Black Dog

Mat could have definitely used his help when he was trying to direct the movers with his furniture. He ended up having to move the couch again after they left because it wasn’t doing it for him. Which meant he pretty much paid them for nothing but it was in the past now so it was useless to complain. Apart from that, he couldn’t think of much else he couldn’t move himself so he smiled at the other and shrugged. “Thanks man, but I think I’m all good. Want a drink or something as a thank you for your troubles? I don’t have much because I still have to go shopping but I can offer water, coke or beer.”

Nick smiled and shrugged slightly, “well a beer would nice, if you don’t mind. He offered a smile before glancing around and taking in the apartment. “So, what do you think of the new place so far?” He asked conversationally as he made a bit of small talk. “Seems like a nice a place.” He noted on the north side place, he was starting to feel more comfortable on the north side, since he was spending more time in it with Emily, but he was always still impressed by the places.

“i’m counting down the seconds,” cillian sighed. he was itching to clock out and be on his way. it wasn’t like he had anything better to be doing but honestly? anything was better than being here. he thought of going home to his alcoholic mother in their tiny quiet home and grimaced. maybe not anything. he laughed as he watched nick crack open an energy drink right there at the counter. he wasn’t surprised. there were a lot of cops filtering in and out while on patrol for that late night caffeine fix. “hope you have an easier time staying awake.”

Nick let out a satisfied sigh after taking his chug and nodded, “yeah I can imagine.” His night was looking pretty boring, so far it had been a quiet night and his partner had called in sick so Nick was spending it alone. Nick knew he’d have a better chance at staying awake if he had someone to talk too. He eyed the man behind the counter for a moment, wondering if this would be weird to ask. “You know if you’re not doing anything tonight, you could come cruise in my cop car with me. I have energy drinks and I’ll even let you play with the siren.” He added with a laugh.

”Oh, really? Who’s your girlfriend? Maybe I know her” he asked, with curiosity. He was friends with pretty much everyone at Jet Records. So if she was signed, there was a good chance he knew exactly who she was. “Yeah, it is pretty cool” he smiled proudly. “I love what I do, so I can’t complain” he mused with a short nod. “I’d love for you to check us out though. I could even text you our website if you wanted. It’s just me and my brother who plays drums, but we’ve got a pretty tight vibe, and I think you’d really be into it.” He walked up to the check out counter with the other male and paid for his items. Even offering to pay for Nick’s as well. “So, back to your place then?” he asked with a slight raise of his brow. “I’m so down for getting back into the gaming scene. It’s been way too fuckin’ long.”

“Her name is Emily, Emily Davis” Nick offered the information with a smile on his face. She had a way of always making him happy even if it was just from thinking about her or mentioning her name. He nodded along as the younger man talked, “that’s good, it’s great when you actually love what you do. Makes a difference.” He tried to wave away the others attempt at paying, but accepted it with a smile, “thanks for that. Back to mine it is.” He was glad the other man struck up conversation because he clearly needed help carrying everything. “I’m glad to welcome you back brother.” He said putting on a fake deep voice like a character, “I’m Nick by the way.”

Emily, of all people, could understand why Nick felt so personal about this. Reason being, not every song Emily wrote was from a personal experience. Sometimes, they derived from stories that had been discussed with old friends. While the actions may not have happened to her directly, she always channeled her own emotions when taking these stories and putting them in song. So, the way Nick felt: taking this as if she was his own family member, was completely understandable and the last person to judge him would be herself. Picking her head up, she leaned up, pressing a small kiss to the corner of his mouth and then his lips. “that’s more than okay, baby.” She smiled. “What kind of movie are you interested in watching?” 

He looked down at her, giving her a small smile as she kissed him and placed a kiss to her forehead before pilling her in for a hug, and burying his face in her hair. Enjoying the feeling of safety she brought. He hummed before pulling back slightly, but his arms remained around her waist. “Something light would be good. Maybe a comedy or even a rom com?” He was usually embarrassed to offer a rom com, he had been brought up to be a man after all. But he was sure his girlfriend wouldn’t mind.

Quentin chuckled to himself as the older male started listening off a few of his games. “Honestly, I’ve only heard of like three of those. But, being a musician, Guitar Hero is my shit” he grinned. “What kind of work do you do? If you don’t mind me asking?” Quentin knew he could get a bit nosy sometimes. But, really he was just trying to make conversation. “Oh yeah, we play our own music. But, I’ve been doing a lot of covers as of late. We’re kind of a pop rock band that started as a cover band. So, it’s nice to get back to our roots for a bit. A new album is definitely in the works though. Thew New Addictions, ever heard of us?”

Nick let out a chuckle as he nodded, “of course you’d like Guitar Hero then. My girlfriends the same way and she’s a musician.” He said with a smile, the pride in his eyes rather clear. He nodded along, “hey man, I love pop rock. That sounds cool.” He paused for a moment, the name did see familiar but he wasn’t quite sure if he had heard them before. “New Addictions, I feel like I have. But I know I definitely will check you guys out now.” He offered the male a toothy grin. 

Mat looked it over with a critical eye, wanting to make sure it was hanging straight and that it was in a place that accentuated the rest of his living room. It looked perfect. Finally he could say that his place was complete. Mat was sure that he would come up with other things to add around eventually but, at least for the time being, he was done and could enjoy the result. “Yeah, it looks great! Thanks for your help, it would probably still be on the floor without it.” He wasn’t about to admit the painting had been lying on the floor the whole week with him trying to figure out how to get it up.

