Kevin and Felicia - Will You Still?
Aug. 13th, 2023 09:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_blackcat posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsIt's been a while. Two ships meet in a night, have a cocktail.
Kevin didn't have a particular seat at Original Kirby's, but usually ended up in the corner booth close to the window. It kept his back to the wall with still giving him full access to watch the street traffic through the front window, it was far enough from the bar for private conversations but at the right angle so Chris could tell the level of his drink and if he needed a new one, and in the winter, it gave him exclusive priority over the jacket stand placed in front of it. Chris had dropped off the new cocktail menu of creations from Rebecca's wife, Madelyn along with his pint of Ballantines.
Closing the door behind her, Felicia glanced around the room, smiling softly as she spotted him. Her heels clicked on the hexagon tiled floor as she crossed to him, kissing his cheek gently. "Hello stranger," she said, pushing her sunglasses into her hair and taking the seat across from him, before smoothing her skirt across her lap. "How's life treating you?"
"It's a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing milkbone underwear." He said wryly, setting his newspaper to one side. "How about you, Hardy? Our field schedules couldn't have been more contrary if we tried."
"Again? I told you I'd take you somewhere, get you something pretty," Felicia returned, scanning the cocktail menu; she knew what she'd usually get, but there were new drinks to try. "Better, but still ready for the summer to be over. They kept making me work at work? Which I did not know when I signed up for this, I just thought I got healthcare and a future murder team."
"Yeah, since I'm the one who fills out a good amount of your dance card, how about I buy you a cocktail?" Kevin tapped the menu. "Madelyn has been Mad Mixologist-ing."
"Ooh, someone missed me. Thank you, Syd," Felicia teased, giving a playful smile to Chris as he approached. "So, I've been told there's a new menu. How about we just start me at the top and I'll work my way down?"
"Uh, that could-" He was about to say 'be a little dangerous' but remembered both her capacity and tipping habits and just nodded. "Coming right up."
"Good lad, him." Kevin said with a chuckle from in his upraised pint glass.
"Thank you!" she called after him, before settling her chin in her palm and giving Sydney a nod. "Indeed. Well found."
"You were here the first time we came in." Kevin said, making a tsking motion with his finger. "And you keep your claws away from Madelyn, home-wrecker." His tone was fond and joking.
"Oh, I was talking to myself," Felicia replied, grinning. "Well found, me. And you know I only wreck homes that want to be wrecked. Those two are more than safe, sweethearts."
"So, I hate to pivot to work, but some of Sarah's contacts and mine are getting some intel on Hammerhead. We haven't run him to ground yet, but it's getting there."
Felicia gave him a slow eyebrow raise, silent. Her first drink dropped in front of her, a coupe glass of amber liquid smelling faintly of dessert; coffee, gin, coconut, a hint of spice. She took a long sip, smiling thinly at him with a head tilt. "Sorry, what was that?"
"Nothing as important than that drink at this moment." He said, with a wolfish grin.
"Sir," Felicia replied playfully, taking another small sip before setting it down, angling it just so on her napkin and pushing it to him. "Do you want to try? And then we can talk about murder."
"I do like drinks and murder." He took a sip. "That is lovely. Is that shaved turmeric?"
"Sounds right. A garnish replacement for the usual xocolatl, a little bit of peppercorns, cloves... maybe going the chai route? Clever." Felicia smiled at him, leaning against the table as she took the glass back from him. "I want him to suffer. I don't care he didn't send the order. Does that make me bad?"
"I'm not the best judge and jury for that. I agree. Kill some shit, but I'm an amoral potential immortal." Kevin said, returning to his pint and pointing to it as Chris went by. "What do you need? Is it torture? His blood on your hands? Decide what ends this for you."
Felicia tilted her head, taking another sip. "I don't know. I can't hurt who I want to, there is no world where I can take them, whoever they are. Will it make me feel better to end a small, dumb man who doesn't, didn't, know any better?"
