milliways_bar | (no subject)

"Yeah, well, at least most of you don't eat each other. I've run into some sentient beings that do."

You can do a lot in sixty years.

"There you go, then. If people look down at you for being human, write an expose on them."

Martin...pours the guy another drink.

"Nahhhh, Lilly wouldn't go for that. She wants the paper here to respect people's privacy. So no snarky exposes. Yet." He tries to smile, the alcohol going to his head and belly alike.

"No more for me, Martin. One more and I will pass out. Don't tell anyone, but for a reporter, I am a lousy drinker."

"Your secret dies with me."

Or at least with Knox, as Martin is going to live a long, long, long time. His smile is kind (for Martin, anyway),

"You could always start a gossip rag? Just tack 'em anonymously to the john, or something? I don't know."

So Martin drinks the shot. Woo.

"That, sir, is beneath me. Yeah, I like to get at the truth, and make sure that all the rocks are turned over. But not just to gossip. That serves no purpose.

"And I never do anything anonymously. If you want people to respect the truth, you have to stand behind it.

"They have newspapers on Rebma?"

"Woah, sorry, didn't mean to offend. I've got the blood of a homicidal little fink running through my veins, and it makes me forget that good people exist, sometimes."

He really does look apologetic when he says that, holding up his hands in a "peace" sort of move,

"Haven't a clue. I spent my time ditching assholes and trying to get at the Pattern so that I could either get the fuck out of there or die trying."

Knox smiles a bit. "Hey, I'm used to that kind of attitude. At least you, unlike the staff at the Gazette and unlike all the politicians at home, can apologize and sound like you mean it.

"Gotta ask, though. Where'd you learn about gossip rags."

"Bumming around the Shadows. I spent a couple years on Earth, in New Jersey, learning about Earth medicine. Got my EMT certification, there."

And became an avid reader of the gossip rags. They're funny,

"And I don't, often, so take it as a special day."

Knox now chuckles a bit.

"It's just Jersey where I come from. Nothing new about it. And that's where Gotham is.

"How the heck did you pick our not so fair state, of all places?"

"It was out of the way."

He says with a snorted laugh,

"Not big enough to attract the family, big enough to have what I wanted. Dirty, ugly, and it allowed me to be just a guy without wondering too hard where I came from."

"You must have been in Newark then. Even Gothamites stay away from Newark."

"Sounds about right."

He grins,

"But very few people argue with someone who can bench-press a VW Bug to make a point. I was pretty much left alone."

"You...showed people what you could do?

"And they left you alone? I would hve expected the opposite." After all, this guy would be pretty good cpmpetition for Superman.

Knox is forgetting something important.

Superman is hot. Martin looks like a geek. Super-strong hot guys equal heroes. Super strong geeks tend to equal villains.

Martin says blandly,

"Well, you know, there is also that whole thing where I'm a right royal bastard who is as likely to point and laugh as help out if an idiot gets themselves into trouble."

"Ah." Knox supposes this is as likely as someone being an altruist.

"Martin, no offense, but it sounds like oyu have one messed up life. Guess the Bar is almost a relief for you."

"You have no idea."

He says with a snort,

"The bar is a relief for me. Bar, the people in it who are not my family. Yeah."

"Yeah, sometimes it';s good to get away from family. Evne when they aren't gods." Knox, now feeling the effects of his drinks, pushes chair from table.

"Bleargh. I think I need some fresh air. Good talking to you."

"Later, man. 'Ware the werewolves in the woods."

Because humans, especially drunk ones, should be reminded of such things.