides for meeting long lost friends, least of all when they had all the shit in the middle that his friends and him had. Even if there were, Travis wouldn’t have trusted them, because this wasn’t learning to bartend. This was trying to salvage something important.

Although, then and there, he wondered if it wouldn’t be better to have at least checked.

“Still got the short red hair,” he pointed out, reaching out with his index finger to one of the coppery locks that framed her face. “Still about two feet tall-”

“Hey!”

“And still have that fire in you,” Travis finished with a half-smile. He was happy to see that give the woman pause. “Still Matchstick, far as I can see.”

“Well, all that just tells me that you’re still The Fool, I’ll have you know,” she bit out, but there was no heat in her voice. Instead, she looked like she was holding back from hugging him again. “We really missed you, Fool,” she added and her voice came out a little more whiny, but also more accusatory than before. He could tell there was a very loaded ‘Why?’ going unsaid.

Still though…

“Who even is we? Pretty sure the rest of the gang must have moved on very quickly. We were no strangers to people just leaving…” Travis said, but even as he said that, Travis knew that he was just… spouting empty words and he could see it on Holly’s face that she definitely noticed. So, before the matchstick could catch on fire and burn him, he decided to give up. “And you know most of what happened… It was a mess, Holly,” he said, using her name for good measure. “With everything that happened and my dad kicking me out, I just… I decided that I needed to do something, something drastic. Or things would just get worse.”

“... And you never could so much as call? Come to visit? Let us know that you were still alive?” the woman asked, her voice growing angrier and more annoyed with every word. “It was too much to ask?”

“No, that’s definitely on me,” Travis admitted, and he could tell that the easy acceptance took some of the wind out of her sails. “I’m sorry, Holly. By the time I think I could have tried to reach out… I was too much of a coward to.”

“... Fool,” she muttered before stepping up to him until she leaned forward and rested her forehead on his chest. “You’re an idiot.”

“There’s a reason my nickname was what it was,” he replied with a slight smile. Maybe it was the flat delivery, or maybe she was more happy to see him than she let on, because Holly let out a wet giggle at that. Not that he pointed it out. Instead, he just let her be, let her hide her face on his chest for a bit as she likely tried to get her act together.

“How long have you been back?” she asked and he grimaced. Hopefully, his answer wouldn’t be too bad… Oh, who was Travis kidding? She was definitely going to be angry about that.

“A month and some change,” he answered truthfully all the same. He felt her stiffen, but he continued on before she could interrupt. “My father died and I inherited the bar, the apartment… So, I was getting settled. I opened the place back up, had to get it running and all and… And I guess I had to find the courage to look for you, guys, which happened today.”

“You were looking?” Holly asked, eyes going wide and this time he felt something other than awkwardness and guilt. Something decidedly better, he’d admit, as he let out a snort.

“Did you think I was here just for the sights? I’ve been walking around for hours trying to find one of you, guys. I was… you know, checking hang out spots and safe places…” Travis explained, waving his hand vaguely in the air, towards shitty Gotham as if that were good enough. It seemed to be, because Holly took a moment to process that.

“... You said you’ve opened the bar again?” the woman asked then and he raised an eyebrow. Why did she sound so… hopeful? She also looked awkward, like she didn’t quite know what to do with herself all of a sudden. She was shuffling on her feet in a way that reminded him of Jason when he brought his mother to Travis’ bar. That was strange, wasn’t it? He was fairly sure it was and that it wasn’t just him. “I could… use a drink.”

“Why do you sound so awkward? Where’s that fire now, Matchstick?” he asked and the huff he got as a response felt much better than the previous unsure look on Holly. He’d rather see his old friend like that, if at all possible. Even angry was better than whatever the fuck that was. “And yeah, we can go there. Let’s go. Place is always open for friends,” he told her with a half-grin before turning and starting to walk.

“Thanks,” Holly muttered under her breath while following him, her voice as small as she was, which didn’t happen often. Travis found that he hated that. So, he had to do something about it, he supposed.

