milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Bored Bill is bored.

Against better judgment he asks Bar for something to do and she gives him a box and a root beer float.

Lifting the box he arches a brow.

"Really? C'mon."

The float disappears and his eyes widen.

"Hey, okay. I asked, I'll give it a try."

The float reappears along with a bowl of M&Ms.

Smiling Bill opens the box and sets up the game, his first attempt careening off at an odd angle into someones drink.

"Oh damn, sorry."

Anyone up for Tiddledy Winks?

[tiny tag of law enforcement: Kate Beckett]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"No, but I've met folks here who got powers an' such."

It's a little weird at first but Bill's learned to get over things like that pretty quick.

"I was in that line of work, too, but no powers. And the people with powers, the handful I knew, they were people, too. It was more that our methods expanded beyond the usual." In a way that he still thinks can make a difference, and often.

"Oh yeah? Ain't you got cops in your world?"

It seems to him that without powers being a cop would be the way to go to help people.

"We have cops, and Feds and armies, but sometimes things get a bit bigger than they can handle. And some places don't have anything resembling a good cop. Or if they do, they tend to be rare. Hub City was like that." Is there a little edge to Bill's tone? He's not sure.

He's trying not to take offense. He knows that in other worlds and in places outside of his small town there are plenty of troubles and things he'll never have to handle, but it's still hard not to defend the uniform.

"So why don't you an' them become a cop, an' be one of the good ones?"

"Because I was an arrogant cuss when I was 21, and decided that I could do more good by slapping on a mask and getting at the bad guys myself, and then reporting on what I did afterwards." He doesn't deny it was a strange career path. "After a while, it stuck. And after a longer while, I was sure I was doing some good without the law."

Mulling it over a minute Bill nods, figuring it's better to be an arrogant cuss out helping people then making trouble for them.

"So what d'you use, arrows or tiddleywinks?" It's not sarcastic or insulting at all, but said lightly as an acceptance and invitation to talk more if Charlie wants to.

"Fists, mainly. I boxed in college, and kept in shape, and for a long while I thought that was enough. Eventually, I got a much stronger grounding in martial arts, and was able to use kicks, leaps, and so on, but I wasn't fond of weapons. I wasn't aiming to kill and wasn't interested in being fancy.

"Never mind that any weapon can break, misfire, and so on." He never did understand how Ollie got to be so reliant on his bow. Strings have a way of breaking.

He's surprised to hear that the guy went into situations cops apparantely couldn't handle without a weapon.

He's also impressed, and glad to hear Charlie wasn't looking to kill people.

"An' do those others you mentioned help you out or you go it alone?"

"Alone for most of my career. Hub City wasn't big enough to have more than one hero, and...well, I didn't work well with others for a long time. I did take a partner eventually, though." Partner and heir to his mask.

"Hard job to take on all by yourself."

He hears the past tense when Charlie refers to Hub City and almost asks what happened then decides it might be better not to.

"I'm sure a lot of people appreciate what you've done."

Charlie laughs. "The number of people in Hub City who had any idea I was even there was rather low. I didn't even qualify as an urban legend. The number of people who were glad to have me...ten, maybe. Two is all I'm certain of."

"But you did help people?" He asks as confirmation for both of them.

"Yeah. It was a struggle but...yeah." He lets himself smile a bit, though he knows that sometimes Hub City was very much a lost cause.

Bill smiles too and nods.

"Good."

Because helping people and making a difference is the important part in all of this.

"What line of work are you in?" Charlie ignores that technically, being a hero is not a line of work for himself.

Bill takes a drink before replying, doing his best to keep it nice and casual given what they've been talking about this whole time.

"I'm sherrif back home."

It does feel good to be able to say it and know that he is again, or soon will be.

"Ah. So you know about crimefighting from the other point of view." That explains Bill's tone in his questions.

He nods.

"Yeah. Wheelsy is a small town, though. Don't get the same kinda trouble that the cities see."

Most of the time. That's not to say there's never been any, it's just usually a special brand.

"No drugs, no mob bosses, no overarching corruption, and so on...that might have made a nice change." And would have been close to mind-numbingly dull.

"Yeah, we got a pretty quiet town. Rowdy folks an' animals are usually the biggest problems. Sometimes a bit of crazy finds us but that's pretty rare."

Bill doesn't mind the small town life at all. Some people can't wait to get out; Bill's always been comfortable and mostly happy with where he's at.

"I lived in a place like that for a year." Pause. "No, I lived in a place that makes your town sound like Metropolis. An old farm 20 miles from anything. Where my sensei lives.

"Have to say, I learned to live without McDonalds and TV, but I was glad I could get out of there eventually."

"It ain't for everyone," Bill admits. "Growin' up, there was plenty of people I knew who were dyin' to leave, wanted to head for big cities an' such."

He pauses, surprised to find his thoughts suddenly turning to Starla, the girl he had carried feelings for, for a long time. They had grown up together and he had always hoped, but she left before he ever got a chance.

"I knew this one girl, she wanted to run off to Hollywood," He shakes his head, voice wistful a moment before he brings himself back out of memory.

"People move on but, I dunno, I couldn't really imagine myself livin' anywhere else. It's just always been home to me."

"I think every place has people like that. People like you, who can't leave, and people like your friend, looking for the next big thing or something new.

"I admit that as much as I like the big city, I rarely actually stayed in any given place for that long." It's one thing to leave a hellhole like Hub City, and another to come back because you aren't happy in Chicago or St. Louis.

Bill thinks about that and it's a minute before he asks, "How come?"

A beat, and he tries to clarify what he's asking.

"I mean... you said you tried the small town life an' didn't like it. Was it really that bad for you?"