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waywardxson · 5 years ago

Text

High Hopes

Who: Rory and Ale ( @serpenthart )

What: Early morning moments alone

When: Nov 18, Afternoon

Where: At Ale’s shop

Rory

Rory had been hesitant to send Grace to school but he knew that he couldn't keep her home forever. He dropped her off, trying to mask the pain he was still in as he kissed her cheek and watched her run inside the building. He waited outside for almost an hour before convincing himself to leave. He'd left strict instructions that no one but he, Dare, or Charlie could get her out of school. He'd change it again and add some more names again soon but until he was a Serpent for real, he wanted the list short. Driving back towards the trailer with a long day of doing nothing ahead of him, Rory decided to stop by the shop and get the oil changed. He stopped at the closest shop and walked in, knowing once he saw the guy that he was one of the Serpents. Rory was sure there would be a lot of hesitation and distrust around him right now but with Dare's protection on him, he didn't expect any trouble. Hopefully. "Hey," he greeted. "I uh.. do you have time for a quick oil change? My truck's out front."

Ale

Ale had been getting next to no sleep in the last couple of nights, mainly for attending the underground fight club the guys, and also girls at the gym had. It had been the perfect outlet to put himself some distance from everything and anything. He made the choice not to reach out for Eliana during her time in rehab, figuring she needed that time for herself to fix, or at least try to fix what was wrong. But the truth was that watching her die, literally, still came to haunt at night, so any time he could spend not sleeping was welcome. But what he couldn't do was lack his time at the shop, especially now with the whole improvment episode that had just happened. So that morning, like any other, he was going by his business when the sound of a car stopping at front caught his attention. Under any other circumstances, the presence of a Ghoulie at his shop would have caused much more than just a disagreement, but this guy in particular they were ordered not to touch, and Ale knew better than to break the rules. Even if he couldn't understand why would Darius want that man to be a part of the Serpents. "Whether I have time or not, it's my job, right?" he said, then he walked over to the car and popped the hood open.

Rory

There was a moment that Rory knew could have turned this a completely different direction. If the roles were reversed, Rory would have probably done what he was supposed to and fought the guy who walked up to him. But he was learning that the Serpents were a lot different than he'd expected or ever gave them credit for. He sent a half smile to Ale and then followed him over, leaning against the side of the old truck. The truth was, Rory usually did everything on his own, including his own repairs. But he figured he needed to make his face known to the people around here if he had any chance of them accepting him. He looked up and after several minutes, he said, "You can ask me, if you want. I mean, if you have questions about.. everything. You can ask."

Ale

Ale unplugged the oil pump and placed it on the ground, then he gave the engine a check to make sure everything else was working properly. He looked up when the other man said that and shrugged. "We're not really suppose to ask when Dare orders something. But I can guess that you must have some heavy info on you for him to make this happen."

Rory

Rory watched him work, knowing full well that Ale knew what he was doing, but needing to focus somewhere as they spoke. "You could say that." He motioned to his face, the product of Derek's rage there -- bruises from the punches, and him trying to choke him to death, the broke nose and other cuts. "I wasn't just born this pretty." It was strange, he thought. Rory hadn't tried to get along with anyone new in.. well, a very, very long time. "I'm sure most of you don't trust me but I'm hoping I can change that." He scratched the back of his neck. "I'm not really sure how to do that yet. For what it's worth, I'm not trying to play anyone, and I have no intention of going back to that giant bag of dicks nor telling him shit. I'm done with living like an animal. I want to do better, y'know? For my kid."

Ale

Ale could soon tell the truck didn't need anything need any other repair engine wise other than the oil change, so he got to work on that. He walked to where the spare cabinet was and got a new oil pump from it, algo getting the new hoses and connectors he needed and placed it all on top of the table. "I can see they fucked you up really good. Did Derek did that? He's an asshole. He hurt my best friend. He doesn't deserve to live." There was a time when such harsh words, but nowadays it was usual for him to be in that kind of violent mood. "You never fail the trust Dare has given you, that's how. If you do, I'll be first in line to beat the shit out of you." He grabbed the new oil he would put in later. "You have a kid then?"

