obligatory psychotic jackass

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms​:

— ◈ —

“Yes, well, you should count yourself lucky,” she held her finger and thumb barely apart, “I was about this close to leaving you to fend yourself.” Maybe it wasn’t the nicest thing to admit, but sometimes her streak of honesty came at weird times. Besides, it wasn’t like she had left him. That had to count for something. “Luckily for you I am a saint,” she added in sarcastically, grin broadening into a slight smirk. 

The fact that she believed him about the police not doing anything just made her hold that much more disdain for this city. Where the rich get away with murder rolled around in her head, but she had no doubt that that was the case in Neptune. “But then I’d have the small problem of Wasserman showing up with a black eye or something and that sounds like more work for me to deal with than necessary.” Not that she had given Logan much information for context as to why she needed the man’s phone or Logan’s assistance. Veronica just had to think he’d be able to string along some kind of idea for why she was doing what she was doing without having to outright admit to anything concrete. Plausible deniability and all that technical jargon. 

Veronica tapped her chin thoughtfully. “A regular occurrence? Perhaps. Though I guess I wouldn’t say I’ve done so regularly recently if that answers your question.” And as long as Logan didn’t know exactly why she did what she had or had no involvement with what Wasserman after tonight, it didn’t really matter. Like she had thought before, it wasn’t as if the law here seemed to care for justice–only deep pockets. “I do like to maintain an air of professionalism,” she smiled. “More of a work first, play later type of gal.” 

He couldn’t honestly blame her if she had left. It wasn’t as if she had any reason to help him out, even if he’d only landed himself in the mess because she needed a favour – that simply made them even for what happened the night he met. Humming, he nodded serenely at her words before trying to look as though he was deep in thought. “If you’re a saint you’ll fight right in here. Neptune is clearly where all the pure souls come. It’s not really sunny all the time here, that’s the light radiating from everyone’s halo.” As he finished, he realised the funniest part of the statement was the amount of people around who believed it. Neptune was filled with over inflated egos, something he was sure she would have learnt her first week there.

For a fleeting moment, he was going to question why Wasserman having a black eye would be her problem, when he would have been the one to throw the punch, before settling on the fact he probably didn’t want to know. If she’d wanted him to know, she would have offered the information herself, and given she hadn’t he had to imagine there was a reason for that. Instead he moved swiftly on the next words she said. “Something says that I should never expect an answer from you that fully answers my question.” Something he felt comfortable joking about, considering it was a statement that fit him as well. He’d grown up mostly telling half-truths at best, and that wasn’t too hard a fact to work out. There was evidence of it after all, what he’d said growing up compared to the pictures proving otherwise.

“Word first, play later?” Saying the words as slow as he could, as if the words were unfamiliar, he shook his head. “You truly aren’t from around here, are you? I’d say you should let people around here teach you how to play a little harder, but they could probably use a lesson in working harder.” At least the more privileged people around could use that lesson. “Are you heading home now? I could walk you if you wanted? Never know if someone’s going to accidentally break into your apartment around here, I’ve heard some crazy stories. About broken windows and taser threats.”

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms​:

“Probably.” She shrugged, smiling in amusement. “But I wouldn’t tell him that if you ever happened to meet him. He will not take it kindly.” Not that Logan ever would. Her dad hated the idea of her even coming to Neptune, so she doubted he’d ever come to visit. It was perfectly fine by her though. All it meant was she had an excuse to leave for Neptune every once in a while, and it seemed like she’d need it. She could only handle so much stuck-up privilege for so long before she’d go mad. 

Veronica didn’t give him an answer aside from smirking before he picked up his drink and head over to Wasserman. One thing she would admit: Logan was playing his part rather well. With the drink splashed onto Wasserman’s jacket, his phone was placed on the bar. She wandered to the other side of him, glancing at the newly formed trio from her peripherals before swiping the phone off the bar top as she pretended to call over a bartender. Quickly she got to work, plugging in the phone to a device she had in her bag. Was this very ethical of her as a lawyer? Probably not, but a few “bad habits” had stuck with her because of her dad. Her gaze went to the man’s cell screen, waiting for it to load, and checking in on the situation going on beside her. She wasn’t entirely sure what Logan was prattling on about in his feigned drunken state, but at least it was enough to keep the two men’s eyes on him and not her. 

A small ping from the device rang and she grinned. Perfect. Veronica set the phone back down on the bar. Her attention fell back towards them. Wasserman’s shoulders were tense, and if she wanted to take a guess, she’d assume he hadn’t exactly been happy with the spilt drink. Apologies or not. For a split second she debated about just leaving Logan to get himself out of the situation by himself. Instead she sighed and quickly donned an overly enthusiastic grin, turned, and grabbed Logan’s arm. “I’ve been looking all over for you,” she exclaimed, playing up a drunk blonde. Her eyes widened, mouth forming a surprised ‘o’ as she took in the sight of the other two men, fixating on the wet stain on Wasserman’s jacket. “Oh my gosh! Did my friend do that? He can be just sooo clumsy,” and let out a embarrassed giggle. Before they could even respond, because she didn’t want them to, she turned back to Logan as if the other two were an afterthought and tugged on his arm to pull him away from them. “So Ashley is totally trashed. I think she needs to go home but needs help getting out of the booth, you know? And Kyle is like way worse than you so you’re kind of like our only hope.” Veronica pretended to not hear the other mens’ grumbled complaints and continued walking through the bar until they were no longer being paid attention to. Once they weren’t, she sighed and dropped her hold on him. 

