the fine art of Figuring Out What The Hell You're Doing

[tactician]

Technically speaking, there was nothing about the situation that wasn't at least vaguely familiar. The locale was in the same area, if not the same bar (for some reason, Bentley seemed strongly opposed to that option and Evan supposed it was all right, since they might as well canvas what the area had to offer while they were at it anyway). Evan was half-sure they were playing the same songs, personally sure that they were serving the same drinks. The faces might have been different, but strangers were still strangers until they...weren't, which was the point of this entire outing to begin with.

Bentley still seemed a little...stiff, although that too was something that was, perhaps, also the same.

Evan forcibly wedged a tall glass of rose-colored something into Bentley's grasp, managing it despite the lack of cooperation and the fact that he was balancing a drink of his own in his other hand. The drink was transparent and fizzy with carbonated bubbles, adorned at the top with a modest sprig of green mint or whatever the local planetary equivalent was. It even had a delicate little straw, for the doctor's delicate little sensibilities. Evan pushed Bentley's hands into raising the cup to at least mouth-level, even if he couldn't force the other man to take a drink.

"Don't look so spooked," he encouraged, clinking the edge of his cup against Bentley's drink before taking a sip. "You've done this before, remember?"

Comments

TWO DOWN TWO TO GO

[aphelionix]

Well, all things considered, Bentley probably was the easier, weaker target. However, he had one big advantage, which he had never been all that grateful for until now. The man had grabbed Bentley by the collar, his right fist raising into the air, leaving the perfect opening.

Bentley thrust his metal palm forward into the man's chest. The shock spread through him, and he let out a sort of gargling noise before falling to the floor unconscious. It earned a brief moment of quiet among the spectators of the fight, in which Bentley straightened his shirt indignantly. The third man in the group looked startled, but not enough so to stop his pursuit.

He charged forward, and Bentley made a surprisingly quick dodge (though with a not so clean landing to the side as he stumbled). Some of the onlookers must've been on his side, because they helped him back up, saying things like, "Kick his ass! Shock him again!"

That baffled the charging man, who frowned deeply before yelling and charging again. Bentley ducked again, and this time, he didn't even have to shock him.

He rammed right into the bar, face first, and knocked himself out.

[tactician]

A roar of laughter and surprise came from the other end of the ring. Evan hazarded a look over his shoulder to see Bentley sort of just standing there awkwardly in the middle of an amused crowd, even more awkward for the fact that he was framed by two fallen men at his feet, one with his head half-propped on the bar and his lower half sticking in the air, and the other still twitching every few seconds.

Well, they always did like an underdog, and if there ever was a perfect image of an underdog, Bentley was probably it.

A hand fisted in the front of his shirt very abruptly brought Evan's attention back to what it should've been focused on. The man he had gutted was down for the count, queasiness and the unfortunately aimed blow getting the better of him, but the last remaining member of the four-man brigade was now dragging Evan forward into his grasp, just so that he could sneer threateningly into his face. Evan was taller than this one and about four times thinner. When the man, in a pure show of Neanderthal masculinity, bashed his forehead against Evan's, Evan definitely saw stars for a split second.

"Not so fast now, are ya?" crowed the apeman, shaking Evan a little by the hold on his clothes. Evan rubbed his forehead with a wince. Christ (may his mother, wherever she was, forgive him for taking the Lord's name in vain), was this guy's skull mechanical too? His other hand patted gently at the other man's neck, pressing against the skin with barely enough force for it to be even called a touch at all. At this, the apeman laughed, thinking he had all but knocked all strength out of his opponent. "What's that? You tryin' to choke me with one hand?"

"No," Evan replied mildly. There were at least four nerve centers concentrated in the human throat and the fellow's neck, at least, was not mechanical at all. He and Viana were hardly the type of fighters to throw what weight they had around. They got by by knowing things like this, by knowing how to jab their fingers into the right spots at the sides of the neck, at the center, at the base of the throat, with enough force to send the apeman's eyes rolling back in his head, to have him slumping down to the floor, sliding down Evan's front until he hit the ground with a heavy thump. (His head made a 'pang' sound when it made contact - definitely metal.)

Brushing off the front of his clothes, Evan turned around. "Let's try another bar," he suggested, rubbing his forehead again a little ruefully.

[aphelionix]

Bentley looked very impressed with Evan's knowledge of nerves, and a nervous smile overcame his face. He wasn't sure they were gonna make it out of that, but here they were, perfectly fine. Well, mostly fine, in Evan's case.

"I rather like that idea," he agreed, stepping carefully over the two unconscious bodies at his feet. "Also, you should let me check you for a concussion."

The crowd was whooping at them, but it didn't last long as the upset bartender from before started shooing them off. Some security guards, who either arrived very late or decided they were bored enough to watch, started hauling the defeated men out. The bartender started ranting about damage - though really, there wasn't much harm done to the bar. The only casualty was a broken chair. (Which was impressive, considering it was made of metal.)

