[ englishmen and mad dogs ; london ]

[didnothingwrong]

It's been an age since Alvo's rung him up, and longer still since the last time he saw him face to face. So, when Bax gets the call from Heathrow saying he's up for business, and wants to see the boys round the old pub before he heads back, Bax is eager to agree. Work's been shite lately, and it's made things at home tense.

A night away from the girls? Hell yes.


He's the first to show up, of course. Perhaps a bit too eager there, Bax. He snags their old table, a bit smug and all, and settles in for a pint.

The boys won't mind if he gets a head start.

Comments

[smilebigboy]

Oh, and there's an idea. Woody sips at his Coke and lets his eyes go far away for a moment, imagining it. Sea and sun and surf, pretty ladies -- not that he'd do anything but look but looking isn't against any rules that he knows of -- good food, good company (if no one kills anyone else within five minutes, a cynical part of his mind pipes up). Relaxation. Not a care in the world.

Money, of course. He has to think about money but unless he's pretty damn confused that's what Alvo's offering. Tickets, transportation, whatever they need. He might even have a job by then. Little extra pocket change and if not, well.

His face splits in a grin and he leans back, taps his fingers on the table. "It's a deal by me. Couldn't let you rattle about all lonely up there, could we?"

He hopes the others will agree. They will, he thinks. They might fight it -- Rick won't, but Bax maybe with his girls, and Quinn being Quinn but -- no, he thinks, they'll come. And if they don't, well. He and Alvo are close. Always have been. Maybe he'll try and find some way up on his own, if he can.

[imholdingcereal]

Quinn tilted his chair back, he knew there would be some sort of condition, made sense really but he'd been hoping that Alvo wouldn't put one on the trip. Well, either way, he wasn't going to be the one to call Rick. Not that he hated the bloke or anything, he just didn't fancy having his conversation again.

"Fine."

Ah, a true man of many words. Quinn sipped his pint and let his chair fall back down, he was never one to be overly elaborate when it came to situations like this, it was both a failing and a skill he had. His daughters hated it, his work colleagues loved it. Course he was capable of being elaborate when it came to talking about the unnecessary. Just part of being a lecturer.

"You'll have to ring me whenever you lot have a date."

[didnothingwrong]

He laughs like he has no idea what Alvo is on about.

"Yeah, all right. You've got a deal."

He means it, too. If any of them actually get around to doing anything about it, which — let's face it — isn't very likely. Bax won't be the first to back down. It'll take some convincing to get the missus to agree, but he's had plenty of practise at that already. Convincing her to trust him, not to fight around the girls, not to spend so much.

"I'll even call Rick," he says, like a bolt out of the blue. "Yeah, not a problem. I've been meaning to call him anyway."

He scratches his nose and shifts a little uncomfortably. Not that he's about to say any more on that. He smiles blandly, and nods to Quinn.

"So long as you wouldn't rather the honour, eh?"

[alvo]

"So long as someone calls him. If you change your mind on that, Bax, I'll do it myself."

Sometimes, the old exasperations come back with a vengeance: he wishes Quinn wouldn't be so bloody taciturn. That he would smile, stop being such a prick on general principle. He wishes Woody would say what he's thinking -- he can see the processing going on, but the words are few and far between, although he's good-natured -- and he wishes Bax wouldn't be so accommodating. But he has to chalk that up to parenting teen daughters, something he's never been brave enough to so much as contemplate. Even though he's absent at the moment, he wishes Rick wouldn't stick in their craws the way he does, but the group wouldn't be the same without him. It wouldn't. It takes the lot of them to make whatever sort of whole... um... entity they are.

There's only one thing to say, now he's made the offer. It'll be a chunk of cash out of his bank account, not theirs: a holiday should be fun. It shouldn't present any sort of hardship.

"All right, then. It's about time you" -- he lifts his glass to each of them in turn -- "got a taste of my corner of the world."

In every sense of the word. He's well aware this holiday could take years to plan, people being who they are, schedules being what they are. As long as he knows it's going to take place eventually, he has something to focus on beyond the everyday business of pretending to love every fucking thing about Spain, beyond keeping up appearances, beyond the hollowness of the life he's carved out for himself. Whether he plays host to his friends in five weeks or five months or five years, he has that to look forward to.

Without being maudlin, he would say he loves them all very much. It's something he wouldn't ever give voice to, though.

[smilebigboy]

Woody lifts his glass back, smiles without a word and finishes the last of his soda. Swirls the ice cubes for a moment and listens to them clink against the bottom, privately glad that they're already got Rick covered. They...well, they get along and hell, there was a time where they were probably the closest together, during their wilder days. And he still likes him, they're mates. The whole group are.

It's just, well. Sometimes he's hard to talk to. Moreso these days, it seems. Just as well that Bax or Alvo does it. Anyhow it sounds like they're all decided and well he figures there's a more than good chance it's just a pipe dream, something they'll talk about for months and years without ever seeing it come to pass, it's a nice thought. A fun dream.