“Well, thanks for that,” she smiled happily. “And see? No punches had to occur. So I call that a win-win. Well except for him, of course, but he deserves it–trust me.” 

As he looked down at Veronica his act cracked a little at the grin on her face, as he fought not to chuckle at the sight. He didn’t exactly know her all that well, or at all really, but something about the enthusiastic smile didn’t seem to fit on her face. He had to give it to her, she apparently thought insanely fast on her feet – an impressive feat, though he wouldn’t share that with her. Tipping his imaginary hat at the men in front of them, he stumbled slightly, as he began to walk backwards for them. “Sorry gents, my services are required elsewhere.”

Once they were far enough away, he offered her a more genuine smile. “Your timing was extraordinary, any longer and I think I would have had to pay for his dry cleaning.” Which he would have if he had to – even if it was to help her out, he had been the reason ended up with a drink poured over them. Then again, that always seemed to a possibility when you went out in Neptune, they weren’t exactly known for being a quiet party town. You gather people with more money than sense, and there were was always going to be some incident or other during a night out – a spilled drink was tame compared to what could have happened.

“What can I say? Mother raised a gentleman, anytime you need a pretend drunk guy to help you out, I’ll be there.” Adopting the most chivalrous voice he could, he had to silently admit there was a hint of truth to his words. He’d always attributed any positive trait he had to his mother’s influence, He didn’t want to wonder what he would have ended up like, if he’d only had his father as a role model in his life. “Would have been quicker if I’d just punched him, the police in this town wouldn’t have batted an eyelid.” Something he could say with certainty if his teenage years were anything to go by. With hindsight, he could admit he should have ended up in a lot more trouble than he had.

“Is this a regular occurrence for you?” He asked, figuring he was entitled to that question at least after ‘helping’. “Because I’ve heard some crazy stories about people’s nights out, I’ve yet to hear anyone say they went out with the sole purpose of finding out information on someone else. Even the gossip journalists usually join the fun at some point.”

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms​:

Veronica met his mocking curiosity with a sly smile. “I’m sure I could give you a run for your money.” She always did like to prove people wrong or at least come in from nowhere to blind side someone. Although she didn’t think Logan was going to second guess her capabilities. It might just because she thought he seemed the most reasonable person she’d met so far in Neptune.

“In my defense, I was young and my dad had control of the tv.” She pressed a hand to her chest, in mock sincerity. “But I also don’t really remember the movie if that makes up for it,” she added, tipping her head to the side, innocently smiling.

There second round of drinks were placed on the bar next to them. Veronica picked hers up, pondering. “While that is intriguing…” she joked, staring up at him from her drink, “I was thinking more along the lines of bumping into him and possibly spilling your drink on his jacket. Anything that’ll keep his attention on you while I swipe the phone. I’ll probably need a couple of minutes to work my magic.”

 “So I should be judging your father’s choices?” A somewhat ironic statement, when the route of the joke was judging his own father’s choices – but he was enjoying the light conversation with her. Talking to someone who had no idea about your past, nor cared about Neptune politics, was oddly refreshing. He couldn’t remember the last time someone like her came to Neptune, though part of that could be put down to him mostly associating with the same people he’d met during high school.

Taking his own drink, he smirked into it as she spoke. “Sounds less interesting to me.” He shrugged, while setting the drink back on to the bar. “So a drink spilt on the guy, and probably paying his dry cleaning bill – is that enough to call things even?” Not that there was really anything to make you ‘even’ for breaking into someone’s apartment, but she was smart enough to know that, so there was no problem with joking about it. Picking his glass back up, he tipped the glass down towards her in a cheers manner, before walking over to the person she’d apparently been watching.

‘Tripping’ once he got close enough, he made sure to get as much of his drink on the other person as he could – aiming the pocket he’d noticed the other put their phone into. Predictably, he took it out set it on the counter – as Logan busied himself with apologising for the whole thing, making sure to slur his words slightly. Nobody questioned a drunk person bumping into them, or that’s what he was betting on.

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms​:

“What can I say?” she said, raising her hands up in a whodunit fashion. “I do love a challenge. And taking on the impossible. It’s kind of like my superpower.” It was something he was bound to realize if she continued to bump into him around Neptune. Among the other numerous things that made her either well-beloved or well-hated.

So they weren’t close by the sounds of it. She wouldn’t pry, mostly because she didn’t know him that well, but that didn’t mean Veronica wasn’t a little curious. It was the problem with wanting to know everything. Logan flagged down the bartender and she indicated getting another one too along with him. “I’d say we can call it even, but my transgression is way less than yours,” she smirked. 

