wickerpark | One More Time Around

"Do you look a little smug today? I hadn't noticed. I did notice you didn't arrive from your usual direction though." He said, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Eileen, at least, took his side in most cases as any older sister should. When it involved Carlos. Then again, she could be...funny sometimes.

"I take it things went well for you, considering the last time I saw you- you'd disappeared with Gael into the night." Gael had also looked annoyed at the time, so it was just as likely that he'd told Carlos to fuck off too- but then, he was counting on Carlos. Not that it had helped too much that night.

"Maybe I just got up earlier than you and went for a run," Carlos said dryly. He'd slipped out of Gael's bed at five am, leaving a note on the scarred nightstand before he'd left the apartment - mostly because it was usually the sunny and cheerful ones who could murder you first thing in the morning if you woke them up. Though...he wouldn't say that sunny and cheerful was the mode Gael was in for any of last night.

He had pretty much been on the way to telling Carlos to fuck off, after all, when he then just decided not to, much to both of their mutual enjoyment. "I enjoyed my night," he said. "We played parcheesi with the homeless guy on his stoop and then watched reruns of Murder, She Wrote." They had obviously done the opposite of those things. He tilted his head, though. "And were you able to seduce Oliver without the presence of his sexy singing best friend?"

"Right, sure." Ty said, rolling his eyes this time as looked out at the running guardsmen. A part of him wanted to make them stop just to spite Carlos, but he stopped himself short of being petty about things. It wasn't really worth it. Especially since Carlos had to ask about Oliver in a rather blunt way.

"No, but I'm not entirely sure that is surprising, and no I don't want to hear I told you so. Especially since I basically did you a favor- you've been wanting to just talk to Gael for how long now? And frankly, hell was going to freeze over before you actually said anything to him. But I am glad you had fun. Seriously. Even if it might be a losing battle- because I'm starting to think they have a thing for each other and don't even realize it."

"I think they could have a thing for each other." But he wasn't sure Gael wouldn't run screaming in the other direction if he ever figured it out. He glanced at Ty will a look of amusement. "Maybe Oliver feels like he was too easy the first time you met." Ty hadn't needed to say much for Carlos to be able to picture what had happened.

As for he and Gael, he shrugged. "I got in the habit of it is all," he said. "But in the end, it's been a long damn time since I was a freaked out teenager." They both knew why he'd been freaked out, too, and that he hadn't been without good reason. He'd lived in the same apartment in Club Castle since he was eighteen for good reason. "Besides, Gael and I aren't going to date or anything. When was the last time you saw me in a relationship?" Hint: sometime between eight and five years before.

"Alright, well it wasn't like I was expecting to keep running into the man when I did it. I'm not...even entirely sure why I did it. Normally I like people more when they piss Hadyn off repeatedly." And well, he really didn't know. Maybe it was just Ollie's way about things- it interested Ty as much as it annoyed him. And that was just frustrating.

"Doesn't matter, at least one of us gets something we wanted out of it." He said, smirking at Carlos. "You planning to make those poor men run to death, or just until after the kitchens stop serving breakfast? You know they are no good to me if they are dead. And I need guards....or I don't know that I have a job."

"I don't know, if I had to guess, probably you thought he was hot." Though to be fair, Carlos was probably at least as confused by the Oliver Byrd attraction as Ty was. Carlos would definitely have tapped that, and Ty had definitely fucked boys before, but for the most part the more intense attractions had been women. "Either that or you fell instantly head over heels and it pissed you off."

Which was, frankly, not entirely impossible, no matter how facetious Carlos was being as he said it. "They've got two more laps and then I'll let them collapse in the kitchen and beg for mercy and/or bacon," he said before looking back over at Ty. "Don't worry, boss, I'll make sure you don't have to take over diplomatic relations or something, because that would probably go great."

"Well, that much is true. I still think he is hot..." Maybe it was because it had been over a year since he and Lorena had broken up, and he was just a bit lonely. Ty never really wanted to admit it, but he liked have someone to go home to. Someone who wasn't complicated, or too needy- but wanted his company all the same. "Hardly. I don't believe in fairy tales, Carlos, and there is no way I would fall for anyone at first sight."

Still, it did bother him that Oliver Byrd occupied a particularly large portion of his thoughts. "Don't call me boss, it makes me sound old. And like my father." Who was called 'boss' by several other Clubs. He never cared to be reminded of it. "And fuck you, as well. I would be find at diplomatic relations. I can be charming."

