Or, “The Gang Tends Bar: A Coda.”
shout out to mxingno for the beta!!!
Mac is stuffing the straw back into the crate when he hears his name from across the bar. It’s quiet enough that he almost doesn’t notice it, thinks he might have imagined it. But there it is again, that soft utterance of Mac, in a voice that’s both familiar and strange in its gentleness. Mac doesn’t think he’s ever heard Dennis talk to him like that.
He looks up from his crouched position in front of the crate to see Dennis lurking over by the restrooms, eyes fixed on him. He still has that painful sort of fixed expression from earlier, his jaw set tight in his effort to keep his face neutral. But his eyes are sharp, piercing as ever, and trained on Mac as if with singular purpose.
Mac looks over to the bar, where Dee is arguing with Charlie over whose name has the most rhyming potential, and Frank is dipping a spit-soaked finger into the powdered sugar bag and licking it clean over and over again. They don’t seem to have heard Dennis calling Mac’s name, or else they are choosing to ignore it.
“What’s up, dude?” Mac asks, approaching his roommate. On closer inspection, Dennis almost looks nervous, tense, vulnerable. He’s still holding the RPG.
“Hey, man. Can I, uh, show you something in the, in the ladies’ room real quick?” Dennis says, and his teeth are a bit clenched, his jaw set, but his tone is still uncharacteristically soft. Despite all the tension in his body, Dennis’s voice remains at odds with the rest of him. After a pause, he throws in a “please” for good measure.
“Yeah, sure man,” Mac says. “What’s up, is there something wrong with one of the toilets now that we’ve been getting female customers or something?”
“What?” Dennis says, shaking his head. “No, Mac, there’s nothing wrong with the toilets. I just, uh. Wanted to show you something. In the ladies’ room. You know?” His brows are raised, and he’s peering up at Mac through his lashes with this expression that reads like he’s expecting Mac to catch some hidden meaning in his words. But Mac’s not too good at picking up on things like that. Now it’s his turn to get nervous.
“I - Okay, Dennis. Sure.”
Dennis gingerly lays the RPG on a nearby hightop as if he were putting down an actual, real-life baby, turns to Mac, and lets out a sharp exhale of breath, setting his shoulders as if he’s steeling himself. Then he grabs hold of Mac’s hand and tugs him toward the restrooms. Mac stares in surprised silence at Dennis’s bony fingers, hooked into the gaps between his own and gripping him tightly, and allows Dennis to lead him wordlessly through the swinging door. One last look over his shoulders before the door closes behind him reveals that the rest of the gang are still steadfastly ignoring them, and Mac can’t decide if he feels more relieved or disappointed.
dededos
areudirty
jbbartram-illu
turnnoffyourmind
tangentwithtanner
izzy806
ellievsbear
