moving day

[searchingfordistraction]

". . . you want me to what?"

"I know you heard me."

"I think," Moran said, "it's time we discuss my next pay rise."

Jim rolled his eyes. "This isn't a job, Seb, it's a favor. You're free to say no."

Moran eyed him for a moment. Then he pulled out his mobile.



Long story short, here he is now, in a fake flat, with fake possessions in need of fake removal to another fake flat, with Jim all kitted up as Rich Brook on the sofa next to him, waiting for the doorbell to announce the arrival of a man who decided Icarus Removals was the kind of name that would inspire confidence in potential customers.

Jim fucking owes him.

Comments

[searchingfordistraction]

"I will," Rich promises.

Any unease that had been lingering in him from Douglas's visit has been entirely wiped away.

[captaincrieff]

Martin rather likes hearing that.

They make it back to the flat without crossing paths with any other annoying co-workers. Martin once more doesn't waste any time in getting back inside to get the rest of the boxes and to help pack anything that may still need to be done. Since it seems to have been mostly Seb doing all the packing work, it wouldn't surprise Martin if Seb was still going at it.

At least by now, nothing about his attitude should betray the chance meeting with Douglas, and just how well that had gone.

[catslash_rp]

The packing is nearly done. Funny, how much faster completely unnecessary work can go without Jim around.

(Moran can tell something has happened to irritate Jim, but he gives no sign of it. Jim will fill him in later if he needs to know.)

"He didn't slow you down too much, did he?" he asks Crieff, half-joking.

[captaincrieff]

"What? Uh. No."

Obviously something slowed them down, but it wasn't Rich.

"Everything went just fine."

Lies. He covers this by loading up more boxes. He's not the worst liar he knows, but he is pretty horrible.

[searchingfordistraction]

"I had trouble with the keys," Rich puts in. "What do you need so many keys for? Do you keep them as souvenirs?"

Look, he's not going to be the one to tell Seb someone was in his new flat without permission just because Rich and Martin combined couldn't seem to stop him.

(Seb flicks him a glance, but obligingly says something about how he should probably thin them out, yeah, now Rich mentions it, and lets it go.)

[captaincrieff]

Martin will get to that subject once they're finished. Causing a problem now will just delay things further, and he doesn't even want to get into the mess that will cause.

"I've got a few that I still don't know what they do, and I've had them for years," Martin says. "And I'm afraid to get rid of them, because that's when I'll remember what they're for."

And with that, he's out to the van with another stack of boxes on the trolley.

[catslash_rp]

The rest of the move goes off without a hitch.

Contrary to Moran's initial expectations, Jim is still with them at the end of it. He's not even trying to guess why.

"Thanks, Martin," he says as he writes out the check (which he will make certain he is reimbursed for; even with the tip it's not that much, but it's the bloody principle of the thing). "Care to join us for a beer before you go?"

[captaincrieff]

"Ah..." It's not actually an offer he gets very often, surprisingly, and he would actually like to take him up on the offer.

"I should tell you that the reason we were a bit...held up earlier was because a co-worker of mine — from my other job, that is — did happen to recognise my van and stopped in to, I don't know. Say hi, I guess. He didn't touch anything! I made sure. But he was there."

And if Moran doesn't feel like paying full price, well... Martin can't really blame him, since he utterly failed to stop Douglas from going inside.

[searchingfordistraction]

Rich speaks up, looking extremely earnest.

"It wasn't Martin's fault," he says. "And we got rid of him pretty quickly."

Sort of quickly. Ish.

[catslash_rp]

Yeah, Moran just bets they got rid of him.

"Hmm," he says. "Arright, I suppose, long as he's not likely to turn up again."

[captaincrieff]

"No! No, he shouldn't do," Martin says. "I know I should have said earlier, but we were already a bit behind and I didn't want to make things go any longer than they already were, and, well..."

And he's still holding the cheque out, in case Moran does want to adjust the amount of the fee.

[catslash_rp]

He waves it off.

"It's fine, then," he says. "I appreciate the honesty."

As opposed to, say, stories about keys. Which he doesn't actually mention, but he does give Rich a look that makes his meaning abundantly clear.

[searchingfordistraction]

"You have too many keys."

Well, it's true.

[captaincrieff]

Martin nods, a bit surprised that the conversation didn't go as terribly as he'd expected it to.

"Good. I just thought that you'd want to know, so I guess I'll just..." He motions vaguely toward the door, not quite having the nerve to ask if the previous offer of drinks was still on the table.

[catslash_rp]

"I've got a couple other options," he says, "if you'd rather not be drinking before you get back in your van."

In other words, yes, it is still on the table.

[captaincrieff]

"Oh! Uh... One shouldn't hurt, I don't think. And I'm done for the day anyway."

He folds the cheque neatly and slides it into his pocket and tries not to look awkward.

"Thank you."