knife_bender | A bar in Baltimore

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A bar in Baltimore | Friday Night

Diego was a pretty simple guy. He didn't require anyone to go all out for a bachelor party, which was why he was fairly confident Luther could pull it off without it being a complete disaster.

There was a bar. There was karaoke at said bar, and the added benefit of there being arcade games at said bar. Perfect way to get a bunch of dudes hammered the night before a good chunk of them had to leave on a trip overseas.

[For the dudes who better get off their ass and sing. ~~Hold for some OCD~~ We're good to go!]

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Luther was very pleased with himself for planning this whole thing. If he had known how far the Maid of Honor had went for Annie's party, he'd be rightfully shamed, but right now he was going to bask in being a great Best Man.

And completely annihilating a plate of bar nachos at the same time.

Hey, there were bar nachos, Mario Kart, and beer that was cold. Steve was a happy dude.

"You planned this out, right?" he said with a smile. "I'm Steve. McGarrett. I work with Diego."

Well, for value of work that included making the Troopers do everything.

"I'm Luther," he said, offering a massive (gloved) hand to shake. "Diego's mentioned you before. I think you're the cool one?"

"I am," Steve said immediately. He would've even if he wasn't the cool one. Which he was. "Nice to meet you, Luther."

"Likewise. Thanks for coming," he said. "I was kind of worried nobody would show up. This is the first time one of us has gotten married. Well, gotten married while we weren't estranged or lost to different years of time."

Steve smiled at that. "How many marriages if you count all of that?" he asked.

"Just two," Luther said. "Our sister Allison has been married twice."

And that made Luther sad for reasons you didn't want to know about, Steve.

"So this will be number three."

Steve smiled. "Weddings are always fun. I live in Hawai'i. You can't throw a rock without hitting a newlywed."

Don't throw rocks at them, Steve.

"Aren't you supposed to throw rice, not rocks?" It was actually neither now, Luther. Pigeons kept exploding or something.

"I think it's bubbles now," Steve said, "which is boring."

"Yeah, that's pretty lame. And tiring," Luther said. "I thought sparklers would be cool for, like, Annie's powers? But I was quickly convinced fire would be a bad idea."

"Yeah, pretty sure Five could kill ten people in about five minutes with one," Steve said.

Your little big brother was terrifying, Luther.

"He could kill ten people in about five minutes without one too." Did that make things better?

Re: Bar

grenadesandohana - 2022-10-07 19:00 (UTC) - Expand

After chatting with Diego, Steven came over towards Luther. A bit nervously he asked, "Sorry, did I hear you lived on the moon?"

Look, the last time Steven asked somebody if they lived on the moon it had gone poorly. No matter what Diego said, Steven was worried about a repeat of offending someone without meaning to.

Uh, what? Someone was asking him about the moon? He wasn't just butting in with the information during chaotic moments in life?

What a day to be alive.

"Yep! For four years!" Luther said proudly. "It was...well, it wasn't thrilling, but still a cool thing to have on a resume."

Well now Steven was thrilled twice over. First that it was true, second that Luther didn't seem to mind being asked about it.

"Did you? What was it like? Four years? That's wild, that is." Belatedly Steven remembered his manners. "Sorry. I'm Steven. With a V. Only I sort of work with the god of the moon is all. Suppose you could call it a professional interest?"

Not that Konshu paid him and Marc for anything.

"Luther...with a U." Smooth. "It was pretty cool. Kind of lonely. You get used to the no gravity thing so when you come back to Earth you're dropping plates by accident for the first week or so."

Was this the kind of information you wanted, Steven?

If the way Steven helped himself to a seat beside Luther was any indication, yes, yes it was. "All by yourself then? That must've been hard. Your brother mentioned letters? My mum used to - "

Oh right. Maybe she hadn't.

Steven cleared his throat. "Anyway, I know how helpful those can be. Is it lovely up there? Seems as though it must be lovely."

"I did used to send stuff to my dad, yeah. At the time I thought it was useful." This time it was his turn to clear his throat, because that had all been a lie.

"But the moon can be lovely," Luther continued. "Quiet, peaceful. It never stopped being surreal to look at the Earth and know literally everyone you've ever met is down there."

"Mental," Steven said, but he meant that as a good thing. "Never thought about it that way. I imagine it was hard being away from family all those years."

Steven really did have such an optimistic view of family considering his own.

"Uh, well..." How to put this? "My siblings and I were estranged then, so it had been just me and my dad when I left. And then it turned out my dad sent me to the moon to get me out of his face."

...

"So to answer your question, no, it wasn't that hard being away from my family."

"Oh," Steven said. He looked regretful he'd mentioned it. Here he'd been trying not to bother Luther. "Sorry. That must've been hard. I know what it's like. Sort of. Losing contact."

"Sucks, doesn't it?" Luther said lightly. He gestured around the room. "But it all worked out in the end."

Steven relaxed when it seemed Luther wasn't too bothered. "It does, doesn't it? Had someone I didn't know existed until a few months ago. Now can't imagine being without him."

Even if they didn't share a body, in fact.

Luther was choosing to believe that was an adorable metaphor.

"That's actually really sweet."