#frank:thread

something had bitten frank, something of a bug of dissent. was it problematic for him to be taking a crowbar to the outer castle walls of doom’s dominion? probably. was it worse that he was surrounded by the clutter of parts of ragingly dismantled doom bots? yeah, maybe. did he care? no. and that was dangerous for him. if he was caught, truly caught - he’d be thrown into the fights no question and he wouldn’t be able to help those that needed it when he was sent to bounty them. so when he felt someone approach that wasn’t of doom’s minions, a sharp “what?” escaped him as he slammed the crowbar deeper into the wall.

“hey,” frank was leaning against the counter of her apartment, a cup of coffee he’d let grow cold two hours earlier in his hand. he didn’t mean to get up so early, but he never slept well anyway. “want breakfast?” he asked, tilting his head and offering a smile, moving to set the coffee down and to walk towards her - one arm snaking around her torso and pulling her in. “i hope you slept well, i know i toss and turn a lot...” he knew he should address their feelings, what they both seemed to realize from the day before - but frank was in territory he hadn’t been in for a long time. “you good?”

folding his hands onto the top, he glanced around the place and noticed that aside from a few regulars, it was pretty quiet. but that’s mid-day drinking for you. “how’ya doing? personally - not professionally, your saloon is gonna outlast us all. but did you go to the doomsday celebration? or whatever the hell it’s been called?“ frank was fairly terrible at small talk - it wasn’t his best virtue - but for people he liked being around? yeah, he was pretty much willing to try.

“you lost me at you fly through space. or did.” frank interrupted, holding up a hand to almost beg peter to take a moment and not talk. sure, by now it was reasonable to assume that frank had finally managed to wrap his head around things, that he wasn’t actively fighting against the very real fact that time, space, and magic were real. but he was an old dog who hated new tricks. still, peter was entertaining in regards of keeping frank from focusing too much on any one thing. “so the talking raccoon with a obsession with blowing shit up, he’s your pet?” he asked, kinda figuring rocket belonged to no one but it seemed like if he listened to anyone it was peter quill. “what’s space like?”

he’d been spending time at jean’s saloon again, mostly to keep himself out of trouble given all he really wants to do is take doom on one-on-one. but plenty of folks - some more than others - had talked him down off that edge for now. as he sat in the corner, commiserating his entire self-worth, he watched as someone who looked entirely too out of place walk in and make a bee-line to his table to sit down. for a moment frank took a steadied sip of his beer, ignoring her, before finally addressing the situation. “you uh... runnin’ from someone or something? or you think i’m a great conversationalist and a friendly face?” he asked, raising a brow and taking a quick glance at jean before returning to felicia. “’cause i want to know what i should be preparing for - you okay?”

shit. first karen and now murdock, who was next? frank didn’t actually want an answer to that question and while he liked karen - matt caused him a bit of grief. not that he didn’t like him either, but the religiously implied guilt made frank’s job a little harder to do. but hey, at least he’s doing bounty hunting now. “what kinda hell-hole did doom pull you out of, red?” frank called over, taking his steps slowly but surely towards him. they were alone, it was at night, and both were in the personas of what some would say they truly were. “surprised to know i’m here?” he asked, though a hint of surprise in his own voice at the revelation that he was among the first to be there. still couldn’t understand why the hell doom chose a killer like him to exist after the multiversal collapse - at least karen and matt made sense. “it’s ah... it’s good to see you made it, though. this place could use you and your...you know, shit.”

he’d seen her before, sure. she was kinda hard to miss given her choice of clothing and her always perfect appearance. but he never had much of a chance to actually interact with her either. not that he’d have a reason to. after all, he mostly kept to himself, hunted his bounties, and spent time with people that were close to him. still, emma was in his path towards his current bounty and the only way he could get to him was through her. “hey, not to be rude or anything but i gotta get by you to get to that guy right over there - so if you don’t mind, i’d like to ask you to step a little to the side, please?” he was mostly business and if he was accurate about himself, he’d say he was... persistently so. after all, personality didn’t get a job done.

had frank heard about logan? yes, he had. did he pay much mind to him aside from the rumors? no, not really. if there was one thing that frank really learned about people it was that they didn’t like their business to be butted into, himself included. but... fate was weird and apparently he shared a taste for the same demons as the infamous mutant. settling next to him in the bar, frank gave a stiff nod in greeting before ordering himself a beer. “you uh... a frequent customer around here?” as far as small talk went, this wasn’t his best - but... he tried.