Just a Beer Between Friends (Tag: Scott)

[Drew Conner]

"And now I'm looking at running for mayor."  Drew's head shook with an almost incredulous expression touching his usually stoic and sober features.  He was still clad in the suit he wore earlier in the day, though he'd long shed his jacket and tie.  With a low grunt of exhaustion he moved to settle into one of the large, plush recliners that were set up in the second floor study.  The large room was located on the second story of the house and featured large panoramic windows with a stunning view of the scenery surrounding the expansive compound.

Drew popped the top on a bottle of imported beer and handed it over to Scott before doing the same for one of his own.  He settled back into the leather chair and sighed again, looking out the window to the view that had grow pleasantly familiar and comfortable over the years.  It had been far too long since Drew had heard from his old friend, years in fact.  When Scott had left the Academy he had done so abruptly and his return had been met with little fanfare.  There had been something that went missing when Scott had disappeared.  Drew, he felt, had lost a certain grounding agent in the absence of his friend.  Scott was always the rare individual that could pull Drew out of the clouds and keep his feet planted firmly on the ground.

"I don't know."  Drew shrugged before lifting the bottle to his lips to take a drink.  Before offering a light chuckle and glancing toward his old friend.  "Anyway.  How the hell have you been?  What made you come back?"

[Scott O'Riley]

When Scott went on his European 'tour', one of the things that kept bugging him was that he didn't tell Drew where he was going. It was a rare occurrence that Scott even made a proper connection with people. Drew, being one of the select few that he did, deserved a proper goodbye. But Scott had been a complete mess back then. Nothing else seemed to matter to the 'Man of Steel'.

Now that he was back, hearing Drew list his accolades, Scott felt like he was the younger one in the room. It also made the twenty-four year old bartender feel a sense of pride that despite all odds, Drew rose to the top by his own efforts. And still come out smelling like roses; a loving father and a loyal husband it seemed. While Scott was trying to choose a major.

He accepted the bottle of beer and took a long sip from it, the corner of his lips lifting into a smirk when he was asked where he had been. "Tried to get away from my dad but he just can't get enough of me." He sighed and leaned back against the couch he was in. "You would think that someone who clearly has a thing against mutants would want to cut off all ties with his mutant son. But no. He wants me to continue on with his empire. He actually cited you as the perfect example of the perfect heir to a throne." Scott closed his eyes and snorted.

"If I hadn't run out of money just when he threatened to cut off my allowance, I would still be in Beliz, drinking out of a surfer's bellybutton."

[Drew Conner]

Drew glanced to Scott as he spoke, nodding here and there throughout the abridged version of Scott's story. Not a word that passed through Scott's lips caught Drew by surprise. Everything felt like vintage Scott O'Riley. Especially the part about doing body shots off a surfer in Beliz. Drew had no doubt that wasn't merely an exaggeration. "Me?" He gave a short laugh at that, his head shaking. "I'm no role model. This here." He waved his beer bottle around a bit. "It's all bullshit. It's all an act. It's just a show, nothing more. If you give the people what they want they'll pay for it." He took a swig from the bottle. "Plain and simple."

Drew wasn't quite finished, though. He smirked that same sly, almost predatory smirk that had become his trademark and looked to Scott. "You're in the wrong business, then. You should be working for me. You know we're almost finished piecing together the first all-mutant private security team." He said, as if he was tempting Scott with a shiny apple. "It pays more than any degree you're going to get and you can still go to school in your off time."

[Scott O'Riley]

Giving off a bark of laughter, Scott pulled up one leg to rest on one knee and leaned back into the couch he was in. "Tell that to my father. He expects me to have a baby, a wife and a proper house by the time I turn twenty-five. That ain't too far from now." He pointed out. His job at the bar was obviously not going to cut it.

Another short bark of laughter escaped Scott's throat. "Are you seriously offering me a job, Conner?" Shaking his head, Scott leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I must be in a more desperate situation than I already am that my best friend needs to help me. Again."

[Drew Conner]

Drew couldn't hold back the contemptuous snort. "Are you sure you don't have babies?" The joke was low hanging fruit, given his friend's reputation but he would have been remiss if he hadn't taken the opportunity afforded him. "I keep waiting for a bus load of kids to show up at your door."

"Hey, easy now." Drew lifted the bottle to his lips and took a short pull. "Offering a job isn't helping." He corrected. After all, it wasn't as if he was in the business of selling paper clips or delivering mail. The life of a mercenary was lucrative, to say the least, but wrought with inconvenience, at best and harrowing danger, at worst. "If your dad thinks becoming a private security contractor is taking the easy way out he's more than welcome to join Helios too." He replied with a smirk.

There was a short pause before Drew gave a shrug. "It's a standing offer." He said calmly, turning his eyes out to the large windows to watch the sun slip below the horizon.

[Scott O'Riley]

Shrugging at the question posed, Scott couldn't help but chuckle. "If they didn't abort an O'Riley baby, there's something definitely wrong with them." He sighed and closed his eyes briefly.