"There is a world you can take him." Kevin said. "But what do you want when you do?"
"I want him to hurt. I want him to break down and wish he was dead. And I want to stand over him, the source of every corner of his pain, and end his life, my father's name the last thing he hears." Felicia shifted, a soft huff of breath as she tucked a curl behind her ear. "But the world where that happens, I'm not sure if I'm myself anymore. I couldn't be here, could I?"
"It comes down to two things. The first is practical logistics. Whoever ordered your father's death has enough power to make a Maggia don do his dirty work. It means someone with power and influence. Finding out who that is and determining how to undermine them is going to take time, research and planning. The other thing is.... well, your commitment to revenge. You're right that these things have a tendency to consume people. Emotion tends to breed recklessness, which in turn makes you sloppy. It gets people around you hurt, or worse." Kevin's tone turned serious. "If you want this, I need you to commit to it as a professional. This is no longer a vendetta or vengeance. It's a job right up until the point where you are standing over them in the end. Can you commit to that?"
"Sure. What else is therapy for?" Felicia said with a worn out smile, holding her chin in her hand. "It's me, Kevin. Compartmentalizing, multitasking, that isn't the problem."
"That's not an answer. 'My damage' isn't the explanation you think it is." Kevin said. "I need professional Felicia. Vengeful Felicia fucks this up. And that means the outcome isn't the issue. It's the approach. So, I will ask one more time. Can you treat this with the same professional approach that you have perfected on all the other jobs I've sent you on?"
"And I'm saying the outcome is the issue, you oblivious, patronizing dinosaur of a man." Felicia stared back at him. "I'm trying to ask if I can come home if I don't. If this doesn't work, if I mess up can I still-"
"I would like to be known as a Mansplainingsaurs Rex." Kevin interrupted. "You always have a home. Regardless of your decisions, you always have a place with me, and I assume us. At least if I have anything to say about it."
Felicia laughed, throat a little caught and looking up at the ceiling lights. "Then I'll be fine. I've got this."
"I know you do. If I didn't think that, I wouldn't even consider this."
Kevin didn't have a particular seat at Original Kirby's, but usually ended up in the corner booth close to the window. It kept his back to the wall with still giving him full access to watch the street traffic through the front window, it was far enough from the bar for private conversations but at the right angle so Chris could tell the level of his drink and if he needed a new one, and in the winter, it gave him exclusive priority over the jacket stand placed in front of it. Chris had dropped off the new cocktail menu of creations from Rebecca's wife, Madelyn along with his pint of Ballantines.
Closing the door behind her, Felicia glanced around the room, smiling softly as she spotted him. Her heels clicked on the hexagon tiled floor as she crossed to him, kissing his cheek gently. "Hello stranger," she said, pushing her sunglasses into her hair and taking the seat across from him, before smoothing her skirt across her lap. "How's life treating you?"
"It's a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing milkbone underwear." He said wryly, setting his newspaper to one side. "How about you, Hardy? Our field schedules couldn't have been more contrary if we tried."
"Again? I told you I'd take you somewhere, get you something pretty," Felicia returned, scanning the cocktail menu; she knew what she'd usually get, but there were new drinks to try. "Better, but still ready for the summer to be over. They kept making me work at work? Which I did not know when I signed up for this, I just thought I got healthcare and a future murder team."
"Yeah, since I'm the one who fills out a good amount of your dance card, how about I buy you a cocktail?" Kevin tapped the menu. "Madelyn has been Mad Mixologist-ing."
"Ooh, someone missed me. Thank you, Syd," Felicia teased, giving a playful smile to Chris as he approached. "So, I've been told there's a new menu. How about we just start me at the top and I'll work my way down?"
"Uh, that could-" He was about to say 'be a little dangerous' but remembered both her capacity and tipping habits and just nodded. "Coming right up."
"Good lad, him." Kevin said with a chuckle from in his upraised pint glass.