Rory

Rory nodded at the question. "Yeah. After he kidnapped my daughter and tried to make me murder a family. Asshole is far too kind. He's a psychopath." Perking an eyebrow at the fact Derek hurt his friend, he asked, "You mean when Derek attacked Dare? Apparently he hit him when he was already fucked up." But Rory couldn't deny that Ale was right about Derek not deserving to live. The man nodded at the advice. "I won't. He told me a lot about the Serpents, and I've been learning the laws. I know you're all like a family so I won't fail yours either, if you decide i'm worth you giving your trust to." Then Rory almost physically lightened at the mention of his kid. "Mhm. My daughter, Grace. She's seven. She's really polite but there's a good chance she'll try and give you hand sanitizer every chance she gets. She's a little crazy about germs and keeping clean, just a heads up." Reaching into his pocket, like any good father, Rory found the picture he'd taken that morning and turned it towards Ale. "She decided she wanted to wear butterfly wings to school this morning."

Ale

Ale looked up at him in shock. "You murdered a family?" he asked, his eyes way beyond wide, and he was now thinking why wasn't he in jail. Perhaps Darius had something to do with that. "He... No. I mean, yeah. He hurt Dare. But he also hurt someone else. It seems he gets off on choking people then. I really hope you mean that, man." He pulled out all the remains of dirty, old oil from the engine, then installed the new pump. He looked up and wiped his hand on the cloth that hung from the waistline of his pants and looked at the picture he showed him. "Cute kid. I'm Alejandro, by the way. I feel we haven't been properly introduced" he said and extended his hand to him

Rory

Rory's back straightened so fast that a shock of pain went through his nerves and he tried to hide it. "No. No, no.. I didn't do it. He wanted me to but.. I couldn't. I helped them.. got the shit kicked out of me for it but I'd do it again. I'm not like him." He listened and nodded when Ale told him about his friend being choked as well. "I'm sorry about that. I hope your friend is okay." Throwing his hand out to shake Ale's, Rory felt a little bit like maybe he was making some small progress. He expected people to distrust him but he wanted to work through that. "Rory," he said. "We haven't, but you'll get the chance to beat the shit out of me soon enough." Dare had given him the out that he didn't have to go through that step but Rory was insistent. He wanted the Serpents to know he was with them, no matter what kind of pain he went through for it. "It's a nice place you got here. You own it or just work here?"

Ale

Ale felt quite the relief when the other man, Rory, clarified the facts for him. "Time will tell" he said when he asked about his friend, then he shook his hand and nodded. "Nice to meet you, man. And unless you give me a reason, that shouldn't happen." He kept on working on his truck, while he also kept the conversation going. "Thanks! Oh, I own it. I also happen to live in the apartment upstairs, so that makes the ride to work a lot easier." He chuckled.

Rory

"I mean for initiation," Rory said about him basically getting the shit kicked out of him like Dare said they would do. If all the other Serpents went through it, he was going to do it too. No shortcuts. "But I appreciate you not wanting to just voluntarily kick the shit out of me." Rory turned, leaning his back on the truck as Ale worked. "Oh, hell yeah that would definitely keep you out of traffic." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Popping it in his mouth, he looked up at the building to where he assumed the apartment was. Then, pulling the unlit cigarette out, he asked, "Is it okay if I smoke?"

Ale

Ale chuckled, now finally putting the new oil into the pump. "Oh, yeah... Maybe I'll just give you a couple of hits but not too hard. Gotta say what the boss says, right?" He chuckled, then looked at him and shook his head. "Actually, it's not. There are a lot of flammable things around here, so it's best if you don't. We don't want to get our asses blown up to fucking oblivion."

Rory

Smirking, Rory nodded, "Yeah, I guess. But I'll tell you like I told him. If I'm going through this whole process, I want to do it right. I have a lot of ground to make up, considering my background." He'd been kicked out of the North Side and didn't belong with the Ghoulies. Maybe part of him just wanted to find somewhere he fit in. The other part liked everything the Serpents stood for. "You make a good point. I don't think I'd like to get blow the fuck up to my resume." He popped the cigarette behind his ear and shoved his hands in his pockets. "So what about you? Any kids? Married?"

Ale

Ale nodded. "As hard as that sounds, you do. Dare doesn't just let anyone in, and they have to go through a test period, but once you're in, you're family. Trust me, it's felt that way to me all these years." He continued to do his work, then shrugged. "The answer is no. To both questions. Guess I haven't found the right one yet." He smiled at him. "What about Grace's mom? Is she in the picture?"