[tactician]

"Put it on this card," Evan said, slapping a Digital Wallet card onto the counter with a little too much aplomb for it to have been his. And indeed, the face on the card was no one affiliated with the Circle - it was the face of the mechanical-eyed instigator. Somewhere in the course of the struggle, he had apparently nicked it from its rightful owner, which was only to be expected of an Intelligence member.

With that, Evan tugged Bentley out of the establishment - the bump on his head could really wait.

[aphelionix]

There was the slightest smirk when Bentley saw the card being used. Why, had Evan not known better, it might've looked like the good doctor was enjoying himself.

He followed Evan out, the fresh air rather welcome after all the commotion and crowding. The sidewalk was busy, but it was nothing one didn't get used to being on the Circle station.

"So," Bentley started. "That was... um."

Bentley looked like he was... trying not to laugh.

[tactician]

Settling back on the heels of his feet, Evan rolled his eyes at Bentley's about-to-burst expression and just sighed. "For the record," he said, "that isn't what I meant when I talked about 'connecting to people.'"

[aphelionix]

It was likely Bentley's ever so fragile nerves making him laugh instead of shake or stutter.

"I thought as much," he admitted. "I don't think I really would care to connect with those men, anyway."

[tactician]

"Maybe you shouldn't go dumping your drink in their eyes?" Evan suggested with a smirk.

[aphelionix]

Bentley scoffed, but it was in good humor.

"Maybe if he asked nicely, I would've fixed it." He paused. "And waterproofed it."

[tactician]

"He was a few shots past 'asking nicely,'" Evan sighed, looking back at the bar they had come from with an almost wistful expression. They had made their exit out the back entrance, granted, and what view they were afforded was simply a nondescript door in an equally nondescript alleyway, with only the flickering neon 'OPEN' sign hanging above the entrance to distinguish it at all, but still. "And here we were supposed to be getting you loosened up."

He turned back to Bentley, an apologetic twinge to his smile. "Next time, you can choose."

[aphelionix]

"That's quite all right," he said with a smile. Bentley let out a heavy exhale, becoming calm again. Evan's goal wasn't entirely a bust, though. There had been a connection of sorts; probably just not the way Evan had intended. "Thank you, by the way, Evan."

[tactician]

Evan raised a brow, making the almost perfectly round red mark on his forehead the tiniest bit lopsided. "For what?"

[aphelionix]

"Well, you know," he said. "Having my back. I know it's a Circle thing, that kind of loyalty, but... I appreciate it.

"...And are you sure you don't want me to check on that bump?"

[tactician]

Evan sighed quietly, more a customary show of amusement than any real protest whatsoever, and bent down a little - just the few inches necessary to put his forehead at Bentley's eye level. He tapped his forehead in open invitation before hooking his thumbs into his pockets to wait out the inevitable bout of doctorly concern that was about to follow.

"What else would I have done?" he asked, and in the dim alley lighting, his eyes were bright with a sense of subdued curiosity from under his blond fringe.

[aphelionix]

"I don't know," Bentley said, in the manner of someone who does know. Evan could've left him there like meat for a pack of hungry wolves, was what. Goodness knows people he's trusted in the past have done it. "Something not as nice. Though to be fair, I did half the work, I suppose."

The bump wasn't too bad, but it was bound to round out in a matter of hours. He dismissed Evan rather easily, but not without a doctor's order of looking out for dizziness, and if lights seemed a little brighter than usual, then to let him know.

[tactician]

"You call that half the work?" Evan scoffed, straightening as he waved a hand in front of his face. "You just stuck your arm out - it was a stroke of luck that you happened to be electric."

[aphelionix]

"That was not luck," he protested. "Though it's... admittedly, not the intended purpose of that."

[tactician]

"So you're a fighter now," Evan pushed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I guess I should report that bit of information back to Boss. He might even put you on field missions now. We've never had a combat medical unit before."

[aphelionix]

"Wha- no! I mean, there was that one mission... but that was a one time thing, I swear," Bentley said frantically, waving his hands. "That wasn't even supposed to happen, really."

[tactician]

"Don't be so modest!" Evan grinned teasingly, apparently much more at ease with the concept of Bentley going into battle than Bentley himself was, which was easy for him to say because, well, he wasn't the Bentley in question. "Boss would be really impressed! Think about how useful you would be if we could just drop you into the middle of red zones and not have to worry about whether you'd come back full of holes or not!"

[aphelionix]

"The only reason I wouldn't come out of it ridden with holes is because I have enough faith in myself as a doctor to patch myself up," he sighed, giving Evan a friendly push.

[tactician]

With a laugh, Evan rebounded from the push and slung an arm around Bentley's neck, dragging them both towards the main street. The night was technically still young. "You'd have backup, remember?" And, as they melded into the sea of people roaming the streets: "Now, let's see if we can find a joint where we won't throw our drinks into people's faces, and maybe we'll even find a nice boy for you to talk to, yeah?"

[aphelionix]

Bentley rolled his eyes with a sigh, but he was smiling. He gave Evan a pat on the back.

"I suppose we could do that."