"Thank you!" she called after him, before settling her chin in her palm and giving Sydney a nod. "Indeed. Well found."
"You were here the first time we came in." Kevin said, making a tsking motion with his finger. "And you keep your claws away from Madelyn, home-wrecker." His tone was fond and joking.
"Oh, I was talking to myself," Felicia replied, grinning. "Well found, me. And you know I only wreck homes that want to be wrecked. Those two are more than safe, sweethearts."
"So, I hate to pivot to work, but some of Sarah's contacts and mine are getting some intel on Hammerhead. We haven't run him to ground yet, but it's getting there."
Felicia gave him a slow eyebrow raise, silent. Her first drink dropped in front of her, a coupe glass of amber liquid smelling faintly of dessert; coffee, gin, coconut, a hint of spice. She took a long sip, smiling thinly at him with a head tilt. "Sorry, what was that?"
"Nothing as important than that drink at this moment." He said, with a wolfish grin.
"Sir," Felicia replied playfully, taking another small sip before setting it down, angling it just so on her napkin and pushing it to him. "Do you want to try? And then we can talk about murder."
"I do like drinks and murder." He took a sip. "That is lovely. Is that shaved turmeric?"
"Sounds right. A garnish replacement for the usual xocolatl, a little bit of peppercorns, cloves... maybe going the chai route? Clever." Felicia smiled at him, leaning against the table as she took the glass back from him. "I want him to suffer. I don't care he didn't send the order. Does that make me bad?"
"I'm not the best judge and jury for that. I agree. Kill some shit, but I'm an amoral potential immortal." Kevin said, returning to his pint and pointing to it as Chris went by. "What do you need? Is it torture? His blood on your hands? Decide what ends this for you."
Felicia tilted her head, taking another sip. "I don't know. I can't hurt who I want to, there is no world where I can take them, whoever they are. Will it make me feel better to end a small, dumb man who doesn't, didn't, know any better?"
"There is a world you can take him." Kevin said. "But what do you want when you do?"
"I want him to hurt. I want him to break down and wish he was dead. And I want to stand over him, the source of every corner of his pain, and end his life, my father's name the last thing he hears." Felicia shifted, a soft huff of breath as she tucked a curl behind her ear. "But the world where that happens, I'm not sure if I'm myself anymore. I couldn't be here, could I?"
"It comes down to two things. The first is practical logistics. Whoever ordered your father's death has enough power to make a Maggia don do his dirty work. It means someone with power and influence. Finding out who that is and determining how to undermine them is going to take time, research and planning. The other thing is.... well, your commitment to revenge. You're right that these things have a tendency to consume people. Emotion tends to breed recklessness, which in turn makes you sloppy. It gets people around you hurt, or worse." Kevin's tone turned serious. "If you want this, I need you to commit to it as a professional. This is no longer a vendetta or vengeance. It's a job right up until the point where you are standing over them in the end. Can you commit to that?"
"Sure. What else is therapy for?" Felicia said with a worn out smile, holding her chin in her hand. "It's me, Kevin. Compartmentalizing, multitasking, that isn't the problem."
"That's not an answer. 'My damage' isn't the explanation you think it is." Kevin said. "I need professional Felicia. Vengeful Felicia fucks this up. And that means the outcome isn't the issue. It's the approach. So, I will ask one more time. Can you treat this with the same professional approach that you have perfected on all the other jobs I've sent you on?"
"And I'm saying the outcome is the issue, you oblivious, patronizing dinosaur of a man." Felicia stared back at him. "I'm trying to ask if I can come home if I don't. If this doesn't work, if I mess up can I still-"
"I would like to be known as a Mansplainingsaurs Rex." Kevin interrupted. "You always have a home. Regardless of your decisions, you always have a place with me, and I assume us. At least if I have anything to say about it."
Felicia laughed, throat a little caught and looking up at the ceiling lights. "Then I'll be fine. I've got this."
"I know you do. If I didn't think that, I wouldn't even consider this."
