real chaos makes no noise.

“Two jobs. Painting the wall and putting out the sign.” He corrected, the teasing edge to his voice almost lost as he kept distractedly examining the perimeter. He let out a low whistle. “Maybe for now, but it’s near a Main Street and someone is bound to walk in on us if we don’t leave.” He said, taking out a new cigarette and carefully using his zippo to light it. He stood idly by as he saw him take the bills and the moved to pick up the discarded leather jacket. “You can’t leave it here, jackass. It could lead back to you, especially if it’s so unique.” He scoffed, moving to the edge of the alley. “What the fuck is that. It the police find out you’ll have to spend a day in jail or pay a lot more than the fee of one leather jacket. Come on.” He said walking out onto the street and looking back at him. “We could catch the last ferry out to the city and drink there. Maybe find some place where you can get a new jacket custom made.” Once they were a couple of blocks down he turned to his friend. “Come on, wipe the blood off on this for now and we’ll throw it in that trash can over there.”

“I knew you’d understand.” Hopper replied with ease, smirking darkly at Randall as he inspected the scene. “We could always throw him over and anyone passing by would be none the wiser.” He pointed at the garbage bin. “Out of sight, out of mind.” The guy gave Boggs a look and took the jacket, irritated at how right he was. Granted, it wasn’t his brightest moment, but he needed to settle the score with that day’s nuisance. “It’s not like my fucking name’s embroidered.” Iain cackled at the possibility. “When have you ever seen my ass behind bars, huh? If that rat bastard of a lawyer got me off from you know what last year, I don’t think this would make him shit himself. We’re covered.” Hopper followed Randall’s pace and groaned at the newly lit scenery. “What time is it?” He looked at his friend and did as told– well, more like rubbed his entire face with the inner lining of the jacket in hopes that did the trick for the clean-up. “You and your million dollar ideas, Randy.” Hopper patted his friend on the cheek before turning on his heel to toss the jacket away, turning over his shoulder to call out to him. “Fine. C’mon, I’m buying.”

“And lose the source of joy in my life? No way.”  Shenzi set the fork down and finished what was left in her glass of water. “If I am so delusional, maybe I should leave you alone with your scoff. You might have more fun that way.” But she did not believe that at all. She just thought saying that will get him to admit what he was clearly hiding. “And you made get out of my comfortable bed to meet you this early? You owe me two things now. Anyway, it’s all yours.”

“The truth behind that sentence worries me.” Hopper replied, satisfied with himself as he laid his back against the seat. “Maybe. But if my night ends up like last time, I know you won’t let me hear the end of it for missing it again.” He let out a small, dry laugh, looking at Shenzi in disbelief. “It’s way past noon, Wallace. I’ve done you a favor.” Iain said as he took the plate back, eating some more before smirking back at her. “Two? Isn’t my company and free booze not enough for you, you greedy little thing?”

“No, you’re in for a ride. From now on, I’m patting your arm at least every half hour.” Adella teased, giggling before averting her eyes when she saw his look change. “I’m not, really. But have you ever heard the expression ´kill them with kindness´?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Well, I’m very good at that. I’ll talk and talk until all he can do is leave.” She assured him. Her eyelashes fluttered as her eyes fell to his face and she tried to keep her grin under control. “Yeah, I’d like that too.” She replied calmly. 

“Alright, Triton.” Hopper looked down at his watch and shrugged. “Better put your money where your mouth is.” He looked back at her and felt his face relax. “Knife. I think you meant knife.” After a light chuckle, Hopper decided to match her expression; the corners of his lips pulled up. “All you’ll achieve with that strategy is getting me to drag you away; I can’t have the two of us be sucked into that hole.” That was as much as he could say before the movie started. Iain, more than comfortably settled around Adella as he hoped she was around him, managed to keep as still as possible during the whole thing– something in the back of his mind gnawed at him as a warning. “That wasn’t half bad.” He said softly as the lights came back to life in the room. “Handheld camera threw me off, though.” Hopper pinched the bridge of his nose, his depth perception was a constant bitch in his life. “So, what did you think?”

