undergrounds | [semi-closed] april showers bring may flowers

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[semi-closed] april showers bring may flowers

i. oliver; of all the gin joints in all the towns
[things were definitely strained, still. and even all of the take-out dinners and casual hacking wasn't really fixing it. it wasn't oliver's fault though, connor knew that. he could feel himself pulling back because he was just so scared all of the time now. he should he pushing forward and trying to make things right, he honestly didn't even care if he was going to look desperate for affection (and there's a concept) or not, but this thing with the ghosts...

at least he had people who knew about this kind of shit, but as far as he knew, oliver wasn't one of them. and for all that he was trying to not drink (as he was "recovering" from "addiction" - great job on the lie there, buddy), bars were places supernatural types hung out and that made them oddly appealing. you'd think he'd want less, not more of this other world but there was a kind of safety to being around people who know you're not just crazy.

but he's not expecting to see oliver, of all people there. he does a literal double take when oliver walks in. part of him wants to duck out, ashamed that he's more or less avoiding him by being here but another part of him is morbidly curious as to how oliver knows about this place.

guess which one wins.]

Oliver? What are you --- ? [smooth.]

ii. matt; you know how to whistle, don't you steve?

[it was already april. incredible. april, and soon his year long program would be over and it would be summer and he'd have to find some attorney to spend two years with as an apprentice. he was not about to sell his soul to annalise keating for two more years, god knows the year he's been with her was already traumatic enough. (though part of him has to wonder, if she tries to leave, will she out them all?)

this was a long shot. he'd only met this guy twice, under really unprofessional circumstances but it was better than nothing. and deep in his heart, connor knows he's the kind of great and confident young man that anyone would want to staple their papers and bring them coffee.

matt's office is definitely not as nice as annalise's, but not having to murder people was a great trade off as far as he was concerned, so whatever. he lets himself in (business hours, door is unlocked)]

Is Mr. Murdock in?

[please save this poor sad child]

((pm me or hit me up on

luftballons if you want a prompt of your own!))

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[Oliver didn't see Connor when he walked in, but he sure recognizes his voice when he addresses him.]

Connor?

[He doesn't know what to think when he whirls around to face him, tense and wide eyed. Like he's been caught somewhere he shouldn't be. Connor seems so... normal. It's hard to imagine he could have ended up in here by anything but accident. Except out of the two of them, Connor's the one who shouldn't be hanging out in bars. He's an addict. And this is really no place for an addict.

He glances around to see who's watching, then drops his voice to a furious whisper. Which probably just makes them more conspicuous in the end.]

What are you doing here? Do you even know where you are?

Yeah, I'm -- [he nods over at his glass of soda water, a little annoyed that this is the thing that comes up first, aside from the wow how do you know about all of this? though, on another hand maybe that means oliver really cares about him and --- focus.]

Why are you here, though?

Oh. Good.

[Well. He can at least relax a little knowing Connor's not here to get drunk, or high, or whatever else. Not that he's necessarily that much safer here sober. He shrugs helplessly. It's not a conversation he's had before. He's known other humans who know about all this stuff, but he's never stumbled across anyone from the more normal parts of his life in places like this.]

I like it. The people here. They're... fun. Interesting.

[He watches Connor carefully. He has to know what this place is. Why else would he be hanging out in a bar sober? Unless he's here to pull other guys and just happened to end up in this one.

His stomach drops at that thought, though really what would it matter if he was? It's not as though he can expect Connor to hang on indefinitely while he wavers over whether or not he trusts him enough to try being with him again.]

[oliver isn't wrong to be concerned with connor hitting on guys, because he has. it's just in his nature, whether he's waiting for oliver or otherwise. but the truth is, he really does care about oliver and at the end of the day, he's the one he keeps worrying about. and in connor's world, that's got to count for something.

but maybe it doesn't for oliver.]

Interesting's definitely one way to put it.

[how long were they going to skirt around this until someone finally mentioned the elephant in the room though]

Yeah. How did you find out about this place anyway?

[Totally casual question. He looks around to see if he can spot any empty tables. Maybe this will feel less nerve-racking sitting down.]

[connor can tell what he's getting at, so he follows his gaze until they find a place and leads the way over to the empty tables.]

Uh, from a friend.

[hes such a lawyer]

Right.

[That's a terrible answer. He gives him a look as he sits down, immediately regretting not ordering a drink before he did that. He feels like he should have one in front of him, but he'll also look ridiculous if he immediately stands up again.

