orangetoughguy | log post II

[Hands up.] Whoa okay. I mean this is the episode where they think Rollo stole the car but he was really just fixing it up to make it look nice. It's a social message you know.

[Then Freddy smiles, satisfied to be giving Larry some lip.]

It's cool, we got Cap'n Crunch in the kitchen. [The kid nods, just as eager to munch on cereal for dinner the same way the old man here is munching on chips. Oh yeah, he relinquishes the bag to Larry only so he can turn in his seat to better face his Superman.] You look real good in that.

[The shirt, as if he hasn't said it enough.]

Too late now. [Elbow before chewing on what chips he can grab. Hey now. They can share. Potatoes are a vegetable.]

Yeah?

[He pulls at the hem so that it's not fitting so tightly for a moment.]

If you want you can borrow it.

I like it better on you.

[He emphasizes with a push of the ball of his foot to Larry's knee. This is also retaliation for the elbowing. Okay Newendyke get to what you really want to say already. It's hard enough knowing he doesn't need to say thank you for last night because his appreciation is a given, however last night is part of why he feels the way he does right now. Shit spit it out Freddy.]

I went to the hospital today to check up on the dingo. [You know who, Larry.]

The more I wear it, the more I like it. [Mostly because of the feedback. Like any shirt, it gets more comfortable with wear. Foot bump is endured.

Larry knows Freddy enough to see he's approaching something he's been mulling over what, is yet to be determined. Well, for starters, he's not upset or sweaty.]

Yeah? Folks can die from that. People died all over when I was a kid over peanuts.

You tellin' me you didn't like it yesterday? [Bullshit. Freddy knows Larry had a good time last night, a real good time. His muscles are still kind of feeling it. But right, back to the point.] Yeah.

[Freddy clears his throat.] He knows I'm a cop. I told him cause he got suspicious real quick. [Over the vampire thing, which Larry ought to remember.] If it weren't for that Pink mighta had to spend the night in the waitin' room you know?

[This is the kid first trying to convince the old man the doctor knowing was a good idea.]

Oh I did like it yesterday. [Like being a substituting L word. The chip bag crinkles something fierce. as he sets it aside. This is time for a Talk.]

You're shitting me. [Fuck, it doesn't even cross his mind that's how it went down. Instant guilt.] Fuck, why didn't you tell me?

I'm not shittin' you. [Freddy shakes his head, feeling a little guilty himself now.] I don't know, I think he's scared of you.

[That's hardly a good answer, Newendyke.] I didn't want shit getting out of hand.

Now he knows.

[Up and off the couch he goes. It's for smokes. A breath of nicotine to take off the edge. Chesterfield between his fingers he pauses before reaching for a light.]

You said that to save Pink's skin?

No, no. It's cause he knows we haven't been blacklisted off the hospital sheets. That goes for you too, Larry.

[The kid rubs the back of his neck, already unsure if this was a good idea to bring it up at all.] He's been here longer than us, you think they're gonna override his authority to sew up a guy who's gone in twice and still doesn't give up a real name? He knew you put the beat on that other guy.

[I did it to keep everyone safe.]

[Flick, flick of his lighter. Inhale, exhale. An easy solution would have been to end the doctor or find leverage. That's not how Freddy Newendyke works. Cops don't work that way. He was going for the straight and narrow, or at least that was all he had to work with then.]

Yeah, well. You could have told me. [Larry rubs his own hair.] I don't like that he got that on you, sacrificing your own safety. [For the old man, let alone Pink.]

Tell me you trust him. [Deep inhale. Be fucking cool.]

I trust he's scared of us enough to keep his mouth shut. They're not the only doctors in this place but they're the best. I don't wanna see you get hurt then have to wait for a house call whose idea of sterilizing forceps is putting'em in a bottle of Stolichnaya.

[He's being sincerely honest about this part.]

I'm not far up his ass but we got a couple mutual acquaintances. [Hard to call them friends.] I think we're safe. He'll be too wrapped up in all the fallout over his new girlfriend anyway. Trust me.

[Freddy feels a little guilty calling it that too because hah he's not one to talk.]

[Lawrence Dimick would like to dispute this claim. However, the memory of laying back on someone's dining room table and hoping for the best makes him think better. And he already had to hear Freddy writhe and cry out in pain once, he'd rather not do it again when they can take him to a doctor. He nods. That's all on that angle of the subject.]

How's that?

[He breathes a mental sigh of relief for that angle going over better than feared. Larry has to understand the doctoring part at least. Infection over what could have been clearly avoidable is key. No one should have to bleed his stomach out all over the floor waiting, cop or crook. Unless it's a scumbag which transcends all sides of the law.]

His girlfriend, Claire.

[Her name alone should be enough, Larry knows her after all. She looks even younger than the stripper he turned down that one night.]

[Back to the couch, still puffing away on his cigarette to help extinguish any remaining anger.]

Oh yeah. [Tap, tap of ash.] That Claire? [There's no clarification.] Wait. What? She's only a girl.

[While they're talking about the age angle these green eyes are still reading Lawrence Dimick for signs of trouble, frustration, anything lingering that may have to be addressed later.]

Yeah, she is I guess. [Her power, while not exactly a secret, is still hers to divulge and hers to divulge alone.]

When I was eighteen you'd've been thirty-three or thirty-four. [Just sayin'. She's really nineteen but details details.]

