They cut me up

[goldtoxicity]

WHO: josh foley, julian keller, & santo varacco
WHERE: Heropa
WHEN: March 2nd
WHAT: They need to talk about Kevin.
WARNINGS: mentions of murder, genocide, death cults, and probably some drinking.

[ he needs to tell them.

he knows he does. they deserve to know how kevin died, even if he'd spun so far out of control that he could barely be called their friend anymore. he needs to tell them, and... and it's hard. he spends half his time saying it had to be done, there was no other choice, and the other half certain that wasn't true. david blames the x-force, the circumstances he was put under, and josh blames himself.

so he has to tell them. and the where to tell them is tricky. the house is out of the question, that's an easy way to get everything trashed.

instead, he gets them out of his goddamn city. pays wince-worthy sum for a private room in some stupidly upscale hotel under the premise of superhero business. they're more than happy to accommodate an import. he sends them a text, says there's something they need to talk about and tacks free food onto it, and is nervously thumbing through his phone when they finally join him. ]

Hey, um... order anything you want off the menu.

Comments

[vexant]

( he wouldn't even bother coming except a: santo is also coming along and b: he looked up the hotel and it looks nice as fuck. and if josh is getting a hotel room to have a conversation, it must be something at least mildly important.

so julian does show up, waltzes into the room as if he owns it himself and makes his way over to the couch to settle in against the cushions, make himself comfortable. kicks his feet up onto the table and slouches back. )

There a reason you made us come all the way over here?

[rocksforbrains]

[And of course Santo was going to come. Not just because he wanted to hear what Josh had to say - not that he'd admit being curious at all - but also because of a very strongly held personal belief: Never turn down anything free, especially if a friend is footing the bill for you.]

Oh man, Foley. You're gonna regret ever saying that.

[He grabs the menu and stays standing for the sake of the furniture.] Also, uh, yeah. What Julian said. [His finger runs down the line, mentally checking off what he wants.]

[goldtoxicity]

[ he can't not tell them. he just - can't. as much as he wants to keep that secret, this place has such a nasty habit of throwing your worst moments out there for everyone to see. ]

Because it's a nice place and I get a hell of a discount.

[ also, sorry wallet. he owes the hellions a debt and that debt is going to be repaid with all his hard earned money. he rubs the back of his neck. he's just ordering himself something stiff drink. ]

And, um... I've already told everyone else, uh, what happened and why I left... so I figured I should loop you guys in too.

[vexant]

( julian doesn't reach for a menu or anything, not yet. if josh called them to a fancy ass room with a fancy ass menu he's guessing it's because he's confessing to some serious crime and he's expecting them to lose their shit. or for julian to, at least.

this isn't his place, so if julian does destroy it a bit, clearly it'd be fine. so. )

Yeah? And why's that?

[rocksforbrains]

Man, there's so many different kinds of fish on this-

[Santo looks up from the menu, realizing that him talking outside is probably killing the very serious vibes going around this room.]

Sorry. Go on. I'm totally listening, promise.

[goldtoxicity]

[ he can't help but crack a smile. same old santo.

but the smile fades pretty quick. he knots his fingers together. ]

So, uh... Julian, you already kind of know this, I think. [ probably not, not with how secretive scott was being about what he was actually doing. ] Pretty shortly after our trip to Limbo, I was recruited onto a black-ops team by Cyclops. It was completely off-books, David didn't know about it and I couldn't tell anyone, hell, I wasn't actually supposed to know, but like, with all the times they dragged me out of bed to heal someone I was bound to see something I shouldn't.

[ he flexes his fingers, wiggles them as they lock against each other. ]

Our orders were usually to kill someone, or kidnap them, or like, maim them. Usually it was to take down a threat before anybody'd actually know about it, or go somewhere and clean something up before anybody found out.

[vexant]

( thank you santo for lightening the mood at least a little bit. even if julian doesn't let it effect him visibly, because. he's still busy being pissed at josh. maybe one day he won't be making sour faces at him anymore. maybe. )

So you took off on us to join a kill squad. Great. Thanks, Foley.

( look no one tells him anything. )