When he wanted to be.

Ty wasn't as cynical as he pretended, though Carlos wasn't going to say as much. God knew that Elisha and Hadyn's relationship had more than it's share of challenges, but it had been almost legendarily romantic. The same had been true with Ty's Aunt Zoë and Uncle Victor. Some of the Hearts still talked about that one. His own family, well. He knew Mom and Felipe loved each other, even if kicking Carlos out had almost broken it for good. But theirs had been a normal romance that people did not talk about twenty years later.

He just slanted him a skeptical look. "Of course you can be charming," he said, "but you can't tell me that you wouldn't want to punch the first Diamond that wanted you to adhere to all the protocols." Which just made the whole thing with Oliver more hilarious, really, though to be fair - Ollie wasn't the haughty sort of Diamond. "Nope. Better stick to where you might have a legitimate excuse to stab something."

"I'll adhere to the same protocols they adhere to- none." Ty said with a grumble. Diamonds were, as a rule, a pain in the ass to deal with. All their talk of being 'perfect' and 'sharp' and the absolutely 'best suit'. It almost made him sick just to think about it- a thought that clearly transferred to his face as he stood there.

"I could just become a Spade, and then every job has a legitimate excuse for stabbing people." Not true, but the idea that Spades were the things that went bump in the night lingered, that was for sure. "You were be harder to find another job for- But I am sure the Spades have a need for someone to torture them in training. We might be able to manage it."

"See, already going great in diplomatic relations right there," Carlos said as he waved the Threes to cool down and head for the showers. He turned on his heel and stared Ty down, though, with the slightest of smirks. They were almost exactly the same height, at least.

"You could. You and Sarah would give Miss Talulla a run for her money. I, though, would probably stay behind. Love you, man, but I'm definitely not sly enough for the other black Suit. And then King Elisha would make me challenge up to replace you, and that would just be annoying." Not the challenging, because despite staying at Seven the past few years, it didn't mean he wasn't eying Eights and Nines. But Carlos would just hate running things.

"Wait- you would challenge up for Elisha, but not for me? I am....hurt, Carlos Sanchez. I think I need to find Matteo and see if he's interested in your job, seeing as I just...I don't know if I can recover." It was a joke, but Ty did his best to play it up, even as the others headed to the showers.

"Seeing as Talulla is my cousin, I don't think she would hesitate in bitch slapping me when she felt like it to get what she wants. So thankfully, your job is secure- because I'm probably not going any where. I'll just have find new guards if you kill the old ones." And that would just be painful.

"You just want to foist your paperwork off on me," Carlos said. "So would your dad, but the difference is I've never broken your father's arm, and I'm pretty sure he could break both of mine. Little easier to say no to you." He patted Ty on the arm. "I'm sure you'll make it through, somehow. Just call your sister to beat me up for being mean or something."

He snorted, though, having met both Foxes. Liam was a nice guy, calm and quiet, but Talulla? Well, she scared people. Probably on purpose. "I haven't killed them yet," he said conversationally. "And just think how worthwhile they'll be chasing all those bandits we get now that I've kicked their endurance into gear."

"Not true. Just some of my paperwork- I need help. Surely you could take pity on me, as a friend. As a brother." He said, looking at Carlos for a moment before sighing. "Uh, you broke my arm one time. Once. And I don't need Sarah or my father to turn you black and blue. I'm just hurt, and nursing my ego at the moment. So thank you, thank you for being my best friend."

Or something to that effect.

"Oh, yet. Yet is the word I shall focus on for today." He said, smirking a little before stuffing his hands into his pockets. "They might get a chance to test that endurance soon. Some...disturbances are occurring on the boarders near the outpost, so The King has asked me to go check into it. Oh- and I guess that means the Captain of the Guard gets to do paper work. Oh Oooooooh."

"I could do it again." Probably. "Except apparently it's insubordinate to do that now, so I guess you get to remain intact." As for the paperwork, Carlos just gave him a sidelong. "Let's be real, it's not the paperwork. You can get a Five for the paperwork. You want me for the whining." Being Ty's best friend meant knowing almost everything.