[Tight jaw, and he's going through that cigarette.]

She eighteen? I would have thought she was sixteen. She kinda reminds me of Goldie when she was on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.

[Yeah, he knows what they'd said. That is still a whole damn teenager. He leans forward to drag the ashtray.]

Tongues must be wagging.

[Theirs are. The Chesterfield comes to rest into the tray.]

At least she ain't a man.

She's eighteen or something around there, still can't buy beer on her own.

[Freddy waves a hand in that sort of meandering not too sure manner. The point is she's a lot younger than Chase is, but yeah, at least she ain't a man. Green eyes kind of look over for that remark. Because Larry's sitting he's lifting his legs to rest them over the old man's lap. Is that okay, tough guy? Gonna throw his feet off?]

I wasn't kidding you know? About bein' nineteen. [When Raspberry Beret hit the airwaves.] About seein' you across a room and wantin' to know what you're all about. I still wanna know what you're all about. Does it bother you?

[Although Freddy considers themselves far removed from the dilemma those two have on their hands, he can't deny the obvious element of experience and inexperience here.]

[So they probably stay in when they wanna party. Cuts through a lotta red tape. That is something the old man can get.

A paw comes to rest on Freddy's ankle. It's okay.]

I didn't think that you were kidding. I wasn't. [Looking at this man, on the other side of the couch he can almost feel the years between them. Almost. It's all a game of close and far away.] No, it don't bother me. I still wanna know you.

[And know all of the reasons why he cannot turn away this man even though it's against who and what he is.]

I know we're nobody's idea of a perfect pair. That's why this is a two person deal.

[One paw is all it takes to have Freddy come scooting closer, knees bending so that now his thighs are on Larry too. One hand settles on this man's shoulder, the other over his thick wrist.]

Cool cause I might look young [-er, younger.] but I got a lot to show. I mean maybe a little bit comes out on the stands month by month but time goes by so fuckin' fast suddenly you're lookin' at a pile of storylines right in your lap.

[The hand on Larry's shoulder becomes a hand holding his chin.] And you know I'm a big fan of readin' all those back issues from the Golden Age.

[The more contact, the more at ease he feels. Making a fist then letting it go, he is loosening up.]

Every time I think that's it, there's a whole new dimension to you. [The things that these green eyes see that are and aren't there. Both arms move to pull up Freddy to sit more directly in the man's lap.]

There might be a whole mess of those. But they're all for you, don't you know? [Years and years of stories of victory and defeat, coming out as they will like remastered refined and presentable but unedited.]

I know, and I like it. I love it.

[So fucking close. Freddy nods, not at all resisting the pull that brings him sitting in Larry's lap while his legs kinda just hang over the couch arm. It's all cool. It's all dangerously close.]

When all this is gone. [When they have to relinquish the safety of their new (temporary?) lives here, when they have to go back to Los Angeles where at least one of them will have to be on the run.] It's just gonna be another break between here and New York or Mexico or wherever the fuck you think is a cool place to visit.

[Or to hide. The kid's not exactly saying he'd give up his badge for the old man, but he is just as well implying Larry will get away and wherever he gets away too Freddy's gonna find a way to see him.]

[Any resistance would have stopped the movement. A shoulder can serve to be a pillow if he wished to do so.]

In the movies they always meet at the Empire State Building. At the top and shit. [Departing then rendezvousing, he's getting it. Though it seems like a far off possibility. That will mean waking up alone, not seeing that face, not hearing that voice. It's the price to pay, isn't it? After all of this they have to face the music some how.] What about Vegas?

[They expect Mexico first. Border patrol will be on the alert at first. Then they get sloppy. New York is three thousand miles from LA. At least Nevada is a few hours drive. That's how Larry's mind is working. It isn't on the same couch, but it's closer than the other side of the country.]

I'd wait for you.

[It's a big price to pay because a crooked cop seems far more likely to survive amongst gentlemen felons than a felon is likely to survive surrounded by cops. That's just the way it goes. There may be an equal amount of people on each side of the law, but the law favors Freddy's side. That's the way it goes.]

You could pick me up on the strip. We can grade those Elvis guys for dinner. [He smiles.] Roll the dice. [Literally.]

I don't regret a damn thing. [Freddy says, leaning inward not to use his shoulder as a pillow but to rest his forehead against Larry's. These green eyes are looking straight on.]

[Ain't that the truth. The story of a cop doing everything it takes to keep their cover will be Freddy's safety. Larry would have at least ten years for this. It's a third strike.]

Couldn't gamble without you. [Kid is a lucky charm. Rabbits foot. Larry sighs when they're eye to eye.]

Neither do I. [Fingertips wander a moment to touch his scar, it's proof of where they've been. Freddy Newnedyke doesn't regret a bullet to his gut/]

[Larry killed cops. They'll give him life for sure. Well there goes Freddy lying again because he does feel bad for killing that woman and being unable to save Marvin. Shit he just can't fucking win. It only figures he feels the safest and happiest in a felon's lap. Larry touching his scar evokes those memories; he doesn't regret how being wounded brought them together. He just wishes that woman survived. Maybe if she had then Freddy would have a legitimate reason to run with Larry. Civilians can be vicious to cops who shoot out of self-defense.]

I fuckin' love you, old man.

[It comes out before he can even think about it but it's tempered too by tone and extra words...or something. Freddy's hands grab at the sides of Larry's face for a deep hard kiss.]

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