He taps his fingers over the table again, knows he's spent more of the evening absorbed in his own thoughts than he has chatting. Not that he's chatty usually. He's never seen the point in going on without really saying anything, and he's never had the gift of gab the way some have.

So he doesn't say anything else, just sits back and watches, and listens, and thinks that for all it's a little rough around the edges this is one of those moments he wants to keep in his mind for as long as he can.

[imholdingcereal]

Quinn half lifts his glass, not big on giant displays of affection. Yes, he did care for each of them greatly and while admittedly he got on better with some more than others, they were his only friends. He wasn't a social bloke, he probably wouldn't ever make any more so he didn't have many reasons to avoid them. Sometimes he just accepted that everyone had flaws and it helped him relax. Some sort of weird Zen-y thing perhaps?

"I'm sure Bax can handle Rick and we can handle ourselves, little telephone tree, it won't be hard to set up. Got three weeks of leave a year, won't be longer than a week I suppose?"

Reasonable amount of time to be in a foreign country and it should be enough time that he won't want to choke Alvo... well, perhaps not. Might be two days into it before that happens but still, he only had to stay as he was. He knew his stoic manner got right under the other mans skin.

He shouldn't find that so amusing but he does.

[didnothingwrong]

They're a bunch of shriveled old bellends, is what they are. God, how did it happen? He swears he can remember a time when he wasn't in bed by half ten, and a thrilling Saturday night involved more than watching the National Lottery and trimming grey hairs out of his ears. He can remember when Alvo was still awkward around girls, and Rick was still fun at parties. Thinks he can even remember what it was like to see Quinn smile, if he really strains himself.

"Before we get a taste of your world, we have the matter of tonight at hand." He finishes off his pint, regarding the three of them in turn. "Come on, lads! I've got a whole night free of the girls. We're not going to spend the whole thing pissing on about ... haircuts and damp weather, are we?"

At the very least, he can hold his own at darts. Sort of.

"Alvo, what are your plans while you're here? It's only a day or two, isn't it?

[alvo]

"A week, then." That ought to work. It shouldn't be long enough for them to have to resort to violence against one another, although he only gives them a day or two before they start thinking about it. But that's why Mallorca is such a beautiful distraction. Girls. Wine. Water. Beach. Sun. Drugs for the taking. "A week to play. Make sure your passports are in order."

That's enough on that. Bax is right; they have the matter of tonight at hand and now it's his turn to talk about himself. Over the years, it's something he's been reticent to do. Even more so since he moved to Spain, in part because he's certain nobody really wants to hear what he has to say, in part because there are things he shouldn't tell anybody. That's his business, of course, and that's what Bax is getting at, isn't it.

His business. "While I'm here? So much fun. Banking, for the most part, and a bit of business with my solicitor." He lifts his glass, drains it, sets it down. "And see you sorry excuses for friends, of course. But that's it, nothing very romantic, nothing of the sort."

[smilebigboy]

"Sounds amazing." Woody's voice is drier than the Sahara as he leans back in his chair and continues to play with his empty glass, lopsided grin playing around his lips. Really, they can't get away from the fact that they've all turned into a bunch of old farts somehow, content to sit and bitch over a beer about visiting each other. And Alvo, who he'd always half-wondered would be the one to never grow up, coming over from the life he'd carved out to bank? It's all ridiculous.

"Bax's right, though. Ought to do something." He casts his mind briefly around and can't particularly think of anything but that can be for the others. He's not exactly known for being the ideas-man anyway. "Unless you're really excited for a wild night of banking."

He'll go along with whatever they decide, he figures. Sometimes it feels like he never came to much harm following the boys -- it was just when he went off on his own, that was when the problems came up. That's all in the past, now. Youth and youth's mistakes are gone (still close enough for him to feel the ache sometimes but he ignores that) and he's about as responsible as the rest, now.

Well.

Getting there.

[imholdingcereal]

"Oi!" he was sure that haircut comment was aimed at him and frankly, he didn't approve. His hair was wonderfully short and even, you could bloody well measure the length and find it was perfect. But sadly they were a bunch of blokes in their forties and while some, like Quinn, accept this and spend their evenings watching 'Come dine with me', listening to out-dated rock and failed pathetically to connect to the youth of today.

Then there was these lots, desperately clinging to their youth in an attempt to prove themselves still who they were. Quinn rolled his eyes at the very idea. A night of drinking, pretending they fit in and the girls they were hitting on weren't young enough to be their children and then spending the next few days in bed with a hang over. Fantastic.

Frankly Quinn would rather go to a retirement home for the weekend and hang out with the old dearies.

"If we're doing something we have to mutually agree it won't be a bloody nightclub, a 'trendy' bar or watching one another embarrassingly fail at picking up a women," And yes, he was looking at Baxter for that one but he couldn't help it. He didn't like this fight for youth, he would happily accept watching the footie, perhaps partaking in some wine or other low energy activities.

Well... one could hope?