Realizing she’d been staring at Logan a bit more the Wasserman in the last couple of minutes, she pulled her attention away to look at him. He was no longer hitting on the bartender, but was in deep conversation with some shady figure. Hmm… Interesting… Still looking over at the pair, she began talking again. “So do you still want to help me out?” She smiled overly sweet at Logan as she went back to looking at him. “Kind of need a distraction so I can grab his phone for a bit.” And then put some fun extra tech on it so she can hopefully listen in on his conversation and have access to his phone… But she didn’t need to tell Logan all of that right now.

“A superpower?” He parroted, looking at her in mock curiosity. “Should I expect to hear news reports of a masked vigilante running around town, taking down Neptune’s criminal underground?” Though something said if someone was going to do something about the crime around town, it’d be her – because it certainly wouldn’t be the Sherriff’s department. Getting the wealthier families around to pay for what they’d done, was certainly an impossible feat. Not that he knew everything that happened, but he’d make a decent bet on everyone having skeletons in their closet, even if he was basing it on his own family.

Humming at the words, he pursed his lips in thought. “Are you sure? Cause I’d say sitting through one of those movies shows incredible poor judgement, at least I can blame my poor choice on being drunk.” Maybe he was biased, but he’d never been able to see what everyone else seemed to in those movies. The only plus in his mind was they kept him out the house.

Looking down at her at the question, something said he shouldn’t trust that smile. “Did you have a plan in mind?” He asked, glancing over towards the person she was watching. “I’m not going to lie, traditionally my distractions have involved throwing punches and I’m not sure that’s what you had in mind.” Granted, it had been a while since he’d started a fight, but that was never going to re-write the numerous times he’d ended up being dragged out of a club when he was younger.

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms​:

“Perhaps,” Veronica shrugged. “But until the universe proves to me otherwise, I’ll stick with my cynicism.” Being cynical would at least cause less disappointments in the long run. It was hard to be hopeful when she expected anything but.

She laughed, her smirk widening into a grin. “And I definitely don’t plan to.” His company, while unexpected, wasn’t unwelcomed at this point. The fact that he hadn’t proved he was like all the other rich dicks in Neptune helped. Him being able to keep up with the quick wit was amusing too. Veronica continued to slowly sip her drink as she watched Logan down his. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

Her brow rose as he mentioned the name. She had heard of him. She was pretty sure she’d seen one of his movies with her dad as a teenager. “So you’re saying you’re Aaron Echolls’ son?” That was an interesting tidbit of information. Though it did remind of her hearing about the actor’s wife’s death decades ago too. It wasn’t a story she followed closely, not when she had exams to study for. “I think I’ve seen one of them when I was a teenager,” she admitted, pursing her lips to the side. “Does that make you less likely to help me since I did?”

Huffing out a laugh, he shook his head at her words. “Taking on the universe now?” Though something said if anyone could do it, it would be her. He might know her well, but he liked to think he was good enough at reading people, to know she was someone you probably didn’t want to start a fight with.

“According to my birth certificate I’m his son.” A needlessly sarcastic way to answer, he was simply taking advantage of the fact that for once, the response wasn’t to ask if he could introduce them to his father. He’d gladly talk to someone who didn’t seem as enamoured with the glitz and glam most people around Neptune seemed to love. Not that he had any right to judge them, not when he’d taken full advantage of it when he was younger. The only entry to the ‘cool club’ in high school was a rich parent after all.

Tsking at her answer, he clipped his tongue flagging the bartender down to order another drink, pausing to let her say if she wanted another or not. “I guess I can let one transgression slide.” He shrugged. “We all made dumb mistakes as a teenager.” He was practically king of bad decisions when he was younger, mistakes that were a lot more intense than most people made.

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms​:

“What an interesting sight that would be to see.” Though she was sure she wouldn’t necessarily have as many clientele asking for her services if it weren’t built on the exact foundation she didn’t appreciate. Rich people problems were so simple and the same, and yet they wanted to believe they were oh-so-important. 

She smiled at him, grabbing her drink and taking a small sip. “Because people are simple enough to know that everyone gets into a bind one way or another. The only difference is the day of the week.” It was a rather cynical opinion to have when viewing the world, but then again, it wasn’t as if she was defending clients that believed in rainbows and unicorns. Veronica decided to also not bring up that he had clearly been in a bind earlier when he had woken up hungover in her apartment. She doubted she had to. Like she said, people were incredibly simple sometimes. 

“Well the night is young. Who knows what will happen,” she chuckled. Having someone else in on the plan was a lot less embarrassing than being found caught in an act. The few friends she had managed to make during her college years had at least always been impressed with her impromptu acting. It was especially a godsend when her friends wanted to be removed from a bad situation. Her gaze slipped away from Logan’s once more to look over at Wasserman. He was still chatting up the bartender who clearly was just entertaining him for tips. “Maybe… It’s too soon to decide,” she replied with a half shrug. “Not sure if I need you to actually get drunk though. Sounds more like I’d then have to babysit you to make sure you didn’t break into someone else’s place.” Gaze sliding back to his she smirked up at him and then she rose a brow at something he said. “Acting gene? And what acting gene is that?” 