"If it comes from you, my dad would just think you're doing me a solid. He'd think I'm making a good choice working under you, seeing as you're the son he wished I turned out to be, but he'd still just see it as a handout." Scott shrugged. Vitriol didn't lace his tone as it so often did when he was a teenager, talking about his absentee father. It actually sounded distant.

A driveless hum emitted from Scott's throat as he too looked out the windows while sipping from his bottle. "This is becoming pretty depressing pretty fast. Tell me you have a pool table in this fortress?"

[Drew Conner]

Drew nearly winced at the heartless, yet absolutely fitting answer Scott gave. He let out a low chuckle and shook his head. Nothing less was expected, though, and he did shrug the comment off. "That's harsh, Scott." He said with a chuckle. "One of these days one or more of them are going to sneak through and you're going to find yourself with a six year old on your hands."

A nod came at Scott's reply. Drew understood more than most about his friend's parental situation. "It's a standing offer." He said before taking a pull from his bottle and continuing to look out over the now darkened horizon outside. "If you ever get tired of spinning your wheels in some crappy bar just let me know. Helios is always in need of someone like you."

Drew paused and glanced over toward his friend with that sly smirk on his face that had become his trademark. As someone who valued his privacy Drew had ensured the lavish, expansive complex he called home was equipped with everything anyone could possibly ever need. "Yeah. He pushed himself up to his feet and waved for Scott to follow along. The duo moved through the large corridors of the home and finally down into the basement. He reached out into the darkness and flicked on a series of switches casting light over the multi-lane bowling alley. "I don't get out much." Drew said with a faint shrug of his shoulders. "Have to do something to pass the time."

[Scott O'Riley]

"Just stating facts." He shrugged before balking at the idea of having someone else to take care of. Much as he had joked with Akeem about suddenly having a family would appease his father more, the thought of actually having it was unappealing. "Can't even imagine what I'd do with a kid."

The idea of working at a place like Helios, however, was something he could imagine. Independent contractor. No ties, more money, travelling? Nothing wrong with that. "Yeah I'll think about it." He nodded.

That smirk of his was rarely a good sign. It was one of those things they shared. But given the context, Scott could glean what exactly the smirk was all about so without much prompting, he followed the younger man and the smirk deepened when he saw the reason for the look.

"I need your dad to adopt me now." Scott said, setting his bottle down the nearest surface. "Or you. Isaac would like a big brother, right?"

[Drew Conner]

"They're not so bad." Drew said with a faint shrug of his shoulders. Of course this was a gross underestimation of parenthood and he knew a major reason why he'd managed to handle being a father was definitely due to the calming presence of his wife. Without her Drew knew damn well he would have been lost when it came to raising their son. "You get used to not sleeping for days at a time when they're young." He said with a light chuckle.

Drew's eyes scanned over the bowling alley and nodded with a certain sense of satisfaction. There was something to be said for seemingly juvenile hobbies. While he drastically preferred being on the basketball court (of which he had built nearby as well) it was far too late to get into something like that. No, bowling was far more of a casual endeavor. "If I did that then I'd definitely put you to work at Helios." He replied, smirking faintly as he glanced toward Scott.

"You know, I'm surprised." Drew mused idly after he'd started up a pair of lanes, complete with the digital scoreboards located above the ball return, and shoes had been swapped out for proper footwear. His eyes ran over the balls sitting in the return a moment before selecting his favorite, a black sphere with gold threads woven through it, and approached the lane. "I would have thought some girl would made an honest man out of you by now." He cast that smirk toward Scott before stepping forward and sending the ball down the lane toward the pins.

[Scott O'Riley]

Drew trying to convince him that children weren't so bad had Scott laughing heartily over it. There was no amount of convincing that would ever sway Scott's decision about parenthood. His parents were not there for him, Scott didn't want to be put in a position where he would have to do the same.

Pushing all serious thoughts aside, Scott swapped his Chucks for bowling shoes and looked around for a ball that had a good weight to them. He chuckled a little distantly at Drew's reply before snorting at the remark he made.

"Which part of bellybutton drinking made you think I could ever be made an honest man?" Scott asked, not really fathoming anybody would have that much time in their hands to do so. And if they did, they were spending it on the wrong man.

"And you know the only one who could is you. But you're married." He shrugged with a grin.

[Drew Conner]

Drew let out a light chuckle at his friend's clear reply. Drew didn't really believe Scott was the type to sleaze around until he 'found the right girl' or something along those foolish lines. No, Scott was the epitome of a free spirit, for better or worse. While Drew had fallen into a meticulously planned life Scott seemed to be the exact opposite and shunned the expectations laid upon him by family. In many ways Drew was a touch envious of Scott's ability to do this.

"Yeah, well you acted too late." Drew said with a faint shrug of his shoulders as the ball crashed into the pins, taking down all but two of them on the right side. The wry smirk he was often known for found its way onto his lips as he cast a short glance in Scott's direction. "Hell, it's not like I'm going to be the one to try and feed you the line of bullshit about 'finding the right person' or anything." His head shook as he scooped up his ball from the return and lined up his second throw. "It wasn't long ago that you and I weren't so different." He pointed out then sent the ball down the lane once again to clear out the remaining pins. "Erika was the exception to the rule."