Gin Mills and the Goods

Long Live

"So we're just gonna sit here and wait for them to be done drinkin' coffee and neckin'?" Demands Tedros, propping his bad leg above the glove compartment.

"I'm so glad you're wearing trousers." Mutters Hort, eyeing his leg.

"Didn't you tell Kei I had nice legs?"

"Give up with that already!" Snaps Hort, going red. "Ain't it obvious they've left us guardin' the car to get us to talk it out?" 

"I ain't done anythin' to you." Says Tedros stoutly. Hort stares, incredulous. 

"You told me I played like a drunk dog, yesterday!"

"And it's true, you ain't been practicin'. But you got me kidnapped and shot."

"Not on purpose!" Barks Hort. "Agatha told me it wasn't my fault, and I've already apologised, so I don't know what more you want!" 

Tedros stares at him.

"Lady A told you that?" 

"Yeah. Didn't she tell you she said that?"

Hort sees Tedros's mouth tighten, and thinks he understands the problem. No, she hasn't told him that, because she hasn't told him anything. 

"You still haven't talked to her?" He asks, confused. "Even after everythin' that happened at Foxwood?"

"Why should I have?" Demands Tedros. "She ain't sought me out."

"But--" Hort stops himself. 

"But what?" Says Tedros. Hort remains mute.

"But what?" 

"I thought you were doin' it to impress her." Mutters Hort. "Like, on her behalf. You know?"

"I wronged them cause they wronged me and I wanted them to pay for it." Snaps Tedros, staring out the car window, jaw working furiously. "Lady A has nothin' to do with it." 

So Lady A has everything to do with it, then. Abruptly, Hort finds himself feeling oddly sorry for Tedros. It's not something he's ever done before. 

Weird. 

"She really ain't said anythin'?" He asks, quieter. 

"Seems she prefers tellin' butchers boys things she has no right to be decidin'." Says Tedros hotly.

"That was before we even set off to get you." Dismisses Hort. "She ain't real interested in me. I ain't been very nice to her, truth been told. Then again, she ain't been nice to me, so we're probably even." 

He sees Tedros frown in the reflection of the window.

"Why, what've you done to her?"

"Knew her when we were kids." Says Hort. "My old man's butcher's was opposite an orphanage, right? The orphanage she was at. Used to come and get the order, least before Callis swooped in and took her off. She came back to try and see me, and… I kinda gave her the cold shoulder. I didn't she was Lady A until she told me, though. I sorta recognised her, but never made the connection." 

"Oh." Mumbles Tedros.

He doesn't say it, but Hort can anticipate it anyway. He's probably been saying it a lot lately;

She didn't tell me that.

An uncomfortable silence settles over them. Hort finds himself running back through his conversation with Agatha.

Something from that conversation catches his attention.

"Um." He says. "Tedros?"

"What." Grunts Tedros.