“A little cynical don’t you think?” He quipped, though he couldn’t disagree with her. Most of the people in his social circle seemed incredibly skilled at walking their way into one bind or another. They simply had their parent’s name or money to get them out of whatever they’d managed to get into – the fact their sheriff wasn’t the best at their job helped too.

Taking a sip of his drink, he almost found himself thanking Dick for leading him there that night. If only because it let her have a proper conversation with Veronica – who seemed far more interesting when she wasn’t pointing a taser at him. “One time. You break into someone’s house one time, and they won’t let it go.” Drawing out the words as he finished, he didn’t make any effort to lower his volume. Everyone else was too caught up in their own night, to bother about what anyone else was saying. “But my selfless offer to get drunk is there if you need it.” He finished, holding up his glass in a mock cheers, before finishing it and putting the glass back down on the table.

“You just became my favourite person.” Smirking down at her, he made no effort to keep the amusement off his face. The words may have been hyperbolic, as strange as it would be to most people, he’d take being known as the drunk guy who broke into her apartment over Aaron Echolls’ son. He had however brought it up, so he might as well answer it. “Ever heard of the great Aaron Echolls? Now retired action movie hero.” Traditionally he’d had a vastly different view of his father than the rest of the world, and he saw no use hiding that. People put it down to being ungrateful, and not bitterness over the fact his father had managed to make his mother’s ‘death’ all about him. “If you haven’t – I highly suggest not watching them. You can thank me later.”

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms‌:

The comment made her roll her eyes in exasperation. “Ah, yes, because what would Neptune do without those exact people living up to that cliché?” She, of course, would not have had a complete stranger break her window and then pass out on her couch–the only upside of that being that Logan hadn’t been some crazy criminal. 

She grinned in amusement. “And I hope you continue to think of me in that very way,” she said, nodding her head in earnest. It wasn’t as if she was some straight-laced lawyer to being with, but drinking had gotten her into trouble in the past. Being her and then being her and uninhibited tended to be a dangerous combination. Veronica feigned thinking over his proposal, pursing her lips in the process. “I am going to say no, but I can do you one better and owe you a favor. And I know it doesn’t sound nearly as nice as money, but I am an amazing person to have in your court in a bind.” It certainly was an absolute truth. Between her and her dad, the Mars were both excellent allies to have when you were backed into a corner. 

Veronica shrugged a shoulder. “Oh I don’t know. I’m sure I would’ve thought of something and it’d probably would’ve been along the lines of pretending to be drunk and starting a conversation with him at the bar… Lowered his guard to get him to spill what I need and then it would all be history.” It was probably better that things were going this way rather than having to pull that act and have Logan bump into her mid-process. Would that have been embarrassing? Yes. But would it be the first time being found in a compromising and not-so-flattering position? No. And now that Logan was a part of this impromptu plan and if she needed more leverage against Wasserman, she might still have to go with her original plan. 

“It’d crumble in under a month.” He replied as dryly as he could. Despite knowing full well he happened to be one of Neptune’s privileged ‘inner circle’, he was at least self-aware enough to know the lifestyle was considered ludicrous by most. In retrospect, he could say his teenage years would have involved less death, if Neptune didn’t operate the way it did.

Thanking the bartender when they came back with the drinks, he pushed Veronica’s drink closer to her, before taking a sip of his own. “A favour?” He hadn’t expected anything of her, but the comment had piqued his interest, even if he was certain that her offer was as genuine as his question had been. “What makes you think I’d ever find myself in a bind?” A quip that would have worked better, if he hadn’t been talking to the person who’s home he’d broken into not too long before. Then again, she was one of the few people around town who hadn’t been there to witness how much trouble he’d managed to get himself into in his younger days.

“Now that I would have loved to see.” And seeing her even fake drunk would have even the score a little. Though speaking of evening the score, he did still have to make it up to the woman in front of him. “Anything you need help with?” He assumed the answer was no, she didn’t radiate the energy of someone who readily accepted help from near strangers, but it never hurt to offer. If the answer did happen to be yes, he’d have something to keep him entertained and buy himself some time to come up with a plan on how to get Dick back home. “Can’t say I’m much good at faking drunk, acting gene skipped me, but I could be talked into getting drunk, if that’s what you’d need of course.” It was probably a strange offer to make to someone, volunteering to help them get information out of someone else – but any interaction they’d had so far had been the furthest thing from normal, why change the habit now?

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms‌:

“Empty promises and zero inhibitions?” she replied in sarcastic humor. Of course most people came to bars for a drink and to maybe catch some lucky person’s eye, but aside from it serving drinks, she didn’t enjoy the other aspects of these places. It was probably why she was more likely to just buy a bottle of her choice of drink and get drunk at home–social interactions weren’t high on her priority list of things she liked or wanted to do while she was drinking. “What do you come to bars for, Logan? Or do you just like picking up Dick?” Her brow rose as she asked, smirking at her not very clever innuendo.