“So, come on, Match. I’ve been back for barely a month and some change and away for years. There’s probably a lot of gossip I gotta catch up on and I know you’re dying to get started already,” he said with a grin that only widened when he saw Holly relax the smallest bit, her shoulders no longer stiffly hunched over, her expression no longer looking so down. “But first things first, you dating anyone?” he asked, making her expression go way more red than her hair was. “Oho, this I have to hear.”

“No way!” Holly denied immediately, vehemently at that. Travis though, he just stared at her, raising an eyebrow. Just like he expected, just like old times, his friend crumbled, because she was a sucker for gossip and she loved to speak about good news, especially regarding herself. Which made him wonder why she’d even bothered saying no though. Was that the distance that he’d caused showing? He might need to- “I… Ok, it’s just… I mean…” He might need to do some more patching up in order for things to even resemble how they’d once been.

That was not unexpected though. Travis was more than willing to do that. In all honesty, things with Holly were already going great. He’d thought most of his bridges already burnt to ashes, if not all of them. To find one that was still standing was a miracle that he was grateful for. So what if it was unused and needed some work to get it back to its previous state or a semblance of it?

“Her name is Karon,” Holly said, looking away, hands in the pockets of her jacket and her posture all hunched over. ‘Oh,’ was all Travis’ intelligent mind could provide as an immediate response to that.

Maybe he’d jumped to conclusions a bit.

Holly was just being an idiot.

“Finally decided to go for it, huh?” he asked, and the woman seemed to go still. “Not gonna lie, I thought you’d go for that friend of yours, what was her name? Celine? What happened? Things didn’t work out?”

“What…? No, she wasn’t-We didn’t-... What?” Well, it seemed Holly’s brain had decided to not work properly for a bit. Although, Travis wasn’t stupid enough not to realize what was going on. However, he was a little insulted though, because really…

“Did you really think you were slick?” he asked with an unimpressed raised eyebrow. “Way back when, you used to check out girls about as much as the rest of us idiots. I’d be surprised if anyone in our old group didn’t know you batted for the other team… or both teams?” he asked, eyebrow raised.

“What do you mean?! Nobody knew!”

That he couldn’t let stand.

“Please, Match. You’re really insulting me here. I know I kind of deserve it for leaving and all, but my intelligence, really? I don’t have enough of that for you to kick it while it’s down,” he said, watching his old friend – maybe even still an actual friend? He was hopeful all of a sudden – sputter denials for a bit longer. He let her do that while they walked, amusing himself with how much she tried to sell her lies.

“... You’re mean,” she said after eventually realizing that no, he wasn’t buying any of her bullshit. “See if I introduce you to her, Fool,” she added and that made him flinch. He realized, maybe a little too late, that he might have been overstepping quite a bit without realizing. He’d just been so happy, so relieved…

No, he couldn’t ruin it, not when it’d been going so well.

“Honestly, I already didn’t expect you to. I know I’ve kind of… made things messy, to say the least,” he replied, deciding that maybe being brutally honest was the way to go for once. Opening up like that wasn’t something his old self would have done a lot and he’d regretted it immensely while he was away. Maybe he could apply some of those lessons life had given him…

He just hoped he’d do it right.

“I thought you’d kick my ass to the curb, if I even found you… any of you,” he admitted with a smile. “So, I’m just happy you’re talking to me, Holly.”

“You…” the woman beside him mumbled, looking at him with something somewhere in the middle between concern and confusion. “You’ve changed a lot, Fool,” she said and he took some comfort in the fact that she was still using his nickname… although, it could just as well have been to put some distance between them. “But I didn’t mean it like that. I’ve… I’ve really missed you. I’m happy to see you’re back. Most everyone else… Well, not many are around these days.”

