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[rickitikitarr]

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[formerself]

This the kind of 'love' that's gonna get anyone in the Infirmary?

[So long as 'anyone' is actually Solomons, he's...absolutely fine with that.]

[rickitikitarr]

They're grown ups. And, I'm about to propose doing something to you that was invented in a secret building in Moscow.

[So who are they to judge, honestly.]

[formerself]

[Eggsy blinks several times. Oh, that's why he's round.]

......Yeah. Glass houses, eh.

[He fills a pot with leaves and hot water, then goes rummaging for mugs and milk.]

So, uh, you got any more detail there?

[rickitikitarr]

Eh- part of why it works is the fear.

[A light shrug of his shoulders.]

But we should talk about how it's going to work. I thought I might set you up- it's slow-building, like, very gradual. Give you the spoken lecture as it sinks in, and stop when you've gone as far as you can.

[formerself]

[He nods, and if there's a little bit of a straighter set to his shoulders - well, he is nervous about this. Training didn't really cover 'enhanced interrogation technique', if only because the vast majority of them were always destined to be sent home; he supposes there's a limit on how much you can teach some Oxbridge brat you're going to send on their way with nary a by-your-leave.]

Okay. That makes sense. Where would we...?

[rickitikitarr]

Yours.

[He decides, and reaches for his cigarettes.]

[formerself]

Alright. Here's good.

[Makes sense. It's private, and it stays out of Ricki's space.]

I - I'm fine to start whenever you are.

[rickitikitarr]

Not today. I did just come over here to get the dirt on Solomons- my point is I'm not going to lift my eyebrows too high if he and Omar get going with one another.

[He fully expects it.]

[formerself]

[Eggsy nods, and passes Ricki a teacup.]

What the two of 'em get into? It's none of my business.

[rickitikitarr]

I'll tell you if it gets good.

[Reaching for the milk.]

Anyways, you keep safe now.

[formerself]

[He can't help but be more concerned about Ricki. Given the reception Solomons got from one bloke with his face, he might be slightly less inclined to be friendly with the other one.]

'Round Solomons? I think I'm alright. He knows what it's like in his day, there's bits of it left in mine, so. Gave the impression I wouldn't start a fight or finish one.

[Just drag a friend away from one, now.]

[rickitikitarr]

You know how to handle a case like his.

[Ricki interprets, giving him a slightly shrewd.]

Are you going to be all right?

[formerself]

[The look Eggsy replies with is perfectly blank.]

Nothin' to not be alright about, Ricki.

[rickitikitarr]

If he's really peeved with Max-

[Max thought it, naturally, and so does Ricki.]

-well, you'll probably wipe the floor with him.

[formerself]

Yep.

[That's all she wrote, folks. He relents after a moment, shrugs.]

Dunno how peeved he is. When I got into it, he didn't care enough to keep at him, so -- anyway, if I've got so rusty he can get the drop on me then I'm basically askin' for it.

[In which case he will get his treatment as inobtrusively as possible and then not tell Max.]

[rickitikitarr]

All right, well, I'll try to keep away from him. No point muddying the waters any more than they're likely to muddy.

[Since Max, Eggsy, and probably soon Omar will be in it with him.]

[formerself]

Yeah, not a bad idea. [Eggsy gulps his tea.] Don't seem like you'll be missin' much.

[He makes the universally accepted 'wanker' gesture with his spare hand.]

[rickitikitarr]

[Ricki snorts, and sips his tea.]

Want my big news?

[formerself]

[This warrants a blink, and he tilts his head in interest.]

Yes, Ricki, I do.

[rickitikitarr]

I punched Peter in the face. Finally.

[Rolling his eyes ceilingward at his own behaviour.]

[formerself]

[Eggsy laughs, mostly out of surprise.]

Just for laughs, or'd you have a fight?

[rickitikitarr]

He was giving me shit about the port.

[He explains, with a laugh of his own.]

My temper got up.

[formerself]

Oh. Well, fuck.

[He pulls a face - if he didn't know about falling overboard as a Barge phenomenon, or at least couldn't pull that background reading immediately to mind, it's vanishingly unlikely that Guillam did either.]

He thought you just - showed up an' signed up, that that was you?

[rickitikitarr]

That was me. That's exactly the work I did for Peter.

[Shaking his head.]

The first words out of his mouth were practically 'I recognize you when you're working.'

[formerself]

I know, Ricki. I know it could have been you.

[He knows he's capable of being that person. It wasn't nice to be right up against it, but - he's always known. He wasn't kidding, when he said he understood why Ricki's an inmate.]

But you never chose to do any of that shit, that week. That's what I'm talkin' about.