Veronica shrugged a shoulder. The sunshine she didn’t mind so much. Having grown up in California before heading to New York had made her rather adaptable to whatever weather she happened to be in. “It’s more so the people in Neptune if anything that makes it difficult to think this place isn’t all bad.” And maybe some of the few memories she had of the place before her family had picked up and moved. Before her mom had ended up leaving them. “Anything strong usually, but a beer’s fine. Gotta keep my wits about me.” She flashed him a quick smile, gaze drifting back to Wasserman as they got closer to the bar. Pulling him towards one end of the bar, Veronica had them a couple of people away from him. She smiled sweetly up at Logan. “Oh you know,” she shrugged again, feigning naive innocence, “just hoping to finally catch the eye of a guy I’ve had my eyes on.” Letting the act drop, she gestured to the guy sitting a few people away from them. “Work, actually. And you sir, are providing excellent cover for me right now.” 

Raising an eyebrow at the innuendo, he made no effort to keep the amusement from his face, silently deciding to brush by it. “Someone has to live up to the trust fund kid cliché of partying all night on their parent’s dime.” It was easier than going into whatever his actual answer would be, especially considering he had been trying to cut back since the night he broke into her home. If she’d pressed charges he would have lost his job, and  should that scenario happen again, he was certain he wouldn’t be so lucky twice.

“I can’t picture you not keeping your wits about you.” Something that sounded sarcastic, but it did seem oddly impossible to imagine her anything less than totally composed. An assumption he felt comfortable making, considering the fact she hadn’t freaked out upon finding a stranger sleeping on her couch. Following her towards the bar without much protest, he watched her with an air of uncertainty. He wasn’t sure why, but he had a hard time thinking she came out just for a guy – at least until she explained further and the confusion and curiosity faded for him. “If I’m your cover, does that mean I get a cut of whatever you’re being paid?” Flagging down the bartender after he finished speaking, he ordered two beers before turning his attention back to her. “What was your plan when you showed up here? Or was the plan always to talk some unwitting person to act as your cover?” It was a question he didn’t necessarily expect an answer to, but if she wanted to look as if her attention wasn’t on someone else – he reasoned polite conversation would at least help the cover. That, and for some unknown reason, he wanted to get to know her better.

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms‌:

Veronica found herself smirking at his words. Oh boy, she thought. It had been apparent to her the last time she had seen Logan that he was attractive, but that was about the end of her thoughts when it came to him. Now it wasn’t, and she couldn’t help but note that what he said and how he had said it made him slightly more attractive. Or at the very least, he was more amusing to her. “I hope Dick appreciates your friendship,” she chuckled. 

“A drink?” she repeated, half paying attention, focus still on Wasserman. Confusion settled in her for a second before it clicked. A sly smile spread across her lips as she turned her attention towards Logan. She gave him an appreciative look. “And to think I was the only one around with brains and beauty,” she remarked happily. Sitting at the bar next to him could mean she could overhear something useful… And she might happen to be able to record him saying something incriminating too which would be useful. Veronica got up from her spot, looping her arm through his in case Wasserman happened to look in their direction (at least they’d look like a couple enjoying the club rather than someone making a beeline straight towards him. “I guess I could use some reason to think Neptune isn’t all that bad.”

Watching Veronica a sense of amusement washed over him. “Mmm, you know what most people go to a bar for?” Though he was certain drinking wasn’t her reason for being there, considering there were other bars in town that wouldn’t be overrun by the kind of people she didn’t get along with. Then again, maybe she’d met someone she deemed worthwhile and was wasting time until they showed up. Amusement heightening as she looped her arm through his, he began to work towards the bar, deciding that Veronica wasn’t a riddle that could be worked out after one meeting.

“Never ending sunshine not enough of a reason to think it’s not all bad?”Not that he knew where she had lived before moving to Neptune, for all he knew she’d come from somewhere equally as nice weather wise. It wasn’t his normal go-to small talk, but ‘normal’ wasn’t the first one he’d use to describe the tiny blonde. “What’s your poison?” It seemed like one of the few questions he could ask her, that wasn’t liable to get that drink thrown back at him. After all, she hadn’t been shy about brandishing her taser last time, which said she could definitely hold her own if someone got on her bad side. “What did bring you down here tonight?”

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms‌:

His answer didn’t surprise her. Again, it all sort of fit with the little information she had of him plus the fact he was friends with a dude named Dick. “Fortunately, no,” she sighed happily. “But I also haven’t been keeping out for him, so he could be here.” In fact, it wouldn’t surprise her if he was locked in some bathroom with a drunken woman with no morals and low expectations for a good time. That or passed out somewhere in the back alley. “Why’re you looking for him? Is it past his bedtime and you gotta lay down the law?” she joked. 

