The Free Spirit

God, it's tempting to take the bait. If his ego had been battling self-preservation before, his incurable nosiness has now entered the ring. He wants the information. When doesn't he want information? He's a complete gannet for gossip, particularly when it's absolutely none of his bloody business. He's aware he could always just pester (The Dirty Harry), but where's the satisfaction in that? It wouldn't feel like a victory if the answers are handed to him. "It's amusing that you think you're in a position to bargain with me, Ace. If I wanted to know, I'd know already." It’s punctuated by a dismissive wave of his hand - and then, because apparently he has the fucking self-control of a teaspoon: "When you say any body, do you really mean any body? I might reconsider."

A devious thought occurs to him: agree to the bet, insist Ace goes first, allow him to thoroughly humiliate himself, then immediately rescind the deal. True, it would cost him the gossip. On the other hand, if the mechanical bull throws Ace hard enough - and God, he's hoping it does - a well-timed head injury might make the information considerably easier to acquire. Silver linings.

"You know what? Fine. You're on. But you're going first."

He bites back yet again. Ace isn't catholic, heck, he's not even religious but he feels like he should clasp his hands and mumble out a few hail Mary's. The reply isn't as harsh as the one he said earlier, but he can't help it when Edward just keeps on giving him ammo. He should probably make a little note and put it in his wallet, something saying 'It was Edward Weiss.'. He could write it down on a piece of napkin and people would understand. Heck, the guys at the department would understand and laugh. He wonders for a moment which of them again had bet that he'll be murdered around this timeframe.

However, the look that Edward had given him, that quick spark of interest in his eyes made Ace feel calmer.

'Oh, got him hook, line, and sinker.' he thought to himself as Edward asked about the bet.

"When I say any body, I mean any body. You know me, I'm a man of my word." he says as he crosses his arms against his chest, "Look, if you wanted to know that kind of info, you wouldn't have to be breathing down my neck every time I do an autopsy. Which by the way, you're not even allowed be inside the room when I'm working."

When the other had told him that he's going first, Ace looks just about disturbed, "Me first? So what? You can tell someone to hard wire the bull so that I'd be sent flying off and you get to attend my funeral saying that I'll be missed? Ha! Fat chance. You go first."

"JESUS FUCK, ACE." Did it count in using such a name in vain when it was a religious figure she didn't believe in? Not that such would stop her anyway. "This place is so fuckin' loud I didn't even notice you comin' over here. And here I thought Doll House was gettin' rowdy." It was potentially the exact bull in question that had a fair amount of people riled up and causing the high volume, cheering when happening when someone stayed on for an impressive amount of time and flew off, it felt like. Despite earlier mentioned interest, she hadn't actually gotten a chance to see someone be flung about on it as she had been in search of lemon bars, no avail up until that moment. "I'm soo close to taking that bet 'cause I got my fair share of experience in ridin' something wild even if I've never mounted one of those things-" Trust Stella to come up with some kind of crude comment regardless of the topic not calling for it. "But I'm not really interested in hangin' 'round this place long." Technically, her ban probably had never gotten rescinded, her picture probably posted up somewhere to be kicked out were she seen in the the establishment, after a long list of pulling knives on customers of the lounge years ago. "'Specially 'cause my dates waiting for me outside. I'm on the hunt for one of those famous lemon bars that are supposed to be in here. You seen where they are? Not exactly tryna walk out of here empty-handed without one." It would truly make the trek all the way over to Glitter Gulch all for null. "C'mon, you know I can't turn down a fuckin' challenge, 'specially not if you're gonna stand here and egg me on. But I really gotta get back outside before someone else tries to steal away my cowboy. And that's the only reason you're keeping that twenty bucks."

"All talk and no fun," Ace says with a slight dismissive wave of his hand, "If you've ridden wilder animals, than a boring old mechanical bull would be a no brainer for you."

At the mention of a date, his interest got piqued all the more, "Is that so? Why don't you invite him over for the challenge? Not unless your date's a pussy, then I would understand. If the two of you beat me, then that's forty bucks. But like I said, I'd understand if he has his tail between his legs at the sight of that bull there." he comments off while his thumb points at the mechanical bull behind him.

"Come on, what's a mere eight to sixteen seconds of riding? It's barely even a minute!"

diego was no stranger to competition, having grown up in constant competition with his sister, even when he hadn’t wanted to be. that in turn lead to someone who couldn’t back down from a challenge, even though he should. at ace’s bet, diego s pretty sure that this stranger’ll win. he’s never ridden a mechanical bull before, and he’s only seen stunt people do it. he remembers when he was an extra in some corny western before he got his break, watching the stunt people stay on the bull for as long as it was needed for the shot. as a kid, he thought he could do it. hell, he thought he could do anything. diego looks at the stranger and raises his eyebrow, in a “you really want to do this?” it was all talk, though, he probably won’t last three seconds. he fishes around in his pocket for a twenty, and finds one crumpled up, which he sets down on the table in front of them. “twenty’s good enough for me!” he gives ace a grin. this was going to be fun. “lead the way.”