"Mm?" He said, though, in response to trouble at the borders. It happened from time to time, and the reason varied. "Arcana slipping in unannounced again, do you think, or the chess set?" Those were the usual suspects, after all. As for the paperwork, Carlos shrugged a bit laconically. "Somehow I'll survive," he said, and smirked. "Maybe I'll allow Gael to appreciate the uniform in your absence."

"Oh, I doubt that- I could wipe the floor with you, Mister Sanchez." And he just might have to prove it. He didn't care that Carlos had gotten just as good of a training as him. "It isn't insubordinate to do it while training. Unless you do it on purpose. I also might add, sir, we were kids the last time."

Of course that would have to wait, really. He'd have to leave if not today, then tomorrow. "I don't know, the details are slim. Some of reported it as 'Big Foot'- so, you know. I half expect it to be all a joke when I get out there. But- you know, whatever it takes to make you do paperwork and apparently torture Gael."

"Yeah? We're still the same size." And Elisha had trained him in krav maga too, mostly because he was there and why not. Of course, Carlos hadn't been trained by Hadyn, or Jordan, or Victor Fox. So some might say that Ty had a leg up.

"Maybe it's T-Rex. I expect photos, man, if you're being sent to the Outposts to deal with dinosaurs." He shrugged off the paperwork, though which - and he would never admit this - he didn't really mind so much. "If he likes it, is it really torture?" He asked. In a word, yes. But Ty didn't really need to know all the details about what he'd gotten up to the night before.

"Do not make me take this to the mats- I will. I will definitely do that, and if I win I will demand that you challenge up again." He was not above using it to get what he wanted, either.

"And yes- it is torture. Even if the other party likes it. Maybe especially if they like it." He wasn't even sure he wanted to know what those two were up to, when statements like that were being tossed about. Still, it was good to see Carlos...happy with it. Very happy with it, it seemed.

"Oh, so that's how you plan to get what you want, you're going to beat it out of me. You know, if you break my arm, I'm not going to be able to challenge anyone." Carlos had never gone for the artistic or intellectual challenges, after all.

He smirked a bit, though. "Probably true," he said lightly. And Gael had liked it, not that he was going to tell Ty that. He already had the TMI look on his face. "Dude, don't worry, I'm not about to give you a blow by blow account. You already look kind of scarred."

"I am not worried, thanks. What I am going to do is go back to my office- which I hope you have no plans to defile while I am away. And right now I don't trust you- maybe you should just stay in your own office while I am away."

Because really, why does his mind go there. Ah well, he did smirk as he turned and then looked back at Carlos. "You can do whatever you want within your office. Also- I am going to need those reviews for your guards, because it is that time of the year, love."

"If I stay in my office, people are going to complain they can't find the acting head of security," Carlos pointed out with some amusement. "Besides, if you want me to challenge up, you should at least trust me a little, Mr. Kagan. What good's a right hand man if half the time you're wondering what the right hand man's doing to your office?"

It was a point, at least. As for the reviews, Carlos smirked a little bit. "Don't worry, darling, they'll be on your desk by the end of the day. And I haven't even illustrated them this year, since you let me know that was unprofessional last time."

"Progress, it can happen!" He said with a laugh as he shook his head. "And thank you- because last year it was a very difficult conversation to explain why there were drawings all over the reviews to my father. My father gives the most terrible 'I'm disappointed' looks ever, you know. You've met him."

And speaking of Elisha- he had a meeting with him. All the Department heads did. Something about budgets and sharing- he wasn't sure how this applied to him, other than someone apparently claimed that Securities budget was too big and the others didn't get enough funding. Go figure.

"I have to go- be....be careful with my Guards. No breaking. Save that for your boy-toy."

"I thought he'd appreciate the artistic touch." It had been, after all, Elisha who'd taught Carlos how to draw - at those times when the tremble in the king's hands was quelled enough to allow him to demonstrate with a pencil. It also, frankly, seemed like the kind of thing Elisha would have done had old king Alexander ever pushed him into security.

He just raised a brow, though. And Ty wondered why he resisted challenging up further. No one dragged Sevens into meetings with royals to argue about budgets. The paperwork, Carlos could handle. The potential of having to discuss things with Catherine Munwane or Elisha Kagan was enough to give any reasonable Club pause.

"Oh, don't worry, Ty," he drawled. "I won't make any of them run away screaming. Try not to run away screaming from the director of finance." Those accountants, after all. Probably more terrifying than the rest of them combined.

One More Time Around

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