#omenpromised

"Well, it sure as fuck ain't MARISA TOMEI . " A sweeping gesture accompanies the inexplicable reference and sends amber liquid sloshing from one side of the glass - in - hand.

"Need me to LUBE UP your DRY guest list ? " his smirk is quick & radiant, "I'll see what I can do."

The detective was not expecting a formal invitation from Damien, ACCUSTOMED as he is to informal invitations from Rennie. It's still so easy to overlook this thing like friendship taking shape between them.

"The new year's comin' at us fast," he remarks, considering the other man as he flicks the lid off his flask, "ya ready for it, pal ? "

He blinked, genuinely struck by the statement of bravery. Yes, he supposed he was being brave about a lot of circumstances in his life, but his societal position was not one such thing. It was simply destiny now - a legacy in the making. 

“ You know, I rather like the sound of St. Damien of Chicago. Has a good ring to it, don’t you agree ? “

  Bile rises in the back of his throat, hot on the heels of the blasphemy rolling so casually off his tongue. He holds it back, never allowing the momentary discomfort to show. Instead, he silently apologizes to his father - the mark of the beast on his scalp going from a burning sensation to an annoying itch. 

( Even the devil had a sense of humor, it seemed. )

  “ What do you mean ? If lunatics come knocking on my door — I’m going to forget exactly who I am & give them the address to your place ! “ Damien teased. ( If he’d still been a school boy, he’d have stuck his tongue out to punctuate the fictitious point. ) He’s used to inspiring a healthy interest in governmental affairs, but very few people does he take under his wing personally. 

He shook his head, suddenly very earnest in his assertions: 

“ Don’t mention it – I’m always glad when other people take interest in the current administration affairs. I’m surprised I haven’t bored you with all my diplomatic legislative blather. “ 

"I'm a scientist Damien, there's not much that can bore me as I like leaning new things all the time. I have a lot of room for diplomatic blather as you call it but I find it very interesting where other might find it boring." Thomas tilts his head to the side and then nods his head "I always like to interest people in science and things of that nature because I believe in it strongly and it seems that you believe in politics in the same way. It's refreshing to find a man that's dedicated to something."

He chuckles then cocking an eyebrow at the other man "Send them to my house you say? Well, I guess you could but I'm very selective about who I allow to darken my doorstep and the fact that I live in a gated community helps that immensely." Thomas walks over to the edge of the clearing they are standing in and smiles over at Damien "I would never have taken you for a nature lover Damien but there's much to you that I don't think that I know or that anybody else does either and I find that I'm fine with that."

His brow furrows before he laughs at what Damien says "Ah yes, Saint Damien of Chicago sounds right if you think about it a bit. I think you have some qualities that people would think you a saint like listening to my blathering on about all my experiments and such but there's to much of a darkness to you to actually be a saint of any kind. I find that people with dark sides tend to be passed over for things like that and I'm one of them so I gave up being a saint a long time ago."

"But people can be many things and brave can mean stupid also if you ask some people." Thomas then laughs at himself then nods his head "Sorry about that, I have my own set of theories on what makes a man brave but you fit into them." He tilts his head to the side and cocks an eyebrow at him " I think that anyone is brave who has an idea of what the world should be like."

@omen-promised

" DAMSY - BABY , you're RIGHT on time ! " It's NEVER too late to give Swift free shit. He tosses his coat over a chair ALMOST as quick as he snatches the jacket.

" HEY , what's this fuckin' LINING made've ? " AFTER he's slithered into it, fingers sliding down the lapels. Gaze cuts back to Damien, all irony belying delight. " -- or do I WANNA know ? "

          Swift WOULD  be the one to shake the antichrist out of a spiral by his shoulders. It hasn’t come to that YET , but the possibility looms EVER - HEAVY  the longer this Palmer situation persists. Not like any of the hangers - on are gonna step up ; the detective has yet to clock a functional spine among the crisp - collared coterie, and he’s always glad to leave them on the other side of a heavy door.           “ YA KNOW , DAMES , I hesitate to intervene on this one.” & NOT because ol’ Bob’s opponents have a funny habit of dying -- suspicious accidents, intrigue, & blackmail are like CATNIP to Swift. “I mean, how often do ya get to face a CHALLENGE like this, huh ? Could be character building ! ”           Seeing him this rattled is FASCINATING as it is ENTERTAINING . Swift can’t help but give the knife a few twists. Before the sulking can go TOO far, he picks the decanter up where it was left & shoves a tall fuckin’ pour of brandy into the other man’s hand. Sets his own briefly aside to spark up a cheap cigarette.           “ & if I COULD dig up enough dirt to bury this shmuck, SMEAR CAMPAIGNS are messy business . . . ” The irony lacing his tone thickens as his gaze cuts Damien’s way over the lighter flame. A grin flickers ever - so - quickly across his face.           “Why not run a GOOD , CLEAN race & let the will of the people prevail ? ”

It’s easy to brush off valid concerns when you have a near guarantee that harm will never come to you. As it stands, Damien never once shifts uncomfortably, never lifts his eyes to meet Thomas’s own. That would never do -- he’d probably recognize the indifference lingering behind Damien’s expression. 

“ Besides, what kind of warning would be sufficient to give ? Being a public figure isn’t always rainbows & unicorns, you know. Think about it: would you really have it any other way though ? ”

"Well, when you put it that way then no, I wouldn't have it any other way, but I must say that you've made my life a lot more exciting than I could have dreamed." He chuckles then nods his head "I would think that it's not all unicorns and rainbows maybe with a lot of crazies and people who want you dead. Or that's what I've always thought of politics and the people who are brave enough to serve in those positions."

Thomas then bumps shoulders with Damien "Just don't give any of your crazies my address and we'll be fine. I need to get out of my shell a little and you've helped me do that so thank you for that anyway." He tilts his head to the side and gets a thoughtful look on his face then speaks "You're probably already tired of me being around and asking you all my questions but I find that politics has come to interest me just the smallest bit."

Arguing Like an Old Married Couple // @omen-promised

It's horribly TEMPTING to rise to that challenge, to be as rotten & vindictive as Damien's implying ( BAITING ? ) him to be. Certainly, it'd be EASIER & come more natural to him than THIS .

" YA KNOW , I lost her TOO . "

Because TEMPTING as it is, he could never bring himself to use her name as ammunition for a cheap strike in their cold little war.

He could never do that to Rennie.

"She was my friend. & I loved her. & I LOST her," the detective rumbles, low & uncharacteristically soft. Resists the urge to glance away or fidget that comes with such unguarded honesty. "So I MEAN it. I don't think she'd WANT this."

He has a tendency to SOUND definitive even when he's nowhere near it -- like NOW . Who is Swift to try & do right by his friend & the ones she left behind when DOING RIGHT is such a forgotten, far - away concept ?

Wednesday Sentence Starters // @omen-promised

" SO WHAT ? " Intentional or not, Damien's SELF - IMPORTANCE tends to rankle, but this assertion . . . DOESN'T . Instead, it renders the P.I. thoughtful. "I mean, SERIOUSLY , man -- so fuckin' WHAT ? "

It's so INCOMPREHENSIBLE to Swift, the other man's pursuit of a LEGACY -- of a DESTINY he didn't even choose himself. So incomprehensible, and, in this moment, SAD .

"I don't WANT a fuckin' STORY -- why would I ? " A rueful chuckle, a shake of the head. " TRUTH'S THE TRUTH . You can BURY it or DRESS IT UP in whatever words ya want, but it's always the SAME underneath. It never goes AWAY . "