Rory

Rory was glad that Ale said that. He knew that it was the right things to do even though he'd been able to prove himself to Dare. There was still a nest of Serpents that he needed to prove himself to as well. "That's what he said, about family. I'd really like that." He'd like Grace to have it too, people who he knew wouldn't hurt her. Some of the Ghoulies he had been able to trust but others he kept her from. It didn't feel like that with the Serpents. He nodded at the answer, then shrugged, "All things in good time, I suppose. I.. guess I haven't either," he said, though his mind flashed to a beautiful smile that he felt like he lost. Looking up when Ale mentioned Grace's mom, Rory shook his head, "No. She, uh.. Well, I thought she might be around at first when we found out she was pregnant but.." He shrugged. "I guess it was just too much. She gave birth and had her parents give Grace to me. We haven't seen her since, so.. just been me and Gracie all these years."

Ale

Ale finished pouring in the third bottle of lubricant in and looked at him with a small frown on his face. "Oh... Sorry, man. That sucks. Can't imagine why a mom would do that. I want to say she must've had her reasons but... that doesn't make it right. Not to you, and much less for the kid. I bet all the single parent thing isn't easy, huh?" He popped the final bottle open and started pouring it in too.

Rory

“Sometimes I really wish I knew.” Rory shook his head but kept his eyes focused downward on his shoes. “Other times I kind of think it’s better I don’t. If she just changed her mind about me, about Grace, maybe it’s safer that I let myself think that instead of whatever the awful truth might be.” Like that she’d never cared about him at all. “Not often but I also lucked out with Grace. She’s more adult than I am sometimes. She already decided she wants to be a doctor like her doctor is when she was young. She likes reading and always reminds people about manners, eating vegetables, and washing their hands and face. She’s.. something else, man, but I wouldn’t trade her for the world.”

Ale

Ale could see the hint of sadness on Rory's face and voice when talking about Grace's mother, apparently a touchy subject. "Look man... Whatever that truth is, she's the one who's trash for walking out on you guys like that. Some things just happen for a reason, you know? Maybe you were just meant to meet someone better." He smiled and nodded. "Sounds like she already has the makings of a good doctor then. That's cool. Sounds like a great kid. You're really lucky." He finished putting the oil and closed the hood. "Oil done. You want me to check the breaks?"

Rory

"Thanks," Rory nodded, a thankful grin crossing his face. He was sure that he'd be talking about Grace's mother a little more than he had because the Serpents didn't know him and people would wonder. Dare had. So Rory kept it to the facts. He'd thought they would work it out together but then she changed her mind, wanted nothing to do with him or their kid, gave Grace up and they never spoke again. "Yeah, i'm sure they do. Remind me to keep my eye out for that someone better once we don't have to worry about what craziness Derek wants to get up to." He pushed off of the truck, "Next time. It'll give me an excuse to come back and talk some more. How much do I owe you?"

Ale

Ale chuckled and wiped his hands on the cloth before also wiping some sweat off his forehead. "Yeah, what the fuck is wrong with that guy? I feel bad for Aaron and all the fucked up shit he had to go through because of him." He shrugged. "Nah, it's cool. First one's on the house. Or you can buy me a beer some other time, how's that?

Rory

"Yeah, tell me about it. But worse than that, no one said a damn thing to Derek about it, or defending Aaron. Everyone kind of shut their damn mouths, me included." He shook his head remembering how everything went down. "I always knew I didn't fit in there but I think I didn't realize I couldn't stay until I saw how everyone turned on Aaron because they were told to. Everyone else calls the Ghoulies cannibals but I hadn't seen it happen until then." Shaking off his feeling, Rory smiled at Ale and nodded, "Thanks, man. I'll definitely buy the first round. It was good talking to you."

Ale

Ale looked down and shrugged. "If you ask me, I can see why everyone is afraid of him. He's a heartless bastard who won't stop at anything to get his way, even hurting the people of his own group or their families." He put his hand on Rory's shoulder. "You won't have to worry about that with us." He smiled and nodded. "Deal. It was good talking to you too, man."

Rory

“Yeah, I agree. Everyone has a right to be afraid of him.” But then he looked up when Ale pat his shoulder and he smiled. That’s what he was looking for. He knew that no one could promise complete safety for his daughter but the ones who took care of their own, the ones who came closest to giving her that safety, was the Serpents. “I’ll see you for the beer,” he said as he opened the truck door and started the vehicle. As he backed out, he actually felt successful. Maybe he did have a chance.

#para #para: high hopes #para: ale #roryxale

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