#secondhandmckie || main .001 molly

[jesvshotsaucechristmascake]

@secondhandmckie caught him making an escape.

"If you prefer one of them I can always flag 'em down for you--" Molly nodded her head toward the door, tapping ash from the end of her cigarette. "Otherwise you're stuck with me out here for a little bit."

ㅤFinding hidey holes at fancy parties his mother dragged him to had never really been a huge thing for Mike. After all, it was just a party, just a few hours of obnoxious, fake people, and Mike was good at rubbing elbows. People liked him and even if he didn't like or really care about any of the older partygoers, it was still tolerable and his mother was always happy with a good night of schmoozing. It was easy, until it wasn't, and then it really wasn't.

ㅤHe was at the point that he didn't really feel like he did much of anything right for his mom's preferences and her position in society. She was campaigning and her perfect son was a mess despite all of his pretending otherwise, and he honestly wasn't sure he could keep up the charade forever. He felt like he was fraying at the edges, or maybe way past the edges and he was just desperately trying to keep any of these awful people from noticing. The balcony seemed like the best route to attempt catching a moment to brace himself for the next round, so he was understandably a little surprised to find someone out there already when the party was in full swing inside. It was less surprising when it struck him that he was interrupting some poor server's much-needed smoke break like some kind of asshole, but Molly pushed back into full surprise.

ㅤ"If you flag someone down from in there, I'm taking my chances with maybe breaking a leg going over this railing, don't test me," he quipped like it was the most natural thing, making the decision right then to step up to the little half-wall in question. If she'd wanted him to go away, he figured she wouldn't have said he was stuck with her, so he'd take it. He was close enough that the cigarette smoke would likely cling to his clothes, but he didn't exactly care right then as he took in the quiet outside of the party and picked idly at the corner of the bandage on his hand. The way it was turned up a little, he'd clearly been doing it all night with the remaining fingers on that hand, but this was the first time he had full access to it with his other hand. He tilted to look down, considering. "I think I could make it, what do you think?"

[jesvshotsaucechristmascake]

ㅤHe actually laughed when she told him it was always worth it because yeah, he could understand and relate, though he also got the distinct impression that their lives were very, very different, for both better and worse. "Yeah, except you're not going home tonight with Senator Munroe. She's real nice until she's real stressed about her public image when her media perfect son - that'd be me - comes home from a fun trip to the mountains looking like I walked out of a war zone. Kinda puts a damper on her sense of humor," he offered, and she was right to think that he didn't necessarily want to talk about any of it, not the way that everyone in the party behind them wanted to. She seemed like someone who might understand how done he was with all of the bullshit and media circus surrounding it, though. That, or maybe she'd laugh in his face and tell him to stop being a baby about it. Who knew?

ㅤThe fact of the matter was that they didn't know each other well. They'd been in school together for a bit, interacted some and maybe done a project together? Either way, he knew her but he didn't know her. Seeing her working at these awful parties had seemed almost like a secret little tie to something outside of the 'show' being put on by everyone at them. He'd make little asides where only she could hear, crack jokes quietly or even just glance her way when he heard something that he was almost certain anyone with a foot over the threshold of actual reality might have an opinion to give her a look like he was staring into some camera that she was behind, observing them all. It had never gone anywhere and maybe he never thought it would - or maybe it had been going right here the whole time.

ㅤ"Hey, they weren't awful jokes, I caught you almost smiling a few times," he accused, though he was also threatening a smile despite the faux insult. Her almost-compliment had done its job, though, hadn't it? Saying she was missing them confirmed what he'd hoped with the little signs of humor from her over time, that he wasn't annoying her and she wasn't going in back complaining about this rich asshole dude. He hoped.

ㅤWeirdly, he hoped more now than ever, and wasn't that a weird thing to realize? Before that damn mountain, he'd liked being liked, liked the attention and got along with basically everyone, but it was all so superficial. He'd known it then, too, and he'd been okay with it. Being near-universally liked was one of his mom's political tricks, but she played it so much more intentionally than he did. He was just chill, easy to hang out with and generally nice to everyone, charismatic, but also not really one to make too many waves. He could talk his way into and out of trouble, talk other people into and out of things rather than fighting about it, and he understood the value of diffusing situations better than most people his age, especially guys. None of that had necessarily changed, but somehow all of this just felt exhausting, unimportant, and maybe he'd learned the value of hitting something head-on instead of talking around it. He sure as hell wanted to tell some of these people where to shove it when they asked him stupid shit or tried to trap him into saying something he didn't want to tell them. It was like constant conversational booby-traps. "Pretty sure most of my jokes would be a little too morbid right about now for the crowd in there, so guess I've been playing it safe. Can't risk one of them thinking I'm serious about jumping off a balcony, you know."