Just as she made her comment, she noticed her target come into view. Alexander Wasserman. Veronica had been trying to find him for the past week when she got lucky on this tip. He was a witness she needed on her case to help prove her client’s innocence, but now she just needed to convince him to turn himself in and talk on the record. It was why catching him in a compromising position would make it a little easier for her to get him to do what she needed him to do. Still standing with Logan, her gaze followed Wasserman as he strutted across the club to the bar. Veronica rolled her eyes seeing him trying to hit on the bartender. “Typical,” she muttered under her breath. 

Smirking at the joke, he did his best impression of a disappointed father. “You know kids around here, they just never listen to you. What can you do?” Granted their behaviour as teens wasn’t too far removed from how Dick still acted. Logan had been driven by a desire to put some distance between himself and his father, which he was certain was the only reason he’d managed to remove himself from the jackass he’d been in high school. Or, at least become a more watered down version. Dick on the other hand, had no such motivation – and primarily stayed the same, as had most of their friends.

Following where her eye line seemed to settle, he found himself looking at someone he couldn’t place. He wasn’t certain she was glad to see whoever it was or not, but he figured he’d offer her a reason to get closer if she needed to – he wasn’t going to ask questions, and he did still have some making up to do. “I’m sure Dick can handle himself for a few more minutes – do you want a drink?” A drink seemed like the least he could do after breaking into her flat – and he had learnt that the easiest way to keep unwelcome advances away, was talk to someone else. He didn’t know her well, but Veronica didn’t exactly seem like someone you wanted to get on the bad side of. “If you’re here, may as well enjoy the benefits of  Neptune’s need to have the finest of... everything.”

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms‌:

Veronica didn’t startle easily, but she was still surprised to hear a familiar voice behind her. Turning around, she found herself near Logan. She’d run into the man a handful of times because of Dick, but she hadn’t gone out of her way to make much conversation with him either. Mostly it was because her job was keeping her busy, but she also just wasn’t the most social butterfly (to put it nicely). 

“Well that’s just because you don’t know me that well,” she retorted with a sarcastic grin. This was actually the kind of place she loathed going to, but it made for the right kind of dirt she needed in her cases. Though she didn’t have plans on sharing that tidbit of information with Logan. Even if he didn’t seem as skeezy and stupid as Dick, she wouldn’t be surprised if she was suddenly proven wrong, and she didn’t need him getting in the way of her business. “But it’s something like that,” she shrugged, eyes scanning the people around them. Her attention turned back to Logan after still not seeing her mark. “You, on the other hand, seem perfectly in place in a place like this. Or maybe that’s just my bias towards Dick rubbing off on you.”

Conceding her point that he didn’t know her well, all he did know was that she was far from the typical Neptune resident. Which said more about how easy most the town’s population was to read than it said about her, because easy to read was the last thing that could describe Veronica. Not that they’d spoken too long, but it had been long enough to know she wasn’t quite like anyone he’d met before.

Smirking when she mentioned that he seemed to fit in perfectly, he couldn’t argue with her. It wasn’t that long ago that he would have been there by choice, and there were still times he’d go without being forced into it – but he wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of being right. “Dick is actually who I’m looking for. You haven’t seen him have you?” His guess was no, considering that she didn’t have the usual irritation radiating off her the way she normally did after a conversation with Dick. It didn’t hurt to check if she’d seen his friend, it would cut down on the time he needed to spent looking for the surfer.  

[echollslogans]

Growing up with Dick, meant that Logan knew where his best friend was likely to be whenever he went missing. Or ‘missing’, as in Dick decided to turn a party into an all week event where he forgot to come home. At their age, it may have been strange for him to want to check up on his best friend, but the other man was like a brother to him. He was closer to Dick than he was to his actual family – which meant on those occasions where Dick seemed to vanish off the face of the planet, Logan felt like it was his duty to check up on his friend – something that lead him to wondering around the less than favourable parts of Neptune.

Stopping when he noticed a somewhat familiar blonde, it took him a few seconds to put the final piece together that it was Veronica. Thankfully, she still hadn’t informed the sheriff’s office about the accidental break-in, and while they were still weren’t friends, they had at least been civil to each other whenever they bumped into each other.

Deciding that Dick would be fine left to his own devices for a few more minutes, he walked the short distance over towards Veronica. “I didn’t think Neptune’s party scene would be your idea of a good time.” He mused once he was within ear shot. The blonde clearly didn’t get along well with his best friend, and most of the people in the clubs around them, happened to be just like Dick, which made it that little bit more strange to see her there. “Has Neptune finally wore you down enough, that you decided to try this?”

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms‌:

“And yet I’m back, so they don’t have too much to be jealous about,” she retorted. Veronica didn’t have too many bad memories of Neptune if she really thought about it. The only thing she could maybe trace back to Neptune was that her family moving out of Neptune was the beginning of the end of her parents’ marriage. The pieces of how it fell apart still never quite made sense to her, but she knew moving from Neptune and her mother’s alcoholism were contributing factors in the grand scheme of things. It was one of the cases she looked into during her free time, but as a lawyer she didn’t have much of that, nor had she wanted to invest much time into her mommy issues. 

