bridgescribble | what sounds better? revenge or popcorn?

Frustration gnaws at Nacho internally. What the fuck, man? The nail salon's parking lot is crawling with cops, and he's not dumb or suicidal enough to get within a ten foot radius of whatever the hell is going on over there. Especially not in a vehicle known to the cops. He can hear a voice in his head telling him it was stupid to come here in this van, and he mentally swats it away like an irritating fly. He didn't know this place was gonna be crawling with cops, okay.

So he sits in his van, both hands lazily resting on the steering wheel and his head on his hands, parked some distance away. But close enough to see. Watching. Waiting.

Jimmy had asked Mike for... something. Nacho isn't clear on the details. But Mike, as it turns out, is otherwise occupied today. Nacho had promised Mike he'd help Jimmy instead, with whatever it was Jimmy needed. He hadn't asked Mike why he needed Nacho to go instead, but he figures Mike's gotta have something more important to do. He wonders if Mike told Jimmy to expect him; selfishly, he kinda hopes not, because he wants to see Jimmy jump out of his skin as revenge for having to wait outside this police-filled parking lot. Mike's usually so thorough, though, that Nacho can't imagine he wouldn't have filled Jimmy in.

That's when he sees it. A familiar(...ish? It's not like they're close or anything) ginger combover exiting the nail salon. He sits up a little and gets ready to turn the key in the ignition. He just needs Jimmy further away from the cops first... come on, man...

Of course there are cops today. Why wouldn't there be? Things never went according to plan or easily for Jimmy, and this is clearly no different. Not that he's anything more than a law abiding citizen and a tenant who is paid up on rent and in good standing, no sir. But he's a known entity to the cops, as a defense attorney, and nosy as they are, he can't imagine one or two of them won't take note of him.

He scrubs his face, groaning in annoyance, before making up his mind and composing himself. He has no real choice but to risk it. He wouldn't say he's good friends with Mike by any means--he doesn't even know if Mike has friends with his cantankerous attitude and dislike of small talk and.... well, any talk--but he knows the guy well enough by now. And he knows he won't put up with late people.

With a pleasant greeting to Mrs. Nguyen and her salon ladies, Jimmy makes his way out of the salon, going for a totally non suspicious normal healthy lunchtime walk. In the opposite direction of the cops. He glances at the road, looking for any sign of Mike's old car, but so far nothing. Maybe he's the early one this time, who would've thunk it.

So, Mike didn't fill him in, huh? That's Nacho's guess anyway, judging by how Jimmy is just standing by the side of the road, a confused expression on his face like he's looking for somebody.

Great.

So. Okay. How does he go about this?

Nacho's stomach does a little flip, glancing at all of those cops hanging around. What the fuck even happened in that shopping center? Who picks a busy shopping mall to commit a crime at anyway?

Frustrated but desperate enough to risk it, there's the loud, high-pitched squeal of tires as Nacho's van comes pulling up to the curb where Jimmy is standing. He leans out the window and hisses only two simple words.

"Get in."

Jimmy gawks for a moment as Nacho pulls up aside him. He, indeed, wasn't filled in on this part of the plan. Sure, Nacho has about as much hair as Mike and probably just as much patience for small talk, but aside from that, they're two entirely different vibes. But he doesn't need to be told twice to get in, especially not from Nacho.

He opens the door, quickly pulling himself into the passenger seat. It's just one friend getting a lift from another friend to go do some totally not dubious activity, nothing suspicious here, coppers!

"Not that it's not great to see you, but I was expecting someone a bit more... old and cantankerous."

Nacho snorts. It might be a hint of a laugh, maybe, if you're inclined to be optimistic. He's not the most expressive guy (understatement!), so you have to observe carefully and read between the lines a little bit to decipher his moods.

"Mike's busy," he says, by way of explanation. As if that's all the explanation Jimmy needs.

He keeps his hands at ten and two, but doesn't hit the gas just yet. He stares out the array of police officers scattered thorough the strip mall parking lot.

"Yo, what the fuck happened over there?"

Look, as far as interactions with Nacho go, there's been no threat to his bodily integrity or any other sort of violence, so Jimmy is inclined to keep a bright outlook on it all. For his own peace of mind, partially. Nacho's no Salamanca, he knows that well, but it's not as if Nacho would refuse violence if it became necessary.

"Busy, yeah. Lucky for him I owe him one," he scoffs, as if the idea of Mike suddenly having anything come up that could affect his schedule is just unthinkable. He's probably getting some award for biggest sticker stickler in the entire parking lot security firm, if anything.

But, noticing Nacho hasn't started driving yet, he follows the other man's gaze, frowning a bit as he notices just how busy it really is out there.

"Some unholy combination of wrong place wrong time and Murphy's law. Two soccer moms on their way to a mani-pedi got in a fender bender, and I don't think even Albuquerque's finest want to mediate that."

Fortunately for Jimmy, if Nacho is getting violent with anyone today, it won't be Jimmy. If anything, he's more likely to get violent to protect Jimmy, not hurt him. But he hopes he won't have to do even that.

The other man's wariness evokes mixed emotions. Nacho doesn't like hurting people, physically or emotionally, and it doesn't bring him any joy to have an innocent (or, in Jimmy's case, maybe "innocent" is putting it strongly; relative innocent, then) afraid of him.

But there's a certain respect that people give you when they're aware of what you can do to fuck them up. With brute force or otherwise. Nacho likes that. The respect. The ability to be listened to without argument or protest. The knowing someone isn't going to try to screw you over. And in the world he comes from, brute strength by itself isn't enough to win you that kind of deference, but it's an essential ingredient to getting any kind of real respect.

Jimmy doesn't seem like he's cut from the same cloth, though, so Nacho tries to loosen up a little. Relax. Let some of the tension out, so Jimmy feels more at ease.

Tries. Nacho and loosening up don't go hand-in-hand. But a flicker of amusement crosses his face at Jimmy's description of soccer moms.

"Right." He exhales through his nose. "So... what do we do?" he asks, almost hopefully. Like Jimmy will have the answer.

Edited 2023-04-24 17:11 (UTC)

Improvisation is one of Jimmy's strong suits. And while he had been planning to meet Mike today, if Nacho is on board as his replacement, he's not going to complain exactly. ...Well, he might give Mike a bit of a hard time later for his lack of courtesy call, but that's for Mike to deal with. He's got no problem with Nacho, and optimistically considers the two of them on good enough standing. He's going to choose to believe Nacho feels the same, given that nothing bad has happened yet.

But rather than immediately answer his question of how to proceed, he regards Nacho a bit curiously. His relation with Mike is something Jimmy hadn't expected, really. He knows Mike knows some guys, and that he's running around in similar circles, but somehow it didn't ever occur to him that those two knew each other.

"I didn't know you and Mike were, uh, colleagues, so to speak."

what sounds better? revenge or popcorn?

6.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject