drear | i will sail to the far shore

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i will sail to the far shore

[ Los Angeles is a city of easy prey, and that's nice, when he's not feeling up to a chase or trying to find new ways of getting close to Naoto. Not only that, it's where Heine lives.

At first he really thought the guy was fucking his beloved "sister". Continued denials and his own sniffing around have put that thought to rest, and then brought to light a new fact: Heine's pretty easy, too. It probably helps that he knows Magato has no interest in fame or fortune for himself. All Magato really wants is the fucking around—in all meanings of the phrase.

Speaking of fucking around, there's that one guy walking into the bar... Eames, if he remembers correctly. Sorta famous, sorta not, whatever. He definitely has a thing for Snowflake.

So of course Magato turns from where he's sitting at the bar and raises one hand in a lazy wave, fingers curling toward his palm. ]

Fancy seeing you tonight. You come here often?

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[ Two hours of time is plenty to take a nap. Heine sets an alarm, lies down, and closes his eyes.

Somehow, even knowing that he's going to meet Eames again in a few hours, the exhaustion inherent to having a terrible lifestyle for months before trying to get his shit together means that he still falls asleep.

Heine's never that picky about food, so looking at the food trucks from a distance, he's already sure he'll get something. Which means all he has to worry about is Eames. ]

Hey. [ He'd napped in his clothes—a plain black t-shirt and black jeans that don't show much wrinkling—and he figures Eames has seen his hair in worse states. This is casual. He doesn't wave. ] Got a specific kind of food poisoning to recommend?

Hey. You just wake up?

[Eames can't help but laugh at Heine's sleep mused hair, helpfully trying to make it lie down in the back before giving up and tucking his hands in his front pockets. It only hits him then how casual and forward that gesture had been, but he shook the thought off before it could take root and sprout a thousand thoughts that'd entangle him like thorns.

Instead, he huffed, mock offended.]

I'll have you know only one of these trucks gave me food poisoning and it was worth it. But in all seriousness, the Mediterranean fusion truck means business."

I took a nap.

[ Heine stares at Eames, unable to quite suppress his surprise at how readily he seems to be make contact. Last night they'd hardly brushed against each other.

After they separate, Heine looks aside, trying to not feel weird about it. Because—casual. This is casual. ]

Good business or bad business?

Long day already?

[Despite Heine's trepidation, Eames was going to make a beeline for the Mediterranean truck, grinning.]

Good business. If you don't like it, you can always give it to me.

Talking to marketing people makes any day long.

[ Heine lets out a heavy sigh, partially for effect, and goes with Eames to the Mediterranean food truck. ]

Got a suggestion for good business?

[ He'll take it, if he has one. After food's ordered Heine takes a moment to look at Eames once more, taking him in in proper lighting this time. ]

So does your apartment look less like a dump now?

Why not have an associate go in your stead? Especially if it was going to be long and boring.

[Not that Eames could really judge, considering his agent told him constantly he didn't have to be in every meeting he went to. Still, he liked going to most just to make sure he was being represented properly and to get a feel for the people he was going to do business with.

As they settled down to eat food, he let out a bark of laughter, nudging Heine's knee with his own, mock offended.]

Excuse you, I was in a very creative and productive time of my life. I didn't have time for cleaning.

[He paused to bite into his food, before adding:]

It's more inhabitable now though.

I have a reputation I'm supposed to repair.

[ According to his agent, anyway, and Heine does prefer to be employed. ]

Has your bedroom even been accessible for the last month?

[ With all the things scattered, Heine doubts his pathing capabilities. He does trust his food recommendations, though, so he digs the plastic fork into the rice to start eating. ]

Need any help?

[Reputations are tricky things, and Eames has been told he's pretty charismatic. He hadn't been in the business as long as Heine had been, but he'd been feeling his way around pretty well. Anything he could do to help, he'd do without hesitation.

... Which felt a bit much to say in the face of Heine being so rude to him. He scoffed slightly, straightening his spine.]

I've been able to get to it just fine.

[Mostly because he'd kicked stuff out of the way but anyone else would have found the journey perilous.]

[ Instinctively, because he has been in this business longer than Eames has, Heine gives him a sour look over a forkful of food. It fades a second later into a more blank stare and he shakes his head. ]

I'll figure it out. It's my fault anyway.