Randall’s eyes traveled over the scene and he carefully tested a wall to make sure the pain wasn’t fresh. “There is a sign there, isn’t there?” He gestured to a fallen piece of paper, guessing it might be it. “Maybe it fell off.” His eyes went to the man on the floor, he was still breathing, very deeply. It looked like he was asleep on the job, what a shame. “You could get picked up for this. Did anyone see… Or even more possible, hear you?” His eyes finally went back to Hopper and the jacket. “Is that real leather? Because it’s probably fucked now.” He added. “You should’ve just taken his wallet and bought a new one” He suggested, clearly too late. “Maybe you can find it online?” Randall walked towards his friend and gave him a couple of supportive pats in the back. “We should head out, before he wakes up. I’m guessing he basically got down out of fear, but he’s bound come back soon.” He clicked his tongue. “This will not look good for you if people find out, come on.” 

“Maybe it’s not my fucking problem. Shithead should’ve made sure he knew how to do his one job.” Hopper stretched his arms above his head and pulled up until he could hear a satisfying sound. “Well...” He glanced over at Randall, turned to face one side of the alley, then looked at the opposite end. Hopper shook his head. “Place looks pretty damn empty to me.” He listened to Randall and clicked his lips at the idea, taking off his old companion so he could throw the garment over the unconscious man’s head. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.” Hopper, too familiar with the relentless bureaucracy of replacing IDs– and deciding giving the guy an actual physical headache was good enough for now; only took the few bills inside the man’s wallet before tossing it back down. “Don’t think so. Store closed down before I moved here. How busy are you right now?” The volume of Iain’s laugh probably wasn’t the best for the scenario they were in. "Oh no. Does that mean I won’t win good samaritan this year? I should be ashamed of myself.”

“Oh, stop it. You loved to have your arm caressed. I saw the excitement you were trying to hide, I saw it in your eyes!” Adella teased with a smile. She pushed back a messy wave of hair form his forehead without taking too long to think about it and shrugged. “A little. But if that particular man comes around I promise I’ll save you this time.” She said seriously. Her eyes followed his movements and she was surprised to see the excitement with which he looked at the popcorn, but shrugged it off. “Sure! That would be great.” The brunette replied, feeling calmer now. She kept very still as she felt him resting upon her, not wanting to move and ruin the moment or their proximity. It was all she could do to keep her little excited smile from growing too obvious and took a moment to reply. “That sounds nice! There’ll probably be less people later.”

Hopper was enjoying himself a little too much, it took him some effort not to close his eyes and enjoy the warmth of her hand against his skin. “Wow. If that’s the stuff you think I’m into, you’re in for a ride, Dee.” He replied with a smugness that lasted about three seconds before he decided to go for a look devoid of any discernible emotion, suddenly needing to take a long sip out of his water. “Never took you for much of a bodyguard, but I’ll take your word for it. Small but feisty.” Iain let out a breathy chuckle. “It’s settled.” It’s a date, was what he wanted to say. Hopper found himself being dragged into his head for a moment. He was out of his depth in this scenario, he’d never done any of the actual courting crap and he’d gag whenever anyone tried to get that out of him. This time around, well, if it was for Adella, it couldn’t be that bad. “Good. I don’t–” He softly cleared his throat. “–it’ll be best if it’s just us around.”

Not one for confrontation, Rory found it difficult to blink away the stinging of her eyes. She swallowed thickly. “I will. And people will like me for it. And they won’t wonder what they did to deserve such harsh treatment.”

“Is that the only thing that matters? That other idiots don’t roll their eyes at you?” He leaned back on his seat and frowned; he wanted a rise out of her. “Sounds a little pathetic, if you ask me.” Hopper shrugged. “What makes you so certain anyone gives you a second thought after you’ve bothered them?”

“You still owe me one and I’m cashing in.” He spoke to Scout without sparing a glance, opting to rather let himself fall down on the couch with his hands rubbing his temples. “Cut my fucking head off.” Iain knew it was a courtesy he didn’t deserve– still, he needed it to be quick. “You’ve been at that shit all day?” He huffed, opening one eye to look at the guy and trying to figure out what he was doing.

“I should steal this plate from you then because I find joy in breaking your heart.” And she pulled the plate away from him to match her words; it was her way of calling him out on lying to her again. “Yet you couldn’t survive without me in your life.”, she said quite confidently. “As long as there are good drinks and you’re paying for the first round, I’m in.”

Iain stared at her for a moment and, as quickly as the plate had been taken away from his grasp, he leaned over the table and used a fork to pick up a copious amount of the fries. “You should look into getting a new hobby.” He munched on the food and rolled his eyes. “Someone woke up on the delusional side of bed this morning.” He shrugged, knowing there was little he could add to change her tune; not that she was that far off, anyway. “We’re not actually paying for anything but sure.” Hopper checked his phone and sighed. “It’s still about an hour before it opens and three until the place is worth shit. How long will it take you to finish my food?”