Veronica half-nodded, trying not to make a smart-ass remark about it. Clearly the apple doesn’t fall from the tree or well you know what they say about the people you hang out with… But she kept her mouth shut. Communication wasn’t her forte unless it involved lots of snark and attitude, and she really had no interest in trying to get to know her crazy neighbor’s friend on a deep and personal level. But maybe because this was all so bizarre, she continued to talk. “Twelve, huh? Must be some kind of place if you’re going to stick to the same place for that long. I didn’t even manage to stay in the same place once I graduated from high school.” 

Smirking when she said that nobody had a reason to be jealous, considering he was back, he pushed down the urge to point out that more often than not, Neptune’s residents didn’t have a reason for what they did. If she was young when she moved away, there was always that chance she couldn’t remember how self-centred or elitist the residents could be, and he wasn’t about to be the one to burst her bubble. Especially not when there was every possibility that she would still call the police. He may not be quite as much of an ass as he had been in high school, but he did still seem oddly talented at getting on people’s wrong side, even when he hadn’t just broken into their home.

“Guess I’m a creature of habit.” He shrugged, mentally trying to work out how long he should stay, given he’d definitely overstayed his welcome. He’d managed to overstay his welcome as soon as he’d entered the apartment , and he couldn’t imagine many people would be quite so civil in her shoes. “If it helps, I think getting out of town right after graduation is meant to be the dream.” As charming as he liked to think he could be, summoning that up while hungover and being in a weird situation was proving difficult. “Are you sure you don’t need anything else? Something to say sorry for… The whole breaking in thing.”

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms‌:

Veronica nodded, pointing to the legal pad and stacks of pens on the coffee table in front of him. There was always paper and pens lying around her place – just the perks of being a lawyer. She was an avid note taker prior to typing them up onto her laptop. It was why her office was covered in sticky notes whenever she was on a case. Sometimes it was better to visually see all the crap that was in her brain laid out in front of her rather than clicking through files on her laptop. 

“Awesome,” she replied. Not that she would actually keep anything of his that she found, but at least he seemed to be able to take a joke. Most people that came across her humor took her at face value and then she was stuck back pedaling. 

“Not that long. A couple of months because of a work thing,” she shrugged. “But I used to live here as a kid before my parents moved us out of dodge.” It wasn’t until the words had left her mouth that she realized she was sharing. Why she was, Veronica wasn’t sure about, especially since she wasn’t the sharing kind of girl. But here she was, giving tidbits of information about herself to a complete stranger in her living room. It left her unsettled, so she wanted to even the playing field. “What about you?” 

Following where she pointed, he gave a curt nod before picking up the pad. Lifting the pen up, he began to write down the information he assumed she’d need, only glancing up when she mentioned that she’d lived in Neptune before. That wasn’t something he’d expected, not when she seemed the furthest thing from a typical Neptune resident. Granted if she referred to leaving as ‘moved up out of dodge’, indicated that she didn’t exactly enjoy her time there. “I’m sure there’s a few people around who’d be envious that you got out.” He quipped, handing the pad back over to her.

While most of his friends had been perfectly happy to stay in their home town, he knew there was more than a few kids from the other side of town, who’d wanted to leave as soon as possible. Not that he could blame them with how they were treated, something that was easier to see now, than it had been back then. Raising an eyebrow when she shot the question back at him, part of him was almost glad there was someone in town, who didn’t already think they knew him based on tabloids. “I moved here when I was twelve. Never really had a reason to leave, and someone had to make sure Dick didn’t do anything too crazy.” A claim that would hold more impact, if he hadn’t just broken into her apartment.

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms:

Veronica nodded, at least happy this wasn’t going to be too hard of a situation to deal with. She half expected him to put up a fuss and try to worm his way out of the situation. Maybe he wasn’t as  annoying as Dick as she previously assumed. “Okay,” she replied. “I’m going to have to choose the option that doesn’t involve me having to talk to Dick.” Now that would leave her stuck in a conversation that would last longer than necessary and leave her grossed out. At least Logan hadn’t already made some pervy comment about her, Dick would’ve made at least five by now. 

It wasn’t that she had completely missed that he was topless, but she definitely had had other things to worry about. But now that he mentioned it, it was hard not to notice. Veronica averted her gaze, looking around her place to avoid continue staring at Logan. Finding a random shirt in her apartment was at least easy. Why he threw his shirt across the room for it to have landed near the kitchen was a different question that came to mind, but it wasn’t one she needed an answer for. 

“I presume this is it?” She turned back to him, tossing the shirt. “You didn’t happen to lose anything else in my place, did you? Because I make no promise that I won’t call dibs on it if you leave without your stuff.” 

She was far from the first person he’d met who wasn’t fond of Dick, but part of him wanted to ask what Dick had done to earn her words. The other part of him reminded him that it wasn’t smart to irritate her more – especially not while she was still so close to a taser. He’d been lucky so far, and thankfully for him, he’d learnt not to push his luck over the years, at least in most cases. “Got a pen and some paper?” He spoke, while running his hand through his hair, trying to do some damage control to it.

