watch and vern.

       “…i love you.”

the knee-jerk, naturally, is to question whether barry’s thought it through. the secondary, infinitely more terrifying idea is that he, chris!, could return the sentiment  ---  other party’s true feelings notwithstanding  ---  with absolute sincerity.

        ‘ –do i wanna know what happened to the other guy? the real guy. ’ 

PUNCHES!  /  AN ENEMY.

how this fucker manages to pack so many blood-boilingly offensive words and assumptions into one short conversation is beyond chris. he contains his rage as long as he can, turns affectionate when nothing else is working ( if he squeezes barry’s hand any harder it’ll break ), and snaps only after they’ve singled out his partner. there’s not a blink of hesitation before he’s detached himself from barry and entered their antagonist’s personal space.

an angry finger meets that ugly face first  —  a warning for what is undoubtedly to come. he’ll count back from 10 for himself, but not for someone he loves. no, instead, he burns and trembles with fury; allows himself to coil until he’s a danger to everyone near.

         ‘ you’re a fucking clown, ’ he spits, smacking them in the shoulder hard enough to throw them backwards into a wall. chris wasn’t panicked about the size difference before he stormed the castle, so he’s not going to flinch when it storms him.

he dodges a right hook with a certain degree of grace, then lands his own with an echoing crack, which is succeeded only by the thud of a six-foot-plus human being hitting the ground.

PUNCHES!  /  RIBS.

justine will do her best to impart this knowledge as many times as is necessary: she is not to be fucked with. not by 6-foot-5 professional assholes, not by any of the arrogant fuckheads in her line of work, and certainly not by a virtual stranger. it hurts to be untrained, but she gets her kicks, bites, and punches in where she can.

she clips a floating rib, which is as effective as any place in silencing isabella.

CHARLIE BLUE!

he hums his acknowledgment first, planning to use bought time to work up a believable reaction, but martin was the one who advised against this. no use pretending not to be bored by the non-news.

CHARLIE BLUE!

CHARLIE BLUE!

YOU LIKE JOHN DENVER?

         ‘ you are not the one you say you are. ’ 

and i’m sure it’s more meant to intimidate, but the way chris leans in and asks people to repeat themselves sort of backs this up for me.

CHARLIE BLUE!

YOU LIKE JOHN DENVER?

       ‘ gotta allow a fella his mistakes. don’cha? ’ jackie does not know a single person who will let a man make his mistakes without paying for it. not in this world, at least. in his other life, he’s willing to let people have a second take, a third if they really need it, but this isn’t that. ‘ why don’t we try a little respect here, eh? ’ 

                    Ambrosia yanks her elbow out of his reach, subjecting a frown unto the stranger. ❝ These shoes won’t be FORGIVING in your eye sockets if you touch me. I have pepper spray ! ❞

chris chooses not to follow suit and pull his arm back in. he turns the palm of his hand out, standing somewhere between a, ‘calm down’ and an, ‘i’m not a threat.’