BOW DOWN

If you seek forgiveness you'll get nothing from me.

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JER​:

.

“Got me there,” Jer said with a laugh, watching Seth’s shot with a sigh. This man was way better at pool than he was. Some guys he’s come across in his life didn’t need to be hanging out with him, or really anyone for that matter. Lining up his next shot, Jer nodded as Seth broke down his thinking. “I mean school district stuff is important. But y’got a few years before Harley has to go to school right? More time to consider that.” Maybe Emme’s job means that Harley can go to their school district without living there but he wasn’t about to pretend to understand school zoning laws. “The area where Andy and Rowan moved out to is really nice. Close enough to everything and then you can throw wild parties without getting the police called on ya.” Jer said with a smirk, watching as one of the balls he hit stopped just at the edge of the pocket. “God fucking dammit.”

☠

Seth wasn’t good at pool but honestly, it didn’t matter if he wasn’t, Jer was definitely not making things much of a competition. Seth at least had the practice to help him out. Spending time at the Dive made him a fair dart and pool player but not much more at either. Intricate specialties were really Seth’s thing. He was more of a bull in a fine china shop and it suited him. Destruction suited him. “Yeah but you know me, I ain’t looking to move around too much. I know this town and I know where I’m wantin’ to be so no point in movin’ every two years.” Seth wanted to plan ahead— more than he ever had before. The thing about being a part of the Club is that it’d trained him to never find comfort in the future but with Em and Harley and Annie, well, he wants to believe he has a future to think about. At the very least, he has a house that Emme can stay in if something were to happen to him. “You know me— love people at my house. It’s my favorite fuckin’ thing,” he smirks at the lie. Seth’s a well-known recluse. He has barbecues from time to time but there’s a rare time where Seth seeks company from more than a few people. Seth peers at the table with the same smirk as Jer fails again to hit the pocket. “You’re shit,” he comments before hitting his own target with a crack, barely lining up the shot.

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SAWYER​:

–

There was something comforting about the chaos surrounding them. Sawyer didn’t know that he could put a name to it— in fact, he’d never been able to find words to describe how the club had always felt more like home than any four walls ever had. He found himself leaning into it now more than ever. Since his prison stint, Sawyer’s thoughts had developed a tendency to grow way too loud whenever he was alone, and so he’d found himself seeking out company more than he ever had before. Tonight was no different. “It’s like a goddamn black hole,” Sawyer remarked conversationally as he darted another look at the crowded pool table and listened to all the taunts and vile curses echoing all around it. He’d always been more of a poker man himself, but even he found it all too easy to get sucked into a drunken game of pool. “Time don’t exist in here.” Leaning back in his seat with a sigh, Sawyer dug out his worn carton of smokes as Seth spoke. His expression faltered at the corners, growing darker as the other man’s words registered with him, “Can’t say I blame ya there.” Setting a cigarette between his lips, he offered the pack to Seth and glanced over at him, “Heard about what happened— how’s your family?” It felt like a loaded question— how was anyone supposed to be after experiencing something like that? “Rogues are gettin’ fuckin’ bold, just strollin’ in like that.” Shaking his head, Sawyer lit his cigarette and inhaled a long drag. If that could happen to Seth and his family, it could happen to anyone— a thought that didn’t sit well with Sawyer. Exhaling a thick plume of smoke, he eyed the other man again, “Know it goes without sayin’, but…whatever ya need, man. Ya know how to reach me.”

☠

A black hole— that was one way to put it. Seth had been sucked in by the black hole since he was sixteen. His fascination with the Club had been there but it grew into an allegiance easily. While his family looked to law, medicine, nature, Seth looked to the violence and chaos of the Club, something he continues to embrace to this day. “I mean, ain’t much they can do now. Any of ‘em that they sent our way are fuckin’ dead,” he mentions. But Seth hasn’t truly given up the paranoid thought of them showing back up at his door or at the Dive looking for revenge. “Think Em’s gonna be fucked up about it for a long time. Not really a way to convince someone it ain’t gonna happen again when I’m not even fuckin’ sure. Know what I mean?” Seth grabs for the pack, taking a cigarette of his own as he shakes his head. He was still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Em to go running for the hills. “Appreciate that. Not sure what any of us can do besides wait for the fuckers to show themselves.”