Catching the shirt, he shrugged at her question. “No idea, so finder’s keepers.” He answered, putting the shirt on. His general vagueness about the night before, meant he had no recollection of what he had when he got to her apartment the night before. It also seemed a little more fair to let her keep anything that wasn’t important to him, considering he had been the reason her morning wasn’t going so great.

“Been in Neptune for long?” It might have been a strange question to ask, but considering he had broken into her apartment by accident – it made everything else seem perfectly normal in comparison. There wasn’t exactly a guide for what to say in their situation, and making polite conversation seemed better than sitting awkwardly until he gave her the information she needed and left. It didn’t hurt to play nice, not when she could still call the police and that was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms:

The inclination to roll her eyes was strong from the moment the guy spoke and got up. It had to be just her luck to not only have a guy break into her place, but the guy to also be a douche about it. Lovely, she thought, gripping the taser in her hand just a little more. It wasn’t as if the guy was giving off any red flags to her, but it was better to be safe rather than sorry, right? 

Veronica eyed him as he took in his surrounding. It didn’t take a genius to note the exact moment he realized he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, and if it weren’t for the broken window she was going to have to now fix, she might have even found it amusing. But that was a huge maybe. 

Of course, the moment she heard the reason he had broken into her apartment, all amusement was wiped from her thoughts. “Veronica,” she said back, frowning in distaste. She gestured to her right. “And you’re off by one. He’s next door thatta way.” Veronica didn’t bother shaking his hand, completely wary of it considering she’d seen all the gross things Dick did and so she didn’t have any reason not to think that Logan wasn’t any different. “Well at least I have another valid reason on an already long list of reasons not to like my neighbor. So should I bill Dick or you for my busted window then?” 

When she mentioned that Dick lived next door, he was oddly glad that he’d at least been reasonably close, to where he was supposed to be. Though that fact did nothing to tell him to get out of the fact, he’d broken some random person’s window. Not that he was sure why he thought breaking Dick’s window was a good idea, but at least his friend was bound to have been more forgiving, than someone he didn’t know.

At her comment about having another reason to dislike her neighbour, part of him felt like he should step in defence of his friend, but the other part knew that Dick was an acquired taste. He also had some more pressing matters to deal with. Like finding the right way to apologise for breaking her window, and more than likely terrifying her when she discovered a strange person in her living room.

“I’ll pay for it.” He replied almost instantly, figuring that was the best place to start apologising. He was also trying to be a more responsible person these days, and that went hand in hand with owning up to your mistakes. “I can leave my number, or you can just tell Dick how much it’ll cost.” From what he’d gathered, she wasn’t in any rush to have a conversation with her neighbour, but he was sure she’d rather talk to him, than the guy who had broken into her home. Pausing and looking around the room once more, his eyes settled on her’s. “Did you happen to see a shirt lying around somewhere?”

[echollslogans]

veronicamarsisms:

@echollslogans

The moment Veronica stepped into her living room, she realized three things: one, there was a stranger sleeping on her couch; two, her window was broken; and three, she sure as hell wasn’t going to take any more nightcaps if she had slept through all that noise. 

Even with sleep still in her eye and a strong desire for something caffeinated, Veronica acted quickly. One eye on the sleeping stranger, she moved towards where she kept her trusty taser. These were probably one of those moments where a gun could have come in handy, but hey, at least he was only sleeping. It could’ve been way worse if she was being honest, and she had been in way worse waters than finding some dude asleep on her couch. 

Feeling a little more protected, Veronica eased her ways towards him. She nudged the couch with her foot before taking a step back. “Hey,” she called out. “Buddy, I don’t know who you are and why you’re here, but you got about two seconds to leave before you meet my friend. And fair warning, she’s is not a good wake-up call.” 

Logan’s memory of the previous night was fuzzy at best, and if the pounding in his head was anything to go by, he didn’t want to know exactly what had happened. It was far from the first time he’d been that hangover, but it was the first time he’d been hung-over for a few years. His headache was not made any better by the irritating way he’d been woken up.

He had the vaguest recollection of deciding to crash at Dick’s for the night, since it was closer – but when he opened one eye to look at the woman who’d woken him up, she didn’t seem anything like Dick’s usual type of hook-up. “Aren’t you a peppy one?” He spoke, pushing himself up, trying to hold back a grimace as he did so.

It only took him a few seconds of looking around her living room, for it to dawn on him that he’d messed up. Either Dick had somehow managed to redecorate his entire apartment in the past twenty-four hours, or he was in the wrong one – which would explain the entirely unimpressed woman in front of him. “I did wonder when Dick’s taste changed.” He muttered, before standing up and putting on the most charming smile he could muster.

“Logan Echolls.” He started, extending his hand towards her, even if he was sure it would get him nowhere. “And you are not Dick Casablanca. What apartment number is this?”