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May. 15th, 2006 01:46 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
dangeroushabits.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
outside_omensDate: May 3, 2000
Setting: An Unnamed Pub in London
Status: Semi-Private (John and Pestilence - Complete)
Summary: A chance meeting between two strange customers in an out-of-the-way London watering hole. (Odd Couples Challenge thread)
It wasn't one of his usual haunts. John rarely frequented this section of town, for a variety of reasons that were not important, but he'd chosen this particular pub for two very significant reasons: it was in a part of London which he had discovered, by trial and error, he remembered fairly well; and it wasn't someplace where he was likely to run into any casual acquaintances he might or might not recognize or be able to name. This was the first time he'd ventured far from the Manor by himself since the Belfast incident, and he'd planned it very carefully to avoid anything that might trigger another attack like the one that had brought him to a screeching halt the day of the shopping trip.
So far, everything seemed to be going fine. He'd found his way to the place with no problems, the food was good, the beer was palatable, and the atmosphere was friendly and comfortably homey. Nobody had bothered him, and here he found it possible to relax and enjoy his drink and think about nothing special, which seemed to be what his beleaguered psyche liked best to do lately. It served up some rather peculiar free-associations, yes, but as long as he wasn't trying to direct them anywhere in particular or repress the less pleasant ones too much, this didn't cause him any trouble.
He took no real notice, at first, when a group seated near the door began coughing and sneezing rather dramatically. It was the time of year for that sort of thing, after all...
Setting: An Unnamed Pub in London
Status: Semi-Private (John and Pestilence - Complete)
Summary: A chance meeting between two strange customers in an out-of-the-way London watering hole. (Odd Couples Challenge thread)
It wasn't one of his usual haunts. John rarely frequented this section of town, for a variety of reasons that were not important, but he'd chosen this particular pub for two very significant reasons: it was in a part of London which he had discovered, by trial and error, he remembered fairly well; and it wasn't someplace where he was likely to run into any casual acquaintances he might or might not recognize or be able to name. This was the first time he'd ventured far from the Manor by himself since the Belfast incident, and he'd planned it very carefully to avoid anything that might trigger another attack like the one that had brought him to a screeching halt the day of the shopping trip.
So far, everything seemed to be going fine. He'd found his way to the place with no problems, the food was good, the beer was palatable, and the atmosphere was friendly and comfortably homey. Nobody had bothered him, and here he found it possible to relax and enjoy his drink and think about nothing special, which seemed to be what his beleaguered psyche liked best to do lately. It served up some rather peculiar free-associations, yes, but as long as he wasn't trying to direct them anywhere in particular or repress the less pleasant ones too much, this didn't cause him any trouble.
He took no real notice, at first, when a group seated near the door began coughing and sneezing rather dramatically. It was the time of year for that sort of thing, after all...
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Date: 2006-05-21 04:45 am (UTC)What the hell was he supposed to say to a guy who'd just sniffed him like an excessively interested dog and then blown off the fact that he'd been responsible (all right, indirectly and in a strictly professional capacity, but still) for putting John in a situation that had forced him to choose between going to Hell now or later? Never mind all the billions of other people who'd suffered unspeakable torment and death as a result of the Horseman's work over the centuries.
John had met a lot of bizarre and surreal immortal types in his day, but even he wasn't so jaded that he could take a conversation like this completely in stride. "Powers? Sorry, guv, you're barking up the wrong tree there. Not that I don't enjoy ruffling feathers whenever possible, mind, but I generally have to do it the hard way."
He picked up his glass and slammed the tequila back. "And call me a wet blanket," he added grimly and a litle hoarsely, "but reminding people they're gonna be extinct someday isn't exactly my idea of a jolly old time. Strikes a bit too close to home, know what I mean?" He snorted. "Nah, of course you don't. Well, never mind. We all do what we're made for, I s'pose. If you believe in that sort of thing."