His voice as well sounded familiar.

"My man!" He grins as he puts a hand on the stranger's shoulder, then pulls him close, "I like fun guys like you!"

He wonders for a moment who he is. An actor? A voice actor maybe? Ace often has a movie or audio book playing in the surgery room when he's working. It was both to catch up with literature he wanted to indulge in or just plain background music. This man has to be popular if Ace can remember him.

He feigns ignorance for now in being curious who this man is—he'll pry it out after their bet. He's pretty sure that the look of interest is still very evident in his features. He leads the stranger to the line wherein there was only one other person waiting, "You want to go first or should I do the honors?"

That being said, it doesn’t make Ace's taunting any easier to ignore. It’s very much a battle between his ridiculous ego and self-preservation; the compulsive need to prove people wrong matched against the very real possibility he’s reached the age where stuff like this could kill him. What a depressing way to go: decades spent locked in a blood feud only to be taken down by a mechanical bull. He supposes he'd be too busy being, well, dead to be embarrassed about it, but still.

“I’d rather just give you the money. There’s not a fucking chance I’m getting on that thing. It’s so undignified. Don’t you think it’s far more entertaining watching everyone else get thrown off? Because I do.” He’s enough of a menace to enjoy it; if anything, he’d prefer it launched people further. “And I’m old - as you keep reminding me. It would probably fucking kill me at this point. And you’d be heartbroken, obviously.” A beat. “I’d make sure you got stuck doing the autopsy too. Just to compound your grief.”

Well, Ace would and he tried his luck. Bummer.

One failure won't deter him though.

Ace quirks his left eyebrow up at the mention of Edward being old, "Damn Mr. Weiss, I didn't know you were both a grandpa and a pussy."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Ace's immediate thoughts were 'Ah shit, I ran my mouth again. This is it. I swear. This is my last night on Earth. I'll probably get shot while riding that bull. Heck, he might even order someone to fix that bull so that as soon as I get on it, the motherfucker will fall on me, making me go with a splat for tonight.' that quick line of thought immediately got followed by 'I knew I should've made that I love you letter to my Mom when I thought about it. Always gotta trust your gut feelings, they're survival instincts at this point, which I do not have.'

Those quick succession of nervous thoughts were concealed by a carefully placed taunting expression. His every action taken towards the other really makes it took like Ace is just egging him on as to how long it'll take for him to finally murder him. Edward Weiss at this point is probably only keeping him alive because he's amusing enough; especially when it came to his cases—Wait, that was it.

"How thoughtful of you to think of me even after your death," Ace voiced out, trying to sound as touched as possible as he put his hand on his chest, "How about a bet on information then?" he offered with a cock of his head to the side with a grin, "You ride that bull longer than me and I'll give you info on any body I worked on for the past month."

He sounds like such a dirty cop, this is probably how he'll get into the Weiss' family's payroll. He'll forever be known as the guy who got employed because their boss beat him at riding a mechanical bull longer. He has to make sure that kind of embarrassment will never be put on him.

The first order he got was his milkshake which he took a hearty sip of, "Ah, that hits the spot." he said mostly to himself as he held the drink with both hands, enjoying the cold feel of it.

Ace closed his eyes, an expression that shows he was debating on how he should answer Iris' question without worrying her, "I think so? It's not like I haven't done this before. I'm pretty sure criminals don't take vacations from their crimes, so I have to keep up." he jokes, but even he can tell his joke was too lame that people will just be more concerned towards is work ethic.

"Hm, quiet uneventful nights can definitely a make you feel either relaxed or lonely," he agrees with a nod, "I feel like that often at home, which is why I'm always out." he gets his food and was about to chow down on it when Iri's comment made him laugh. "If I start hallucinating, the guys at the division would start laughing first, before helping me out."

He takes a big bite of his burger, then a second because it's been hours since he last ate. "Pie does sound nice," Ace agrees with her, "I'm not sure about taking my car keys though. But, the pie might help at keeping hallucinations the at bay. Hopefully. Maybe. I should order that one as well."

wylder + ??? : may 30, mid - evening @ glitter gulch lounge @boneyardstarters

However, he lost track of them when he got distracted by the mechanical bull ride. One minute they were beside him and the next they weren't. His calls were not being answered so he decided to wait for them at one of the benches as he grabbed something to eat.

His friends would eventually veer back to him, so he's not too worried about being left out. He texted them his location so he just needed to stay at this bench.

Technically, he's still on duty but he feels like he'd go insane if he stayed there for a minute longer. He's craving burger and fries with a well-earned chocolate milkshake. He's going to need all the sugar he can get, then some coffee to really keep him awake.

As he entered the diner, he didn't expect to see a familiar face. Iris' comment about him having a rough night made Ace groan, "Please do not remind me," he replies back in a weary voice, nearly dragging himself to the empty seat across, "I've been working shit hours recently."