He stares at Connor for a moment longer, then sighs.]</small Okay, this is stupid. Either we keep skirting around this, or one of us is going to have to ask something that sounds completely crazy.

[yeah, okay, oliver does have a point here. connor sighs.]

My friend is a witch? Does that help?

Yeah. I guess it does. Are you a witch?

[He doesn't seem like the type to be a witch. Something else maybe?]

No, it's -- it's kind of a long story. But my friend left town so.

[he shrugs now he's just kind of here.]

Why do you know about this place?

Oh, I found it.

[That makes it sound so easy.]

I tried to stay out of it when I moved here. Supernatural things. I mean, it's not like I'm anything special. Just your average human. I don't really belong here. I just... the human world gets so boring when you've seen all this, you know?

[there's so many days connor would rather take boring over all of this, but he knows oliver doesn't have the same hang ups he does about this. or at least he assumes so.]

How'd you find out in the first place?

[Ah. That question.]

It was high school. It's embarrassing, I don't want to explain it, but I ended up with a werewolf stalker and I started looking into what supernatural things could actually be real after that.

What about you? How did you end up making friends with a witch? [He hesitates a moment.] You are human, right?

[at least connor looks pretty concerned about the stalker comment]

A -- a stalker? Were you okay? Are you okay?

[the questions oliver gave him can wait.]

You heard high school, right? This wasn't exactly recent. I'm fine.

[He nudges him under the table, eager to shift the conversation back to Connor again.]

Now come on. I want to hear your story. It's probably way more interesting than mine.

[he frowns but doesn't pursue, especially since he's gotta come up with a way to explain what happened to him.]

It's really not that interesting.

Seriously? It's you. And... this.

[He's grinning pretty hard, but this is exciting. He can't help it.]

The two most interesting parts of my life have collided. There's no way this isn't that interesting.

Uh, I have a friend? Who is a witch? He taught me about this stuff.

[are you asking or telling, connor?]

Yeah, I got that part.

[He's disappointed, but he shrugs, trying to pretend he isn't.]

It's okay. You don't have to tell me properly. You mind if I grab a drink? I feel kind of weird sitting here without anything.

[damnit. disappointing oliver is like the literal worst at this point. ok deep breath]

Look, it's complicated, alright? My flat is haunted. By actual ghosts.

Edited (i fucked up im so bad at being fake british) 2016-05-26 05:33 (UTC)

Wait, ghosts? Are you serious?

[Oliver, you are not supposed to look excited by that.]

[yeah for real this is eating him up inside]

I thought I was going crazy, but then I met Soeki and he told me that it could really happen. So hooray ghosts and not being insane, I guess?

[He sobers a little. It's hard not to want to ask more questions, but Connor's clearly not as into this as he is. He settles back in his seat.]

Yeah, it... it feels like that at first. But you're not crazy. There's so much out there most people are completely blind to. You just need to start finding the people who aren't.

Yeah but it's not that simple. I'm pretty sure there's not a grindr option for "btw I'm a vampire."

There could be.

[Wait.]

Not actually on grindr, but you know. There could be something.

[he's listening.]

Yeah? But how would that work?

Well, it's not like this stuff isn't online. It's just not easily accessible for most people. Plus it's all over the place and a bunch of it is totally fake.

It's probably a stupid idea, but I mean a private app could have its uses, right? Obviously you'd have to know about it in the first place and it's not actually that simple to get something like that started, but if there was then maybe it'd be an easier way to find certain kinds of people. Like if you wanted someone who knew more about ghosts than the people you know already.

[He shrugs. Like he hasn't put a lot of thought into this and it doesn't matter that much to him either way.]

I don't know. It might not work that well in practice and it's not like apps are my area, but...

Even if they're not your area, do you think you could do something like that? It could be really useful, to have people have a way to get in touch...

[and not even really just for selfish reasons! amazing!]

You think so?

[He sounds pleased to have his agreement, if a little wary. He's definitely thought about this, but he hasn't had the nerve to discuss it with anyone yet.]

Edited 2016-05-31 08:14 (UTC)

Yeah, I do. It could be a really good way to meet people. To foster community, I guess? That sounds pretty lofty but, hey, the world of technology is important.

[time to bring the supernaturals to the 21st century.]

[Oh, Connor.]

That does sound pretty lofty. There are plenty supernatural people out there who know way more about technology than you do.

The whole secretive thing just makes it hard to set up anything for anyone who doesn't know their way around the deep web.

