The Silver Lining

Lexi

Trigger warnings: Alcohol (It's a bar, this whole chapter is filled with it.) Occasional drunk guy

WILBUR'S POV:

How have I not committed a felony yet? Like, honestly. The amount of times these people push me to my limits is astounding sometimes. I get to work, and the first thing I do is drag some guy out the front door because the bastard was absolutely wasted and starting to get violent. It's midday and already people are getting drunk. I'm amazed; I always come into work thinking: "there's no way that someone could be that stupid" and I'm consistently proved wrong. Not to mention it's one of the more sketchy areas in town, and probably one of the only reasons they didn't care about my blatant scarring. Although, those scars are also one of the things that help to keep my job, so there is that. No one wants to piss off a bartender that they feel is more violent than they are, which is always fun. Anyways一

"Hey! Cindy! Mind if I join ya?" Jerold is one of my only coworkers. He's alright but late to his blasted shift.

"Do you even own a clock?" I laughed and finished making the shot I was working on before he finally decided to show up.

"Ha ha, very funny Cindy" he starts getting another drink ready and we fall into a familiar rhythm like usual.

"I told you not to call me that, that reminds me! When did you speak to my brother?" I swear I saw him almost drop his glass.

"Shit, um, over the phone. He gave me a call at some point, no big deal." I've never allowed him, or anyone I know, to meet my brother. I trust him enough, but if it all goes to shit, I wouldn't want him involved by association. That and you really shouldn't trust anyone in general. Okay, so maybe I don't trust him completely, with my brother at least. The way he said that was weird. Why did Achilles need to call him? He's spoken to him over the phone before, but only through him briefly chiming in when I was on a semi-business call. It's not like Achilles knows him. I'll find out from him later...

"Um, Cindy? You good? Been glarin' at me for a bit." I snap back to reality.

"Hmm? Sorry, spaced out." I look him in the eyes, studying his face. He's nervous. Why's he nervous? He's guilty about something. "Something the matter?" My eyes are narrowed as I say this. "You're not hiding something from me, are you?" Yup, he definitely did something.

"Um, you're not gonna kill me in my sleep or anything for talking with 'em, right?" He finally confesses. I've got to admit that was unexpected. I thought we had gotten over the phase of initial shock and fear. Not that we should ever be close enough to be attachments, we, me and tommy-FUCK. I've been using our real names the whole day, well, most of the day anyway. For Prime's sake! If you keep calling him that mentally or when you're alone you'll mess up when it counts. You know this.

"Where'd you get that idea from?" I asked.

"Well, you're pretty protective over him, and the threats you make are kinda graphic sometimes." Jarold's fidgeting constantly as he says this. I kinda feel bad for him.

"Fair point. And you're safe, you're built like a twig anyways. I've never seen you do an ounce of heavy lifting since I met you. Actually, I don't think V has either." I get back to doing my job because someone has to and he pauses, comprehending what I said.

"...Thank... you...? And, rude. Man. Wait, since I'm not a threat, can I meet him?" I stopped what I was doing to give him a deadpan look.

"Absolutely not, unless you want to risk me breaking a bottle over your head one day after work." I wait a moment for his response. Fear, nice.