Nick's a jerk anyway, and the phrase 'hero-worship' implies that the admiration is irrational and what the hell is irrational about it? Gerard came out of nowhere and helped Joe stitch someone's back closed. Can Nick bind peoples' skin together? Didn't think so.

And for the past few days now, Gerad's been coming over to Joe's building and knocking ( Read more... )

Nick wasn't stupid - uneducated in a formal sense, but never stupid. He was smart, quick on the uptake, could make a heel of bread last the weekend for four, pick a gent's pocket in front of the police, knew every alleyway and backdoor exit in the slums. He could count and handle money, and he could remember instructions and knew when to follow ( Read more... )

Nick really ought to be used to it by now. Three months since the first night he worked the floor, and it's not always possible to avoid Kevin's eyes anymore. They work near each other and for weeks they don't say a word until they're home, but the fragile silence only lasts until that night when there's a bar fight.

Fights aren't that uncommon but ( Read more... )

Macy hurried from shadow to shadow, her thin shawl drawn low over her arms and the package she was cradling. She crept up the stairs, and tapped on the door. It opened a crack, then wider when Nick saw it was her. "Come in, quick."

Macy licked dry lips. "How bad?"

Nick's features were pale and drawn. Instead of answering, he pointed to the bed drawn ( Read more... )

When Mike asked him to lunch the next day, he had to say no--he has little enough time off work when he's actually awake, he needs to spend some of it with his brothers, instead of catering to the strange whims of charming noblemen, but when Mike's face falls, he's surprised to find himself proposing meeting up the day after.

Of course, he hadn't ( Read more... )

The light dims when the fire splutters, choking down to embers, glowing still, but dully. Mike would get up, add another log, if only Kevin weren't asleep, sprawled on the floor in front of the fire with his head in Mike's lap.

Not that Mike's complaining.

The afternoon has been the long, lazy kind, with marathon games of checkers with Kevin and Mike ( Read more... )

Mike thinks maybe he doesn't quite understand. They're excited, they're talking about it like it's just a day out, even though Nick was almost caught lifting a handful of scarves for resale when cash was short last week, and if he'd been a few seconds slower, it might be him standing in line to make his way up to the block.

Joe's reminding Nick to ( Read more... )

It's been a long night and a customer got a little too rough earlier and Kevin pulled a knife, and that had gotten messy, and now it's morning and the sun's creeping out and all Kevin wants to do is go to bed, be dead to the world for a while.  But Mike's really excited about something, one of those things he's been picking out of law books at his ( Read more... )

He's here again. The drunk with the wandering hands who doesn't seem to understand that not everyone on the clock tonight's for sale, and he's eyeing up the new barmaid. Her name's Selena and she's already nervous, her first night on the job.

Nick's not the type to step in. He knows who the guy is, knows he's an asshole, but Nick knows better than ( Read more... )

The Hangar seemed...smaller, somehow, yet bigger at the same time. Victoria delicately lifted the hem of her dress clear of the straw on the floor and crossed the room. A few hard-core drinkers were pickling themselves by the fire, but this early in the afternoon, the place was nearly empty.

The boy behind the bar watched her warily as she ( Read more... )