Either they had died or they had left too, he gathered. Just like Angelo had told him regarding his dad’s old friends. It was the destiny of people in Gotham, they either died or left. Logical, really, everyone had to die at some point and if they didn’t do it there, it was somewhere else. It had a different meaning in Gotham, however.

He did wonder if that meant there was a third group, those like Holly and himself, the survivors. Those that stayed, persisted… waiting for the end and hoping fate had something kinder waiting for them than it had for many others in that God forsaken city. He was pretty sure they were the ones that had it the hardest of the three, really.

“So, this Karon, can you te-”

“Stop right there,” a new voice said, followed swiftly by a rustling of clothes that stepped them on their tracks. Almost as one, Travis and Holly turned to the side, to see the figure shrouded in darkness gripping a knife tightly in his hand. “Or your girlfriend’s gonna look a whole lot worse real quick,” the man said, voice all growly. Probably trying to add some threatening factor there.

‘Of course,’ Travis thought, almost disappointed. They’d distracted each other. They’d let their guards down during their reunion and they’d messed up, forgetting to check, to act. They’d forgotten the rules of Gotham for five minutes and the city couldn’t let that stand. Because of course it couldn’t. ‘The streak of good fortune was long though, I’ll admit.’

Idly, he glanced towards Holy for a split second, seeing her frozen before she turned to him with wide eyes and a horrified grimace twisting her mouth.

He could have grinned at the sight.

‘Message received.’

“Ok, let’s not be drastic, yeah?” Travis said adding a tinge of nerves to his voice, looking at the man once more and slowly taking a step towards him, hands up in surrender. “We don’t want any trouble,” he added, doing his best to act like he was barely keeping it together.

“All the money, kid, and nobody has to be hurt,” the man growled at him, giving his blade a shake for good measure. An unspoken ‘or else’ if Travis had ever seen one and he’d seen a lot. “No funny business.”

“Sure, of course, I’m going to take out my wallet, alright?” he answered just as calmly as before, taking a few more steps forward and a little to the side. Slowly, carefully, he moved to take out his wallet, just like he said. All the while, he watched the man trying to mug them hesitate, pause. He hadn’t expected the easy acceptance, the agreement. He’d expected anger, challenge, or maybe fear, panic even.

They all did.

“Here, all I have is-” Travis started, opening his wallet. He was interrupted when a dash of color collided with the wannabe mugger. Immediately, he let go of his wallet and joined Holly against the guy. In a handful of seconds, they had the bastard pinned to the ground and his knife in Holly’s hands. “You walk away, buddy, and nobody has to be hurt,” Travis said then as the man froze, spitting his words back to him.

“Right-Yes, of course-I-” the man sputtered, twitching as he pulled away, stumbling over his words and his own two feet.

“Go!” Holly said, not quite shouting but close enough. That seemed to snap the man out of it enough that he ran away immediately. “... Like old times, eh?” the woman said, her hands starting to shake and he joined that with a trembling chuckle.

“Like old times,” he mumbled, feeling his heart beating like crazy inside his chest.

Because Gotham had told them from a young age to deal with bullshit like that, but it didn’t mean they weren’t affected, weren’t afraid, weren’t nervous. A single misstep then – or any of the other times, years in the past – would mean one or both of them could be dead. No matter how used to it they were, the reality of things would still be there.

Yet, even with that, Travis found himself laughing some more after a second.

“Did you finally go mad?” Holly said, half-joking and half-genuinely concerned. “Because if so I can… Man, this is a shit knife,” she added then, waving the kitchen knife that was kind of shitty, one of those that made you wonder how much they could really cut. Then she proceeded to throw it in the trash. It wasn’t a surprise that it was shit. Half the muggers out there weren’t even in their right minds, addled and desperate for a number of reasons.

Still, that made him laugh all the harder.

“God, I missed you, Holly. A whole lot,” Travis said, getting a grin from the woman.

It was good to have a friend once more, he decided.

