Office #26, Tuesday

[chosehumanity]

Monday had been an exceptionally bad day, and Mitchell had spent most of it cornered up in the house smoking and watching old films on TV to keep himself distracted. On Tuesday, he still had the occasional bout of the shakes, but he was looking far better.

So he walked out to his office, where he tossed his sunglasses on the desk and took a seat. All the work he'd done at cheering it up had done wonders, and for the first time in several days, he felt almost human again.

For whatever measure of it he was capable of.

[[ open office hours are open! ]]

Comments

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Mitchell," Max strode in without knocking. Because that's how he rolled.

[chosehumanity]

"Hey, Max," Mitchell returned, "Still haven't worked out the cat bell?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"It was chafing," Max smirked as he found himself a seat.

[chosehumanity]

"Make yourself at home," Mitchell said, gracefully, after the fact. "Pull up a chair."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"That's generous of you," Max grinned. "What have you been up to?" he asked, stretching out some of the kinks he still had from Sunday.

[chosehumanity]

"Me?" Mitchell shrugged, lifting his empty bag of crisps. "I don't get out that much."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that's gotta change," Max grinned. "I mean, you were a pretty good wingman last time out. And I still owe you for that one."

[chosehumanity]

"I don't need a wingman," Mitchell informed him, putting the bag back down on his desk. Not for the reasons he was going to give Max, but he figured that sheer male pride would be an easy one to bank on. That was human. "I can do fine on my own, trust me."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Oh, come on," Max objects with a chuckle. "Having a wingman's not because you need it, it's all part of the fun."

[chosehumanity]

"If you can't have fun without a wingman," Mitchell replied, "I won't judge."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Oh, low blow," Max laughs. "But, seriously, you're a fun guy. It's cruel to keep all that bottled up where people can't share it."

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell gestured at him with his middle and index fingers. "Now that's implying I'm not sharing the fun around," he said, "Nice assumption."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Are you, then?" Max asked, eyebrow raised.

[chosehumanity]

"I have fun," Mitchell protested, idly, "I share it around sometimes."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Yeah?" Max is definitely teasing. "When was the last time?"

[chosehumanity]

"Now that," Mitchell pointed out, "Is personal information."

About two and a half months ago. She didn't make it.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"A gentleman never tells?" Max suggested.

[chosehumanity]

"Yeah." Mitchell considered his fingernails, and after that somewhat awkward statement, added a smugger, "And I am nothing if not a gentleman. I open doors."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"You never opened a door for me," Max objects.

[chosehumanity]

"Only women, mate," Mitchell replied, happy to divert from the topic at hand, "But I'm sure you can find someone to carry your dainty self over the treshold."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max laughed.

"Yeah? Where have you een hiding them?"

[chosehumanity]

"I don't know," Mitchell said, and leaned back in his chair. He needed a cigarette. "I thought you were keeping the list."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Not of women who can carry me across the threshold." Call him old-fashioned. Or just practical. Max wasn't exactly a small guy.

[chosehumanity]

"It's a big island," Mitchell assured him, "There's got to be some burly woman with superstrength, yeah?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"I imagine you're right," Max mused. "Anyone come to mind?"

Turns out that Max was really easily distracted.

[chosehumanity]

For which Mitchell was grateful.

"Not particularly," he admitted, "But Fight Club's got to have some. You go there, right?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"I do," Max nodded. "You should come along," he suggested. "I can't chat up all the good looking women, you know."

[chosehumanity]

"Me and Fight Club?"

Would end badly, probably.

Mitchell held up his hands. "I don't think that's too good of an idea."

Of course, that would put him straight between practicality and testosterone.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"You scared?" Max teased.

[chosehumanity]

"No, I just try to avoid fighting people," Mitchell said. Very fast, and with his shoulders kind of hunched.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max was shallow, not blind or stupid. "No particular reason," he said a bit flatly.

[chosehumanity]

"What?"

Mitchell frowned at him.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"No particular reason you try to avoid fighting," Max clarified. His tone made it clear he was perfectly willing to drop it.

[chosehumanity]

"I've got a reason," Mitchell retorted, his own male pride unwilling to recognise said tone.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

If Mitchell wasn't going to take the out, Max wasn't going to let it go. "Like what?"

[chosehumanity]

... Now he needed a reason.

"I'm a pacifist," he shot back. "I don't like to fight."

Let's not think about when he was prompting Max about fight stories.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"You could just tell me to drop it," Max pointed out easily. "Because that's not a very convincing lie."

[chosehumanity]

"Fine," Mitchell muttered, at his desk, "Drop it, shall we?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Sure."

Max cocked his head. "Still, might be good for you." He shrugged. "It's very cathartic." The sparring and... what Max often ends up doing afterward.

[chosehumanity]

"Cathartic," Mitchell repeated. "I know, but it's not a good idea."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Hey, you probably won't get hurt too bad." Max was mostly teasing because he wasn't about to delve into why Mitchell actually thought it was a bad idea.

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell snorted. "You watch out for yourself, mate."

Ah, the continuing war of male ego on sensibility.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Hey," Max held up his hands placatingly, "I understand that you're scared. I mean, I'd be scared of running the risk of fighting me too!"

[chosehumanity]

"Oh, you'll be running all right."

Nerts.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Only way to find out who runs from who is for you to show up," Max pointed out as if that were an unassailable piece of logic.