A Bar at Fell's Point | Baltimore, MD | Tuesday Evening

[knife_bender]

Danny seemed to think that Diego and Steve couldn't spend any time together without burning something down, but he also encouraged them to go to Baltimore together alone, so if something did burn down whose fault was it really?

Nothing seemed to be on fire so far, they had beer and crabby fries (which was just french fries covered in crab dip). Look at them being adults and not starting fights. They were totally responsible.

"It's kind of cruel to make the bar area of this city the one place with cobblestone streets," Diego said, eyeing the wobbly girls in heels outside the window.

[Eating shit on the cobblestone at Fell's Point is a rite of passage for some of us. For one and NFB due to distance!]

Comments

[knife_bender]

"No. He ran an umbrella company," Diego said, grabbing some fries before Steve could take them all. "I just didn't have a lot of downtime as a kid and we weren't really allowed to leave the house."

[grenadesandohana]

Steve pursed his lips because that wasn't right for kids, Diego's dad. "Could you go in the yard, at least?" Steve asked.

[knife_bender]

"Oh yeah, we could do that. And the house was huge, so." That was Diego's cue to catch the waitress' eye for another beer.

And to also change the subject. "Hey, have you ever done the long distance relationship thing?"

[grenadesandohana]

Steve waggled his hand. "Kind of?" he said. "We'd hook up when she was in port and she'd answer my phone calls the rest of the time. Where's that fall?"

Friends with benefits, Steven.

[knife_bender]

"Sounds fun, but doesn't really sound like much of a relationship." Since it had been on radio, he didn't mind sharing why he brought it up. "Annie might be getting a job in New York."

[grenadesandohana]

"Oh, man," Steve said sympathetically. "That sucks. I mean, I'm assuming it's a good opportunity for her, but still."

[knife_bender]

"It's a great opportunity. Like, huge," he said. "Pretty much her dream job, actually."

[grenadesandohana]

"Would this explain the handwavey text I got about working out together?" Steve asked.

[knife_bender]

"Most likely," Diego said with a nod. "She has, like, an audition for it next week and has to show what she can do."

[grenadesandohana]

"An audition?" Steve repeated. "They make her go through an obstacle course or something?"

[knife_bender]

"You know, I asked the same thing and she wasn't sure," he said. "I know there's a headshot involved. The superhero thing where she's from is so jacked up, they're like movie stars."

[grenadesandohana]

"Huh," Steve said, finishing his beer and signaling for another one. "So it's more like a pageant, maybe. Should we ask her about her opinion on world peace?"

Everything Steve knew about pageants came from that Sandra Bullock movie.

[knife_bender]

"She used to do superhero pageants, actually." IT WAS A WEIRD PLACE, STEVE.

[grenadesandohana]

"You're shitting me," Steve said, snorting. "What is a superhero pageant?"

[knife_bender]

"It's a lot like regular beauty pageants only with powers." At least that was how Annie explained it to him. "When we first met she asked if I had done any of them as a kid and I think my brain shut down for a couple moments trying to process it."

[grenadesandohana]

"There's a mental image that I'm gonna need a lot more beer to get rid of," Steve teased. "You as a baton-twirler."

[knife_bender]

"Right? That's like my nightmare," he said. "Actually the whole thing sounds like my nightmare. She's going to be one of the most famous people in the world if she makes it."

[grenadesandohana]

Steve shuddered. "Sorry," he said, taking a healthy swig of his new beer. "I've spent most of my life in covert ops. Everyone knowing my face would be...bad. Very bad. I've been part of a lot of things pissing off a lot of people with access to a lot of weapons."

[knife_bender]

"Is this why Danny was so worried about us going out here alone?" Diego joked. "He seemed to think we wouldn't get through this without being shot."

[grenadesandohana]

"Oh, that's because I've accidentally pissed off the CIA in Baltimore," Steve said airily. "I didn't know they were working an op and we kind of stepped into it because, and this may be shocking to you, they are super incompetent."

[knife_bender]

Diego laughed. "Can we please avoid that this time? Annie might literally kill me if I get hurt and distract her from getting ready for this audition."

[grenadesandohana]

"Roger that," Steve said, laughing. "It'll drive Danny nuts if I come back and didn't get into a bar fight. He thinks I'm some kind of disaster magnet, even though he has personally witnessed a bunch of happy hours that didn't end in hostage negotiations."

[knife_bender]

"You should give non-answers if he asks," Diego said. "Like we could have been in a fight, or we could have just had a quiet evening with crabby fries, who can say?"

[grenadesandohana]

"I'll tell him it's classified. You'll hear the yelling from your place."

Winding Danny up was Steve's very favorite hobby.

[knife_bender]

"God, that's such a good excuse to give," Diego said. "I wish I had something like that to use on people."