"Always satisfying to keep 'em on their toes." Molly agreed, her tone almost indifferent. She might've appeared that way altogether, were it not for the mischievous glint in her eye. "And trust me," She murmured, leaning in conspiratorially, "It's always worth it." There's a quirk to her lips as she leaned back away again, bringing the smoldering dart for another drag.

Whether she thought he was just being hyperbolic about the jump or not would remain up in the air. Molly knows that people tend to err on the side of humor when they're faced with the opportunity, maybe to make the other person more comfortable. Fact of the matter was this: if he wanted to discuss things, she wouldn't stop him, but something told her it wasn't where his heart was at at the moment. Curiosity was one thing (and make no mistake she was curious), what those people inside were doing was parasitic.

She and Mike weren't close. Hell, Molly isn't sure they've even really spoken more than a handful of words together over the last few years, but she knew enough of what a person who happened to be on their last few threads looked like. Maybe back then, she'd have absolutely reveled in someone with his background being dragged down a few pegs, but...faced with it, she couldn't bring herself to feel anything more heated than sympathy.

"Got me missing those awful jokes you tell in there." She murmured after a moment. It's an invitation, to keep the conversation going...to open more, if he wants. But she'd understand if he told her to fuck off readily enough, too.

[jesvshotsaucechristmascake]

ㅤIt didn't sound like a necessarily complimentary comment about his physique, but it also didn't sound derogatory, so he'd take it. Nothing wrong with long legs, though he leaned on his forearms on the little half-wall to put them on a slightly more even height - he had about nine inches on her, and as she'd pointed out, it seemed to be mostly legs. Fortunately, he wasn't seriously considering the jump, though once he was there, he realized that he'd fallen and jumped further not all that long ago, and wasn't that just weird to have done?

ㅤ"Eh, I've jumped worse in worse shape," he offered, like he could brush it off with a comment like that as casual as could be, but it really was delivered with the kind of idiot guy 'save face' kind of tone - except that Mike didn't care about saving face and never really had to, and it was true. He still glanced her way at her estimation of his condition being at about sixty percent and snorted a short laugh, somehow sounding both amused about it and also like he was disputing it. "At least give me 70 percent. There's a whole list of the things that healed up. This is just the obvious ones."

ㅤReally, he shouldn't have said jack shit to anyone about anything to do with his situation, but she'd barely interacted and she already didn't sound like she was poking for information or trying to get some fresh gossip to spread around. It was offered up like facts - he looked like he was busted up still, and then, naturally, there was the bandage. At the call-out, he glanced down at it again, smoothing the edge he'd been messing with like that might press it back into place after the sticky part was already very worn out. He pulled a smile with a little half shrug where he leaned. "It's only gotta last another few hours, I don't think even I could mess up the tape that bad that fast. Might scare a few of the squeamish ones away, though. Probably not worth it, but it'd be satisfying."

"You might, your legs are long enough." She replied dryly, watching him as he apparently contemplated the jump. She didn't think he was considering such a thing in seriousness, but just in case, Molly eased forward herself. "Feels like you should probably be at one hundred 'p' before attempting the feat, though. You're sitting at about sixty at best."

Of all the things Molly has seen as a server at this to-dos, a fed-up partygoer hopping over the side of the balcony probably wouldn't be too off the wall. It wasn't exactly something she was eager to see, though. Hell, maybe it should be more concerning that it's him joking about it. Each and every time she's seen him at one of these things, he's always chatting up a storm, acting cute when he thought it would work for him. Either it was just how he was, or he put up one hell of an act. Molly was too tired to act.

It's also probably why she doesn't sugarcoat when her gaze falls to that hand, just work, work, working at that bandage. "Pretty sure those have to be intact to be effective, too. You think they're nosy now, just wait until the bandages are gone." And for once, Molly doesn't mean it to be mean, or to poke where her nose doesn't belong. The guy seemed rattled, so it felt like civil advice.