* 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐀

"I know, I know." Mars says quickly as he walks into her home with two sandwiches from the deli. He'd sent a short text asking if she wanted to have one of their usual lunches, and shown up with his healing black eye and split lip. He's just thankful that she can't see the bandages on his torso. "An attempted mugging. Nothing seriously injured except my ego, promise."

— A CAFÉ IN SOHO ; MIDDAY

Laurie never worked out of the office unless he was working at home. But something about the late summer sun made him want to exchange his corporate glass walls for those of a quaint little café. With all of his early morning tasks taken care of, he headed out and set up shop- laptop, notebooks, and one strong cup of black coffee- in the corner of a rustic café he’d be very happy to return to.

It was approaching the later half of the lunch hour for most and after spending the last twenty minutes writing emails, Laurie finally finished his drink and sat back in his chair with a sigh. Thank God his inbox was now empty. Hopefully he didn’t speak too soon on that one; no doubt another email or five would pop up in no time.

It was as he sat back that he saw a familiar face enter the café: Liz Dunham. She was ambitious, beautiful, and a stellar lawyer that Laurie hadn’t known for particularly long, but had gotten along well with whenever they crossed paths.

Laurie got to his feet and sporadically checked over his shoulder to make sure no-one had taken a shine to his belongings (luckily the café was relatively quiet and most people who had come in had their orders to go) as he went to join the queue, get another coffee, and greet Liz.

“Hey,” he smiled, grabbing her attention. “Fancy seeing you here. Can I get you anything? My treat.”

liz was a busy body, evidenced by literally everything about her. if she could avoid it, she would never stop moving. she'd make a really badass shark. her associates would be lucky to find her in the office at this time of day, unless something really important happened.

she's on the phone with one of these associates, he's trying to tell her about this case where he clearly made a mistake. something liz wouldn't have done in her first year of law school, let alone as an intern. she's speaking just loud enough for her the person on the other end of the phone to hear outside, but it's a little too loud for inside the cozy coffee shop. "no, jack, i don't care. you're an adult. figure it out, or pack your things. jesus christ." she hangs up and the phone goes back into her pocket. it's her lunch break, she doesn't have time to deal with these idiots right now.

"No trouble." Mars rarely had any issues with Eddie. The boy was creative and precocious and had plenty of questions, but the architect always had things to keep him busy. The LEGOs were perfect for not only showing Eddie what Mars does for a living, but letting him try too. He'd even started making little blueprints of his own (though they were mostly glorified drawings of schools and funky houses, but still). "C'mon, love, come sit. How was your night?" He knows she was meeting someone for dinner. And he assumes it was a date, regardless of if she's said so or not. They know each other well enough, after all.

Mars leads her back to the study where it's quiet. Warm light and a quiet record playing and he's getting her some water. "Indian food should get here soon. Got our usuals, plus some extra naan. They were out of veggie pakoras, though. Fucking sacrilegious."

when they left tonight, eddie will give her a play by play of everything he and mars had done in liz's absence. his long story would start once they walked out the door, would last the whole drive home, and when the doorman asked where they had been all night, he would tell the story again. eddie didn't know his dad well, and the closest thing he had gotten to that father/son relationship was the "babysitting" mars had been doing. it's a thought liz has had a lot at this point, something she wouldn't voice aloud.

"good," she smiles, "i'm glad." she follows him to the back, quickly debates what to tell him, and what to disregard. "it was fine, don't think i'll be seein' them again any time soon." and that's where she'd like to leave it. she knows he probably knows, but she'd rather him not know that she knows what he knows.

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He doesn't know why he started babysitting - and certainly, if Liz knew the kind of life he lived within the Brotherhood, perhaps she would've thought twice about him taking care of her 5 year old son. But he and Liz had a sort of odd relationship. One based on Lara, which made it more complicated. Connected by grief, by a deceased wife and a close friend. And now it's just them. And Eddie, of course. Eddie keeps Mars on his game, keeps him focusing on the little boy who's precocious and playing with LEGOs. And Mars focuses on that, focuses on showing him that if he really wants the building to be structurally sound, you'd put the blocks here, not there. It's easier to keep busy when Eddie's running around and asking questions and doing the most. He likes this kind of chaos.

And by the time Eddie's asleep in one of the guest rooms in Mars's architecturally impressive home, he's moved back into the cozy den. Music is playing quietly and he's ordering Indian food for them to share, knowing Liz will be back soon. He walks himself over to the door when he gets a text, not wanting to ring the doorbell and wake the sleeping child. "Hello babes." He murmurs, leaning to give her a kiss on the cheek before letting her inside. "Eddie's already asleep. The high-rise he built is pretty impressive though. On the coffee table." He points with a grin.

the date had not gone well . she had such rotten luck with these types of things ( things being men . ) lara would've told her that some other guy would come around , that she should stop looking and start letting people come to her -- love will come when you least expect it , had been her words . lara had been a good egg, someone who had always been encouraging , even when liz had not deserved the support . that unwavering friendship had translated into a friendship, of sorts, with mars when she was alive, and a comfort in him now that she was gone .

The event is in full swing and Asa’s thankfully not drunk yet. He’s trying very hard not to ‘drink socially’- which is when he gulps down cocktail after cocktail instead of having to figure out small talk. It’s so much easier, especially for him- to nod politely and look invested and then keep drinking. But he’s been doing alright with the talking tonight. The talking, the banter. He’s lucky he hasn’t been pulled in for shots yet, because he’s sure someone will sucker him into it- especially if the others from the Syndicate have anything to say about it. 

But for now he’s taken a step outside, finding the front steps to be breezier and more comforting for some fresh air. His head is buzzing despite only having one cocktail- he’s been noticing a dull ache in his temple, but he’s used to it. Just a nice sit will help. So he sits himself down on the long and beautiful staircase, before realizing someone else familiar is nearby. “Liz?” He smiles, giving a shy wave. He’s trying very hard not to get the lovely long jacket dirty, the sheer dark shirt underneath not providing much warmth from the breezy outdoors though. “I didn’t realize you’d be here- have a seat, I was debating a cigarette.” He chuckles tiredly, a hand rubbing the faded scar on his temple, other hand feeling for the box of cigarettes he’d tucked away somewhere. “You look beautiful, love… how’s your night going?”

galas had never been liz’s forte. she always finds herself a little to stuffy or a little too drunk or with a little too much food in her stomach. really, she was getting a little too tired of being in this place & a little tired of fake smiles and social casualties and who knows what. she’s almost outside to call eddie, convince the nanny that she might should come home early if he wanted her there.

It's so matter of fact, but she's blaming it on the fact that it's been a minute since she'd had some caffeine, and sleep was not coming quite as easily as she would like. "I feel like LA would be just as nasty, though. Cities and all. Besides, New York has charm."

"stupid droughts always disappointing me" a shitty joke that probably doesn't land -- and is definitely in poor taste. oh well ! "the rats are what really gets me," opening her umbrella to protect her ( freshly colored , thank you very much ) hair. "notice how they're never in the tourist trap areas ? there's a conspiracy theory there." liz was not a tin foil hat kind of person, and never would be, but she could pretend just this once.