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@remicastillo​

Seth wasn’t really looking to necessarily visit the man that got his ass beat to a pulp. Kit was fine— he’s been told it over and over again. He just got into some bad shit, is what they said, which is good enough for Seth. He’s seen person after person in the Primordials ‘get into some bad shit’. Hell, that’s most of what the Club is in the first place. It’s a family but it’s a family that’s riddled with drugs and alcohol and sex and weapons… The list goes on. So when yet another guy heads down the wrong path and finds himself in the hospital in Olympus, Seth’s hardly surprised. But it’s better for him to be seen trying, he figures. And apparently the one that would be looking would be his ex-something, whom he’s barely spoken to since the end of the line for them. He’s been busy and by the looks of her, so has she. Remi being on Kit’s staff doesn’t really surprise him at all. “Deja vu is a bitch, ain’t it?” he mentions, having come to the hospital to find her and the closest empty bed or closet countless times in the past. “You keepin’ an eye on ‘im?”

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REINA​:

Obviously, Seth’s words come as a shock. She has no idea what or who he’s talking about and part of her almost hopes Otto himself and a few friends had the audacity to try and kill Seth — because clearly whoever did had failed. But she’s sure she would’ve heard about that by now, so her next guess is none other than the Rogues, a realization that has her rolling her eyes. Maybe if Seth had maintained even the slightest bit of humility when letting her in on his issues, she’d be more inclined to give him a little pity, but his outburst just has her annoyed. “That isn’t my fucking problem,” she bites back, crossing her arms in front of her as she steps back to take him in. “Don’t be an idiot and you won’t brush fingers with death, I don’t know what the hell to tell you. But moping around at our fucking bar in front of patrons while the place goes to shit isn’t doing anything for you. You look pathetic.”

☠

“Don’t be an idiot,” he repeats with a huff of a laugh. He can’t help but shake his head at Reina. “I ain’t the one that fucked around with Otto Steel and got my ass bit,” he reminds her. Obviously, Reina had come out on the other side fine enough but the pair in their casino had both found them so fucking deep in the Club and the power and the violence that neither of them should be surprised that it came back to bite them. Seth found himself with his normal girlfriend in his normal house, surrounded by hostage-takers. “You’re the one complainin’ about fuckin’ flowers, Reina. Don’t tell me I’m the pathetic one when you’re whinin’ and cryin’ about flowers that no one gives a shit about. Sit down, have a drink at your bar and shut the fuck up — and maybe I won’t ask for dead flowers next time.”

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JER​:

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“Eh, he is.” Jer says with a shrug. “But I never discriminate, assholes need friends too.” The mechanic hated that he couldn’t have been there on the ground when Ryder made the call - but with social workers on his ass all Jeremiah could do was make more calls and make sure things were getting done from a distance. He had almost burnt a hole in his floorboards while he waited to get a call that things were going alright. So he couldn’t really blame Seth for wanting to move out. “No you’re absolutely right.” He agreed. “I’d be moving too - chance to upgrade shit y’know?” Making his first move, Jer leaned his hip against the table. “So where d’you think you’re gunna move? Stay in town or go up to the city?”

