I was much better off as a coward

wheel of muse fortune

Clarence Novak, to Jack Harkness: "Over my dead body."

A reckless and overly dramatic declaration especially coming from someone so quiet by habit. It marked the heightened stakes Clarence could see here. He didn't heed the danger but that didn't mean he was unaware. Gangsters meant business here in St. Louis even after the fall of Egan's Rats.

It was fairly easy for him to find an in; he'd worked for gangsters before, albeit across the country in New York City. But, reputations spread, and he knows how men like this operate.

[Asleep on Public Transport Meme from @captainharknxss.]

“Your coffee spilled. I tried to save it, but you’ll probably need to change out of that jacket.” ------------

"Fu ..." The first two letters of a four-letter word are out before she can stop them, spurred by the sensation of warm - thankfully not still hot - across her sleeve, and unsupervised by having just blinked back awake. "...ck!" Thera continues a long beat later, and much more under her breath.

The cup is missing, though a glance finds it on the floor by her feet, the liquid that isn't on her sleeve making rivulets beside the seat.

"Well, thanks for trying ..." A handkerchief from her pocket swipes at the fabric with more hope than effect, "Clearly the coffee wasn't doing its job." She gives a sigh, makes a valiant attempt not to yawn.

That was his intended destination, anyway. Reports of alien activity in the area meant it was his job to scope out the neighborhood and see if he noticed anything out of the ordinary. But, sitting alone in a coffee shop all day was going to pique someone's suspicion (assuming whatever alien had been called in had human level intellect, rather than being an intergalactic slime mold.) Coffee with a friend would make a much better alibi.

"That ain't LOADED , ya know," Swift returns to the Berretta he'd just finished cleaning to find someone's got their paws on it. He's smirking behind the rim of his freshened drink.

“Yeah? Got anything else that'd look pretty in my hands?” Eyes flick down over the front of Swift's nicely fitted pants with a grin.