[}-o-{]

“Man, they really ransacked this place,” Holly commented as she stepped inside The Devil – or XV, if you were a degenerate as far as Travis was concerned – and he couldn’t disagree with her. Hell, he’d thought something to that effect when he’d first seen the place. “You weren’t kidding,” she added, looking around the place with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“Couldn’t tell you how much was taken or given or whatever. It was like this when I came back and… Well, it’s not like I could keep track of how the place looked,” he commented as he walked behind the counter. Holly and him had talked on the way there and he’d offered her a meal. Least he could do, really, especially with how easily she’d just… accepted him back.

“I… I came a few times, to see if you were back and such. Your father…” Oh, he could only imagine how his father had reacted to that. Somewhere between badly and terribly, most probably. “I came for a drink about a year ago after I was back from… After I came back myself.”

“You’d left?” he asked, turning from what he was preparing to give her a surprised look.

“For a bit, yeah,” Holly admitted with a sheepish smile. “Does that make me a hypocrite? There was almost no one left by then and I… I wanted to see if I could change myself, save myself,” she said and suddenly Travis felt like he was listening to something he shouldn’t. Why was she opening up like that? They hadn’t been that kind of friends back in the day and after he’d left for so long?

But maybe it was because of all that.

Maybe Travis wasn’t the only one that’d learned some things.

Maybe he wasn’t the only one that had changed.

“I failed and then came back… worse, I guess,” Holly continued, sounding like she couldn’t stop. It almost seemed like she’d forgotten he was there, actually. “That was about when I came here, I guess and it was… The place was still the same then. So I guess your guess is as good as mine, is what I was trying to say,” she commented, her voice shifting oddly towards the end, likely as she realized that maybe she’d said a bit too much.

“Well, up to me to make this dump more me now, I guess,” Travis replied, trying to soldier through the awkward atmosphere. “I like to think I’ve been doing well for myself, but I haven’t had enough to really start changing things here,” he commented, looking at the still very much bare bones place. “First order of business is to get a TV though, but that’s not really much of a personal touch, is it?” he asked with a grin that Holly couldn’t see, since he was facing away from her.

“Not really, no,” his friend – God, was it nice to think that – said and he could hear the smile on her own face. “Do you have any ideas for whenever you have money to spare?”

“You mean never?” he replied jokingly, but he did give that some thought. “Not really, no. I guess I have time to come up with something,” he mused idly, feeling some of his good mood bleed out of him. It was moments like those that made him feel like an outsider, like he didn’t belong there anymore. Like finding one’s favorite shirt from a while back and finding out it didn’t fit anymore. “Could make a collection of weapons I’ve had pointed my way. You think that shit knife might be back where you threw it?” he asked.

“Fat chance of that,” Holly scoffed. “And you can do better than that, Fool, no matter what your nickname might suggest.”

“I guess you’re not wrong, Match,” he replied idly. For a long moment, both of them stayed silent after that, but Travis felt like it wasn’t as awkward as he would have expected. It was… almost companionable. Not quite that comfortable – he’d never be that lucky –, but certainly something approaching that all the same. He was grateful to get that much. “It’ll come to me eventually… And if not, I guess I could get help from someone,” he decided to continue when he was about to be done with the food.

“You? Asking for help? I’ll have to see that,” Holly commented jokingly, but maybe she was having her own moment – or another one – of realizing that Travis wasn’t the same person that had left all those years ago. Time hadn’t just passed by either of them, evidently. He was no longer the same Fool she remembered and she was no longer the same Matchstick that he remembered.

Maybe that wasn’t a bad thing though, he guessed, but it was certainly different.

Strange.

“First time for everything,” was all that he said, turning around with a plate for each of them and setting hers forward first. “What can I get you to drink?”

“What’s the best beer that won’t leave me broke?”

“I’m not charging you,” he answered with a roll of his eyes. “Who’s the fool now?” he asked, moving to the side and getting a glass for her of the most expensive beer he had. He was still way too happy to do anything less for her. After that, he got a soda for himself and moved to sit beside her with his own meal.