☠

Assholes need friends too. If that wasn’t the statement of the year. Seth had always seen himself as a lone wolf, one that constantly wants and needs alone time. Hell, he’s surprised that he’d found people that tolerated him most of the time. Admittedly Seth doesn’t make it easy to have friends but clearly, Jer is standing there in the flesh. Otto, however, definitely didn’t need friends. He needed to go. “Yeah, well, maybe not all of ‘em,” he comments. Seth laughs a little at the insinuation that he would move anywhere near the city. Seth had already lived as recluse as he could but still be close to the heart of Olympus. Now, he’s not really tied to being close enough to the Dive, if it meant that Harley would be safe. But of course, Jer isn’t a mindreader. “I’m lookin’ to be as far out as I can be without leavin’ the Olympus city limits. Guess I gotta be thinkin’ ‘bout school district shit or whatever. I ain’t goin’ into the city with all those fuckin’ people. Might have my head on straight now but I ain’t changed that much.”

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ADRIAN​:

-

Adrian pulls himself to his feet and as soon as his legs aren’t wrapped in his coat and he feels the cold air seep into his torn jeans, he regrets it. He takes the lighter with a mumbled, “thanks” before striking it against the tip of his cigarette. When he hands it back, Adrian pulls his jacket tighter around himself. “Finn said he’d be right back,” Adrian offers the best explanation he can, trying not to roll his eyes at the accusation that he thinks somehow above their little clubhouse. “Guess he got side tracked. I didn’t want to get in anyone’s way.” There’s something about the way Seth insists that he’s only looking to be an Old Man, when he’s already got the ink that’s supposed to elevate him to that status, rubs him the wrong way but he does his best to let it roll off of him. They’re too connected, between Finn and Emme, for him to feed the animosity. “You good? Looked like you came out here on a mission.”

☠

The last time Seth saw Finn before coming outside, he was engaged in a loud conversation with one of the Primordials, something that didn’t necessarily seem like it was intended but also didn’t look to be ending soon. But the chilled air clearly didn’t suit the bag of bones (which admittedly wasn’t as bone-y as before) that was Adrian either. “Yeah, he was talkin’ to someone in there. Dunno what they were goin’ on about,” he mentions. Seth was actively trying— everyone would be able to see that, had there been anyone else. Maybe it was like his mom had said, the good you do didn’t need to be seen, although Seth wishes that Finn could at least see. Credit should be given when it’s due. “New pack,” he says, holding up his fresh pack of cigarettes. “Think I’m stayin’ ‘round here tonight so I ain’t tryin’ to run out here in the middle of the night. ‘S not the warmest out here.” Seth smacks the pack of cigarettes against his palm before unwrapping the plastic piece. “You weddin’ plannin’ yet?”

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JER​:

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“Good thing I know who runs this place,” Jer quipped back, lining up the balls in their triangle. “Get the friends and family discount.” Giving his friend a wink he lifts the organizer up and nods at the older man to take the first shot. Leaning most of his body weight on the cue in his hands, he hummed. “I dunno. I had a wild post high school experience.” He didn’t get the full college experience, but he did go to a bunch of parties that went a little wild. Shaking his head at the comment about his father, the mechanic inspected the balls in play to make his next move. “Though you have a point. Y’think you’re going to stay in that house or moving out after what happened?”

☠

“You sure about that? Heard the fucker that runs it is an asshole,” Seth assures Jer. And while he stands there watching the man get the game ready, Seth’s still focused on the ‘visitors’. For the time that he wasn’t sure if Ryder had gotten the message that he should come and he watched Emme sit rigid— Seth started to contemplate if the things he had done were worth it and if he should’ve left well enough alone. Maybe this was his second chance— and yet, the stubborn, selfish man has done nothing to change anything. “I’m fuckin’ outta there,” he replies. “Ain’t no way Em’s gonna wanna be over there when that shit happened,” Seth explains but it’s pretty obvious in his opinion. “And I don’t really want ‘em there. I been there for years now. Like ten years or somethin’. I think it’s time to move on and try doin’ this shit better.  Wouldn’t you be movin’?” he asks, eyeing the pool table for what his move would be when it was his turn. Guess there was more than one move he was contemplating.