Louie smirked, Hopper always gave him a vaguely nervous but generally exiting feeling on the back of his neck. “Nah, I just haven’t been inviting you. Heard you’ve been hanging around the mall now.” He replied, finishing his own beer and taking another bottle, his eyes scanning the crowd to make sure Atty looked comfortable. “It’s harder to party when you’re basically whipped.” He commented, his eyes resting on the man for a moment longer before turning back to Iain. “But hey, here’s to tonight and you not barfing in my bathroom.” He said, lifting his bottle. 

“Oh, fuck yeah. That’s where all the cool kids hang out. We’re all stuck in a shitty eighties’ movie.” Iain deadpanned, but let out a small chuckle before taking another drink. “The fuck kind of excuse is that?” He asked without really thinking about it, not expecting the response. Hopper followed Louie’s eyes until they hit its target– it ended with a low wolf-whistle from his part. “Hot. Still, why does he look like he’s about to faint?” He lifted his own drink and clinked it with Louie’s, smirking at the guy. “Cheers. Here’s to that was already done when I got there.”

“He was nice and I could tell he wanted to talk to someone.” Adella replied, clicking her tongue at him. “i liked listening to him, old people can be very interesting.” The girl assured him, even if she had kind of been looking for a way out of the conversation in the end. The brunette looked down for a moment, her eyes staring at the condimentes. “Oh.” She didn’t know why she actually felt a little disappointment but she smiled and felt her heart flutter when he suggested a double function. “That sounds nice! Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s a sequel.” She breathed in, his scent clearer now that she was closer to him. Her eyes fluttered for a second and then focused on the screen. “I don’t mind.” She replied happily. 

He shook his head. “Listen, I don’t mind an old man going off at me over the golden days, but I could’ve done without the weird arm patting and–” Hopper cleared his throat, dismissing the awkward memory of the man asking what had happened to his eye; the nosey little shit. “At least you were entertained.” He focused on Adella’s smile for a little longer than he had anticipated, so he had to dive into the popcorn to distract himself from the sudden urge to do something stupid. “Great. I’ll look into it if you want.” Hopper replied with as much nonchalance as he could. “Finally we agree on something.” Iain’s voice was quiet; after a few moments he had decided to rest his cheek on the top of her head. “After this we could probably take one of the scenic tours, that waiting list was fucking offensive.”

“Then something is making you sad which is rare but not impossible.” Shenzi was going to drop the topic at that but when she saw and heard how it was annoying him, she changed her mind. “It sounds to me like I struck a nerve.” She laughed as she took some of his food to give it a try. “Now, that’s bullshit.”, she called out. “Not really but I am too exhausted not to take a break anyway so please tell me you have something fun planned for us tonight.”

“You got me. Sharing my food just breaks my fucking heart.” He snorted at her. “You’re a pain in the ass, striking nerves is your thing.” Iain took a couple of the fries and stuffed them in his mouth; shifting his thoughts from home to the well-made gravy. “Well, this dipshit I know just remodeled a storage unit into a bar; no idea how the place is but it’s got booze and a pool table. You in?”

Aurora wasn’t sure why she was now being verbally attacked, but she attempted to stand her ground. “You know, I don’t particularly like being berated for being soft.” 

“I don’t particularly give a shit.” Hopper let out a dry laugh, looking at her dismissively. “If it’s working so well for you, keep at it.”

“You are stressed again, aren’t you? You only eat Poutine when you are stressed., Shenzi pointed out once she remembered the name of the dish he ordered. “I was saying you clearly missed me because you showed up first for once.”

"That’s bullshit–” He gave Shenzi a look, since when was she that perceptive? Though there was a miss to the idea, it wasn’t as much stressed as being homesick. “Mind your own business, Wallace.” Hopper grunted with no real bite, pushing the dish to the middle of the table as an offer of distraction. “Sure. I have a nasty habit of making the same mistake twice.” He shrugged, a playful smile at the corners of his lips. “Finally got some time off?”

Aurora couldn’t help but jump at the man’s outburst. “I don’t really do pushy,” she sighed, tucking a curl behind her ear. “Thank you for making him go away.”

“No kidding, the girl with a Master’s in being a pushover?” He rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat, he was enjoying the silence as he broke a piece off from his toast and ate it. “Whatever, maybe you’ll learn to do your own dirty work after that.”