Travis didn’t miss the fact that she was staring at his glass bottle with something between curiosity and realization.

“You’ve done better at changing than I have, it seems,” she commented, and there was very easily distinguishable self-deprecation in her voice. The point was further driven by the way she picked up her glass and downed half of it in one go. “I haven’t had much luck myself.”

“I kind of had to, really,” he replied with a shrug and a weak smile. “I don’t feel like I’ve changed that much. Maybe I’m good at pretending I have though. I’d take that much,” he mused, taking his soda and drinking a few gulps before focusing on his meal.

All of a sudden, he was finding it difficult to look at Holly.

“I think I know what you mean,” the woman said, sounding so small. She hadn’t changed much, but at that moment he could almost picture the same Matchstick that he’d known before he was kicked out, before he left Gotham, before… Before. “You feel different, but everything else feels the same, so you think you might be wrong, that you might be fooling yourself.”

“I didn’t know you were a mind reader,” he commented, bringing a forkful of his food to his mouth.

“No, that’s you,” Holly told him and he rolled his eyes. “Still denying it, huh? You were always weirdly humble about that, which didn’t fit your character at all. Now… it might fit a little better, I guess.”

“Being observant isn’t being a mind reader, Holly,” he said, feeling like he was a teenager again. It was… not as awful as he’d have thought it would be.

“But no, I’m not reading your mind. I just know what that’s like,” Holly explained her previous point with and he nodded slowly. “I thought I’d changed, but I hadn’t. I thought I wanted to change, but then I stayed the same. So… I guess I gave up at some point. You haven’t, by the looks of it.”

“I still believe that if I fake it long enough, I might just make it,” he admitted, taking his soda but not drinking from it. Instead, he tilted the bottle this and that way, watching the liquid sway inside the glass. “It’s not working great, but it’s the only plan I have,” he said, turning towards Holly and grinning.

“Better than what I have, so good on you, Fool,” she replied with a self-deprecating smile. “Say… Travis,” she continued with and he raised his eyebrows at that. Not only because of her using his name again, but also because her entire demeanor shifted to something more nervous… more afraid.

He didn’t miss that she’d looked over his shoulder before she did either and he turned to see if he caught a glimpse of anything. All he saw was the darkening streets of Gotham. That was cause of fear by itself, but Holly was a local. She was as used to those streets as he was, if not more. She shouldn’t be that affected by it.

“Do you mind if I stay the night here?” she asked, suddenly looking very small on the bar stool. “It’s… there’s been whispers on the streets and I…” she tried to explain, but she seemed perturbed. So, he decided to save her the trouble, for the moment at least.

“You can stay, Holly. Honestly, did you think I wouldn’t let you?” he told her with a roll of his eyes, trying to reassure her as best he could. He imagined making light of the whole thing would help, especially because he really was that willing to help her out. Anything for a friend that was giving him a second chance he didn’t even deserve. “You can use my dad’s room. It’s empty of almost everything now. Basically my guest room.”

Left unsaid was the fact that Travis would never use it himself. He was staying in his old room and it’d stay that way, even if it was a little smaller than his father’s. He’d never have peace if he tried to switch, he knew. At least, not then and there, that was for sure.

“Thank you,” Holly said, and there was a lot of heavy honesty there, but he just smiled at her.

“Anything for a friend.”

The smile he got in return was all the payment he needed for helping her out.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Well, I didn’t expect Holly to just take over the chapter like that, but I’m also not that surprised. Some characters just think they are funny like that. Not much of a problem, really. The mug scene, I feel more unsure about, but the Muse liked it and I think the logic is there… in a very illogical Gotham-y way, at least.

All things considered, it’s more unrealistic that Travis had so much time without shit happening to him, isn’t it?

Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Do you go out for walks or runs or jogging or such stuff? I tried to start jogging, but after failing I've started just going on little walks just to not be sitting at my desk all day.

See you.