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WYATT​:

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“Yeah I strolled into the bank with my cut and waved my gun around a little bit and they shuffled our offer to the top of the stack. Can’t believe it took me so long to think of pulling some real outlaw shit,” Wyatt laughs. He pops the caps off two beer bottles and settles them both on the countertop of the clubhouse bar. “Hey, you wouldn’t have been going up against me. It woulda been Izzy and I don’t think you wanna take her on with this place.” He toss his head back and downs a swig of beer. “You lookin’ to get a new place? Need room for Emme and the kids?”

☠

“That’s the way God intended that shit,” he smirks, shaking his head. Seth had damn near wished that that was the way that things worked. He’d damn near have a house already, not to mention be a lot richer. Seth wouldn’t be working another day in his life. “I can hear her loud ass mouth screamin’ already. Her voice’s like nails on a chalkboard. I ain’t fightin’ with that,” he chuckles a bit. Wyatt may be able to tolerate the former-Siren’s ways but Seth certainly can’t. “Yeah, need room for the girls when they visit. Need less memories in that place too after that shit went down.”

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YASEMIN​:

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location: the dive

YAS did her best to come to the dive when she knew Seth wasn’t going to be working. Not because there was still some type of grudge against him anymore but because as an ex-worker, it was less awkward if he wasn’t there. When she walked into the dive to meet up with Bowie, she hadn’t expected to find him there. Straightening her shoulders, she walked to the bar and sat down. 

“I wouldn’t have expected you to be here.” It was a little later and with children, she believed he would have made it home in time for story time. “Can you get me a beer?” she slid out a ten dollar bill before he could ask for money because she wasn’t a worker now and knew that she would have to buy her own alcohol while she was here. Which she had, for the most part, whenever she came to the dive. If the bartenders wanted to give her one or two for free, then she wouldn’t say no.

☠

The Dive had been a bit busy, leaving Seth behind the bar trying to keep things afloat. Between cleaning up glasses and taking orders, Seth was moving faster than his casual tempo to keep up. Looking up from his washing to find Yasemin, he shrugs, if anyone knew that Seth was a bit of a prideful workaholic, it’d be Yasemin. Especially after losing his position as President of the Primordials to Otto, Seth always found himself needing to dive into, all puns intended. So the Dive ended up being one of those things, his family being the other. “Hey, I’m the boss, I gotta be here plenty,” he reminds Yasmine, washing and wiping his hands off from the water he’d been in. Seth grabs the money and places a beer up on the counter, cashing her out to give her the remaining change. “What’re you doin’ here?” he comments, not particularly bitter but rather just curious. “Thought you were avoidin’ us now that you got some new gig.”

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SAWYER​:

–

He hadn’t meant to stay so late. At best, Sawyer had planned to kill only just a couple hours of time before heading home for the night, but he’d ended up staying well beyond that and showed no signs of calling it quits any time soon. In all honesty, he didn’t really want to go home— much to his surprise, Sawyer felt slightly off kilter not living with Kit anymore. After their blowout, he’d taken up residence in an airstream parked on his aunt’s spare plot of land just outside of town and he was still adjusting to the solitude. Distracted from his thoughts by the sound of Seth’s smoke stained voice cutting through, he chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders as he eyed the other man, “Honestly? Didn’t really wanna go home to an empty trailer,” Sawyer explained, lifting his beer to his lips. Though with Spooky the kitten running around on clumsy little legs, it wasn’t quite so empty. But with Remi away working the night shift, it was more empty than Sawyer liked. "Then the drinks started flowin’ and one thing led to another, and,” he paused, waving a hand dismissively, “y'know how this shit goes.” It was easy to get lost in it, but that was part of what he’d always loved about the club. “What about you?” Sawyer asked, turning to glance over at Seth, “Surely to god ya got better places to be.”