Okay, fine.

[now he's just going to act vaguely put out like a child for a moment don't mind him]

Hey. Come on. It's not like I haven't offered before to show you how to do this stuff.

[Maybe not for that reason specifically, but it's happened.]

[ Matt's office is a hole in the wall, with fold-out chairs and fax machines from the 1980s but with the windows open and a smiling assistant/receptionist/paralegal (that woman deserves a raise) greeting potential clients at the door, they're pretty alright. ~~Hey, at least Matt isn't in as much debt as he would be if he went to law school in the US.~~ They get most of their clients through word of mouth anyway, so Connor is actually a bit of a surprise.

Matt's in the middle of discussing the finer points of why they can't start their own football team when Connor steps in. (I mean, of course he heard him approach, but his receptionist seemed really into the idea so he wasn't about to just change the subject.) He and Connor keep running into each other and Matt's pretty sure he must be here on the behest of his boss, so it's only polite to turn around and face him. ]

Connor? [ Um. They do real work here, I promise. Matt adjusts his glasses, straightening up. ] Of course, come in. What do you need?

[hey a football team would be great, what are you talking about?]

I know we haven't met under the most professional of circumstances, but I wanted to propose something to you.

[so yeah he's definitely not here on the behest of his boss. he looks over at matt's secretary, wondering if they should have this conversation here or head back to matt's office, but he's still ALL CONFIDENCE because thats how you win friends and influence people.]

I'm finishing up my LPC in a couple of months and after that I'm going to take an apprenticeship. If you needed another hand here...

[ Matt would make a great goalkeeper, am I right. He chuckles-- which naturally makes his receptionist eye him. "Unprofessional circumstances" usually means one of two things for Matt. One of them involves a red uniform, and the other involves copious amounts of alcohol. HMMMM... ]

I... [ Wow, this is rather sudden but also if the state of their office is any show for it, they quite obviously could use more help. Duh. That confidence is totally working, by the way. Matt takes a little to regain his composure-- it's not often an opportunity just falls in your lap like this. If he had lawyer enemies, he might think this is a trap. ]

Of course, we'd be happy to have you. If you're sure, I mean.

[ It is a lonely, lonely practice, after all. ]

[well that was...a lot easier than expected. especially considering this could be a two year commitment.]

Would you like a copy of my CV anyway?

[i mean, he went to all the trouble to print them out and make them look nice and stick them in the folio he's carrying like he's vaguely professional.]

[ They are a sad lonely office with very few connections (outside of Redbright or the underground community,) this kind of opportunity does not present itself to them every day. But Matt can kinda tell what Connor's going for here, so of course he nods for his assistant to, well, assist him. ]

Sure. I'll have my assistant scan it for me. [ Most of their budget went into a fancy text-to-braille/speech scanner tbh. ] Let's-- would you like to step into my office? I could interview you, tell you a bit more about the work we do. I don't want you to come into this with any false expectations.

[ or in other words, are you really sure you wanna work for this guy, Connor. ]

Sure, that sounds good.

[he hands off his CV to the assistant - smiling at her with you know, his usual charm, and then waits to follow matt into his office. is he sure he wants to work with matt? well, no, not really. he's going to have to swallow his pride about the guilt thing they talked about but that's gotta be infinitely better murdering people. if he has to take absolutely he knows which side he'd rather be on, here.]

[ At least Connor can rest assured that Matt does not murder people. I mean, sure, he beats them up sometimes but murder is totally off the table. And that's not even his day job. ]

Right this way.

[ Matt takes a couple steps till his hand is on the wall, guiding them into his modest space. He's got a desk and a pair of chairs and his braille display set up with his computer. Matt's obviously comfortable in his office, he leaves his cane behind in favor of walking up to his chair and taking a seat. ]

Go ahead. [ He motions to the chairs. Or where they should be, anyway. ] Why don't you tell me about yourself, Connor? What brings you here?

[ There's gotta be more to him than he's letting on. Matt doesn't need to know now, but he will someday, he's sure. ]

[matt manages to motion close enough, but connor doesn't really think anything about it. he's got a lot more on his mind than figuring out whether matt is a metahuman or not.

(although maybe if he could tell, he'd decide this maybe wasn't the best place to be running to right away.) ]

I'm finishing up my LPC at City right now. When I finish with that I'll need an apprenticeship. I'm working with a defense attorney right now but...I guess I was really inspired by what you said the other day. About helping people.

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[semi-closed] april showers bring may flowers

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