“Don’t worry about it.” He shrugged his shoulders, “I’m happy to have been able to help” While Nick hadn’t necessarily  moved out of Kingsboro, ever. Or even the south side for that much. But he had moved a lot, especially when he was still in the foster system, so if anything he could understand the importance of one thing being right and making the place feeling like home. “If you need a hand moving anything else, just let me know.”

cillian knew he was right in thinking this guy was pretty cool. “sucks, man,” cillian empathized. cillian figured there was no shortage of crime in new york to police but for whatever reason, the late night shift seemed the shittiest of shifts. “two more hours,” cillian sighed, eyeing the clock on the wall. time was passing hella slow and cillian was eager to get the fuck out of here. he rung up nick’s energy drinks and raised an eyebrow at the cop. “you need a bag? or are you gonna be downing these as soon as you leave?”

He shrugged his shoulders slightly and tilted his head, “well that’s not too bad then. Almost there.” He gave a sympathetic smile before a slight chuckle left his lips and he maintained eye contact and cracked one of the cans open, lifting it up and starting to chug. He needed this energy drink and he needed it now. He sighed and winked at the other man before laughing, “don’t think I’ll need a bag for these ones thanks.” 

Mat watched as the other followed his directions and moved the painting just as he asked. Already, it was looking much better and he grinned. It was going to make all the difference in the way his living room looked. He had gone for quite the minimalistic look and so the decorations were important to bring the whole thing to life. “Thanks! It was actually done by a friend of mine. He’s quite well known now but that was one of the first works he exhibited publicly and he gave it to me as a thanks for the support.” Not that Mat felt like he needed to be thanked but it was still nice. “I think it looks good there, you can go ahead and hang it.” 

He smiled as he spoke, ‘that’s nice. I think stuff like this is always nicer when you have some sort of attachment to it.” He made quick work of hanging the painting, but was sure to be careful, he didn’t definitely didn’t want to damage it now he knew its importance too. “Alright,” he said as he stepped backwards so he was standing next to the man and looking at the painting, “I think that’s straight. Looks good.” 

cops used to make cillian sort of nervous. and while they probably should considering the amount of petty theft cillian committed, guys like nick had been making stops for late night pick me ups often enough that cillian had learned that some of them were actually pretty okay dudes. cillian shrugged in response as he approached the register, still mopping icee from the front of his uniform. “don’t worry about it, man. i’ll probably just mark it as damaged and eat it later. stick it to the man,” he said with a wink. cillian was an idiot. but he liked nick and thought he was pretty cool. “late night patrol?” cillian asked conversationally as he rounded the register.

Nick couldn’t help but chuckle at the mans response, he could respect a want for snacks, and if he was being honest he probably would’ve done the same. Was it considered stealing from the store? Probably. But Nick didn’t really care, the guy was probably under paid anyway and had to put up with assholes like that. Whats a few snacks here and there. “Oh yeah, those were damaged beyond repair.” He stated with a hint of mischief behind his eyes. “Unfortunately yes, I drew the short straw on that one. Long shift?” He countered with his own question, enjoying the small conversation so far. 

Mat huffed in annoyance but he didn’t argue. He was pretty sure that if he even tried to lift the painting up for so long he would either end up breaking it or an arm so he was better off observing and giving directions. Poor guy had offered to help him out even though they didn’t know each other that well so the least May could do was be grateful. “Fine, you’re right. Sorry. Moving into a new place can get a little daunting and I’m stressed. By all means, carry on.” Nick could probably tell he wasn’t exactly the right person to do this anyways which is why he said what he did. Better shut his mouth and try not to get himself in trouble with someone who was helping out. “Okay so…same position you’re holding it in but a bit more to the left?”

Nick turned back to face the wall and tried again, this time slowly moving it to the left as he wondered just what he got himself into here. “Is this better?” He asked the man as he did his best to follow the instruction and keep it in the same position, just a bit more to the left. From the way he was acting this painting seemed important and he wanted to make sure it was right for them. “it’s a nice painting, where’d you get it?” He asked conversationally. 

Quentin watched as the man tried to do a balancing act with all his items and laughed again. Wow, he was really high, and this was all quite amusing. “Ah, shit. No doubt man. I’ve definitely been there before.” He reached out and took some of the items from the mans hands and offered him a smile. “I’m not actually, and I’d really like that. What games you got?” he asked curiously. Walking to the check out side by side with the older male before placing the stuff on the counter. “I haven’t played video games in so long. My brother and I used to play all the time. But, music has kinda consumed all of our time. SO we haven’t played in forever.”

Nick smiled as the other man took him up on the offer. “I’ve got a few actually.” He stated before he started listing some off, “Call of Duty, Army of Two, Red Dead, Need for Speed, Guitar Hero, Spyro.” He trailed of slightly with a chuckle. “Pick your poison really.” As they walked up to the counter he nodded. “I use to play games with my brother all the time before he moved. I have pretty stressful jobs so I try to still find time to play as a way to relax a bit, you know?” His head tilted slightly as he took in the others words, “music? Do you guys play your own stuff?” He hoped he wasn’t offending the man by not recognizing him.