☠

Sawyer mentioning the emptiness of his trailer as being a bad thing is confusing to Seth. The man loves solitude, his whole personality is practically built on keeping people away and if not away, twelve feet back from the explosion that is Seth Carter. It’s funny how a man with two brothers, stuck in the middle of them, would long for loneliness and manifest it into his life. Between the women that he’d slept with, with no intention on keeping them, and the friends he surrounded himself with— bound to be locked up or murdered, it’s just yet another lonely life. However, tonight, staying with the Club is the safe thing. With the Rogues being so unknown now, considering there was a mass murder in Seth’s house a few weeks ago, he’s not looking for his name to be added to that tally. “I do know how this shit goes. Once you get roped in for fuckin’ pool these fuckheads never let you go.” Seth had been down this road too many times to count. And surely, he did have plenty of other places to be but with things so up in the air, Seth decided to drink that thought away instead. “Not goin’ home, so I’m here with y’all. Not really lookin’ to figure out if bastard ghosts are real or not. Tryin’ to find a new place.” It’s already common knowledge, he’s sure, of what Seth and Emme went through. With a number of the men coming over to take care of the issue, thanks to Ryder, there’s been plenty of people looking after Seth and his family lately.

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ANDY​:

–

Andy is a skeptic by nature, having always leaned more towards the side of paranoia than any belief in coincidence. He’s seen far too many times what assuming something is nothing can lead to. And when it comes to the Rogues, he’s not taking any chances no matter how long they’ve been dormant. “It was enough to notice it, though.” Andy points out with a serious look. He sighs, knowing far too well how this kind of thing goes. He still remembers all the times he and Rowan had to discuss a Plan B if shit went sideways when Tyson was still around, especially after Maddie was born. Andy remembers every panicked conversation and each time Rowan flinched because of an unexpected sound — It’s hard not to let the same anger bubble to the surface now, even though the man in question was long dead. “She doesn’t need it but this is the kinda shit that comes with the Club.” Andy points out, not caring if Seth will be annoyed by it. “Don’t take any chances.”

☠

Andy was right. This was the shit that came with Seth being a part of the Club. The thing was, Seth isn’t sure that Emme can handle— or that she should handle it. He supposes that the moral dilemma was already long solved when Seth couldn’t stay away from the woman that he considered a close friend and ultimately, the woman he’s loved for most of his life. “Yeah, you’re right. No chances,” he shakes his head. And chances he won’t take, not when he has the girls on the line. He’s resolved himself to agreeing to a Prospect hanging around Emme and his house, just in case he needs back-up in the end. It was for them. All of this would be for them. “Just wish they would’ve fucked with someone else this time ‘round.”

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ADRIAN​:

starter @scthcartcr​ location: club house

November is the worst fucking month of the year, Adrian decides as he sits on the curb in front of the clubhouse, waiting for Finn to finish up. It gets dark too fucking early and it’s just cold enough and dry enough in Louisiana that his lips start to chap as soon as there’s even a hint of a chilly breeze. The sun had already been a distant memory by the time they left the studio for the night with a quick detour to the clubhouse on the way home. 

He’d stepped out of the car to smoke only to find that his lighter was dead and now he’s just too lazy to get up and move back to the car. Instead he pulls his legs close enough against his chest so that he can zip his oversized jacket around them. The cigarette still dangles idly from his lips. When the door opens behind him, he expects to see Finn trotting out and straight for the car. Instead, when Adrian turns around his shoulders slump to see Seth towering over him instead. “Don’t guess you’ve got a lighter on you?” he asks, because he might as well.