[ He makes sure to rib Eames some more, just in case he thought he was getting soft or something. ]

You sure you're not sleeping on the floor with all the bottles instead? Looked cozy.

[At that look, Eames raised up his hands as if to defend himself, frowning slightly when Heine shook his head.]

I can't say I agree. When you're an addict, you're not going to make great choices.

[he paused, not sure if he should even bother in saying it, but if they were going to be serious about this, Eames wanted to be clear. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.]

Don't shut out the people who care about you, okay?

[Then, leaning back he went back to picking at his food, snorting at Heine's rudeness.]

They were good bedfellows, I'll admit. A lot less rude than some of the people I've slept with.

[ Eames' response isn't what Heine expected, and he feels like it isn't what he deserves. ]

Yeah. ...I'll try.

[ In the meantime: ]

Are you trying to say something about me? Because you already did last time.

[Despite the belief to the contrary, Eames wasn't so great when it came to dealing with his own emotions. Everyone else's were easy, but his always felt better if they were neatly tucked away and never discussed. So he was willing to let Heine slide off the hook with that, nudging their knees together in unspoken solidarity.

That being said, he only beamed innocently at Heine's question.]

We both know if I wanted to say something, I would darling.

[He nodded towards Heine's food, to find neutral ground.]

What do you think?

[ He knows very well that Eames would say whatever was on his mind. That's something he likes. Unfortunately.

At least talking about the food is easy. ]

It's good. [ He finishes another bite, chewing slowly to give himself a few more seconds before he replies. ] Do you eat here a lot?

[ He can't remember Eames cooking very much. ]

High praise from you indeed.

[Eames paused at the question, torn between pointing out how that sounded too close to a cheesy line to be taken seriously, before deciding against it.]

Yeah. Enough so that seeing me here is normal.

[ Seems like Eames knows what's going on in his life, even if it also does seem lonelier than Heine might have first thought. But they're seeing each other, at least. ]

Still not cooking? [ He gives a small shrug, and amends, ] Nill was getting on my case about it.

Not if I can help it.

[Also Heine had seen his place. It wasn't really fit for any sort of cooking. That being said, he grinned at the image of Nill hounding Heine about anything.]

You should listen to her, she's very smart. How is she doing?

Good. She's picking up some new projects with some jazz musician from England.

[ Maybe Eames knows him? Heine doesn't jump to that conclusion, and instead adds, ]

Naoto's as murderous as ever.

Anyone I know?

[Eames had a vested interest in keeping Nill safe and sound, and while at first it had been a way to get closer to Heine, Nill was a friend in her own right, nowadays. While she could take care of herself, he didn't mind being added to the long list of people who would be burying the body of whoever hurt her.

He did laugh a bit at the mention of Naoto, somewhat comforted by that thought.]

She has every reason to be. I'm surprised she didn't try to gut you sooner.

Probably because I managed to avoid her for a couple of weeks.

[ During the worst of it, Magato's apartment had been both a refuge and a place where he continued to downward spiral. ]

I heard she talked to Yusuf.

You can never escape a woman's wrath for long.

[Eames said, feeling a tinge of sympathy for Yusuf. He'd have to call on him to make sure he still had all of his limbs in tact. And while he didn't want to bring up Magato's name, like it was a bad luck omen to their shaky peace, his curiosity won out as it always did.]

Any idea what she is going to do with Magato?

[ Raising his eyebrows, Heine nevertheless nods. He picks up another bite and is still chewing it when Eames asks after... Magato.

Well. They probably would've had to talk about it eventually. ]

Chase him out of town if she has her way. It's not like she hasn't hated him forever.

[The lack of reaction out of Heine was either practiced or perhaps he really didn't care either way about the fate of Magato. He wasn't sure whether this was a good sign or not.]

Those two are very odd.

[As if Eames' friends are any better.]

I'm sure everyone close to you would breathe easier if she did.

[ That could be true, and honestly, Heine was aware that most people didn't like Magato much even while going out with him. ]

Are you included in that?

Is there a good answer to that?

[Eames retorted easily, pausing when he noticed some people starting to gather across the street. People with obnoxiously big cameras.]

Fancy being on the front of the tabloids again or should we wrap this up?

Guess you're still doing well.

[ That is, if there are people still trying to get tabloid photos of him. Heine doesn't make eye contact across the street and instead begins to pack up his leftovers into the takeout box. ]

Think they're interested enough to try and follow us?

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