☠

Coming from the Clubhouse after having a few to drink, Seth heads out to his car to find another pack of cigarettes, knowing that he’s bound to run through them. On his way back he finds someone darkening the curb in front of the Clubhouse. His paranoia ends up getting the best of him, thinking it was time for another peak at the Rogues. To his dismay, it’s Adrian rather than his chance at revenge. He’s not sure which would be worse, since Seth’s been actively avoiding Adrian these days. Being Seth’s version of nice to him was bound to be difficult, being more than Seth’s version of nice and being future Best Man at Finn’s side was another thing. So avoidance seemed to be a better plan. Clearly, the universe had other plans. “Yeah, I got one,” he says, digging in his pocket for the now mostly-empty pack. “What’re you doin’ out here? We ain’t good enough in there? Ain’t you lookin’ to be an Old Man? Gonna be a lot more where this comes from.”

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JER​:

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Grabbing a beer the second he crossed the threshold of the clubhouse, Jer was in good spirits. The final meeting with the caseworker that was validating that he was a fit parent for Leighton had come and gone. Jer seemed to have passed, if the handshake and “it was good to meet you,” at the end of the meeting meant anything. Glad that someone agreed that he wasn’t completely lost when handed a child, the sergeant felt the need to celebrate. And also check in on things that he hadn’t been as directly involved in as the case was underway. His free hand reached out to the wall rack and grabbed two pool cues as he found the former president leaning against the bar. “C’mon. Me and you. Loser buys drinks, and you can catch me up on shit,” Jer said with an eyebrow up in a challenge. “Like the Rogues who paid you a visit.”

☠

Seth’s never denied being a master pool player— but he’s also never claimed to be one. He has, however, always been a man that never backs down. So when Jer offers up a game of pool, Seth’s not going to pass it up. “Hope you brought some big money, I ain’t a cheap date,” he jokes, his tattooed hand grabbing a pool cue from the Sergeant. Although Jer hadn’t been at his house the other night, Seth knew he was working behind the scenes, trying to help. “Somethin’ like that,” he offers, his body going a bit rigid. “Dunno ‘bout you but usually my visitor’s ain’t threatenin’ me with a gun. ‘Least not lately anyways. Maybe back when your pops was still above ground.”

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@wyattnadir​

“Hear you got a new place you’re in now,” he greets, trying not to show his surprise. Seth and Wyatt operated in similar spaces, the men having been cut from a very similar cloth. Harsh as ever, never really showing too much to anyone, and certainly someone no one would expect to settle down. Well, apparently pigs would fly since Wyatt found himself someone to settle down with and although Seth’s never sure when the floors are going to fly out from beneath him with Emme again, he’s about in the same boat as Wyatt. “You find whoever was holdin’ shit up and tell ‘em to get outta town or somethin’?” he teases, handing the man a beer. “Think I’m gonna be in the market here soon. Lucky I ain’t competing against you. Both know I’d smoke your ass in a bidding war.”

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@finnoconnor​

“So I guess I gotta be sayin’ congrats now, huh?” Seth mentions. Although he’d been there at the engagement and he said he’d be on his best behavior, he ducked out shortly after, not feeling much like a party after the previous weekend. They’d spoken briefly but now, there was a bit more time. “Think y’all are gonna get hitched quick or y’all gonna wait to make sure you don’t wanna blow each other away now that there’s rings and shit involved?” he smirks, knowing that that probably wasn’t how it worked. But he didn’t know— he’s never been engaged. “Gotta order the kegs early. You know how this fuckin’ place drinks.”

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@toddcardoso​

Seth had a tendency to look after Prospects. They tended to make mistakes and where mistakes were, people going to jail were. And lately, Seth’s been looking over his shoulder knowing that there could be a mistake in his very home. He’s already had another cleaning service come in, hoping that they might pick up anything that was missed by the Club. He has faith in their skills and all he’s taught them but damn, with the intensity of the massacre in his house, anything could happen and most of that night Seth had been focused on Emme. Seth had always been paranoid, to his absolute fault, and lately the circumstances weren’t changing that. “Need somethin’?” he asks after noticing Todd moving around. “You lose somethin’? You’re lookin’ a little nervous there.” Seth’s mind instantly goes bad, even if it shouldn’t. His eye stares intently at Todd.