No hello, no specifics, straight to the point. Axel dropped down besides Hartley and stole off his tray, sitting as close to Hartley as physically possible and eyeing up Mick and Len across the table, trying to seem as close to these three as possible so the giant dude glaring at him from the lunch line got the idea that he wasn't to be messed with. "Hartley, could you be a dear and look like you like me a bit more than you do so I can keep all my teeth?"
He took a bite out of his toast and gave him a playful look, pretending to look as sincere as he could. "I'll make it worth your while."
"I don't know if I feel like it. You've never made anything worth my while." Hartley rolled his eyes and turned to look down at his plate instead, but he didn't stop Axel from taking from it and he also didn't try to brush him off. In this case, he supposed nothing was as good as an admission. Maybe one day he'd be able to fuck Axel over like he'd fucked him over.
"What did you do, kid?" Mick was bored, so that was as interesting as anything, especially since Len didn't appear to pay attention, lost in thoughts.
"May have called him a cunt. He may have acted like a cunt. Personally, I think I was in the right and it was pretty funny. Then he turned around and I saw his tats. Not from the best of gangs." Axel took a bite from Hartley's toast and then threw an arm around Hartley, buddying up as close as he could. He knew why Hartley still held a grudge but he was hoping he'd have kicked his ass and gotten over it by now.
"Anyway, he threatened to shove his fist up my ass and that's either a really colour threat or he's violently kinky and either way, I'm not into it." Axel sighed and looked at Hartley, trying to get his attention. "I'll be pretty Pipers boy, if he lets me. Then he won't touch me."
"You should start training up, Walker, if you're not smart enough to get respect like Piper does." Mick was amused more than anything, clearly not concerned with protecting Axel. He didn't usually do that, unless Len told him to and Len seemed more concerned with whatever deep thoughts he probably had going through his mind. Thinking this much just sounded stressful. "Mostly I'm just surprised you're not into getting fisted."
Hartley rolled his eyes and elbowed Axel's chest. "Get your arm off me. I've got better offers."
That said he straightened up and shrugged. "You can eat here."
"If he fists me to death, you're going to feel bad. And I'm going to haunt all your asses." Axel pouted as he shuffled away from Hartley, moving his hand off and watching the other, slowly finishing the toast he'd stolen. "Have you got better offers? From who?" Hartley had chances at scoring? Not good. As soon as Hartley found someone, he'd probably stop helping him, it wasn't like he really enjoyed helping him lately. Not for a while now. Not since everything.
Axel looked at his arms and frowned, looking at Mick while pulling a face. "I tried, I don't get much more ripped than this. I'm wiry."
"I thought the whole dropping the soap thing was just an urban legend. Kind of funny, huh? Whoops." Barry joked awkwardly as one hell of a terrifying looking guy started to advance on him, he looked like he meant business and Barry nearly slipped down backing away from him, hitting the tile wall and trying to shrink down into nothing to avoid making this way worse than it was. "I'm just clumsy, man, I didn't mean anything by it."
Nothing like going to the shower and trying to keep a low profile, accidentally slamming into someone, dropping the soap so it bounced into the drain and then having a lot of pissed off guys glaring at him as he stood there naked.
He really didn't want any more trouble, he couldn't take any more trouble. Barry was already covered in bruises, he had his ass kicked more here than highschool and way more vicious too. They used all their strength, there was no messing around with these guys and Barry just hadn't been ready for this. What was he thinking when he agreed to this assignment.
"Get on your knees and say sorry properly."
"What?" Barry frowned and when he didn't respond fast enough, a fist struck him so hard in the gut that he actually fell to his knees anyway. This was just so not his day. Attacked in the shower? How cliche was this.
"Seriously?" This was what he walked in on? Leonard was still dressed, Mick - walking in behind him - wasn't. Just a towel and bulking muscles. Which probably helped with getting the attention of the guy about to beat up Barry. Well. Do worse than just beating him up, but whatever, either way Leonard didn't need that crap when he wanted a shower. "Get off him and get lost, I want a shower and I didn't ask for low budget porn."
The guy glared at Leonard and stalked toward him. "Maybe you'll like it better if you star in it, Snart."
"I might," Leonard admitted. Then he slammed the guy over his shoulder on the ground and Mick punched the nearest witness, just to get in on the violence. The ensuing fight didn't last long and ended with Mick carrying two of the unconscious men outside while the others left, mostly limping. Leonard stayed behind alone with Barry, looking at him and handing him a towel.
Well. That hadn't happened before, not here anyway. Barry looked up and -- oh man, he knew that face. Of course he knew that face. Everyone knew that face. It was pretty much all over the office not long ago. Leonard Snart. And that dude by him was Mick Rory. These two were pretty notorious, Joe had nearly pulled all his hair out trying to catch them, clearly he'd managed.
This wasn't exactly what he expected from meeting them. They looked exactly like their pictures yet not, there was an odd sort of realism he didn't expect, things that stood out more. Mick's burns, Leonard's eyes, the way both of them held themselves.
Barry swallowed and realised he was staring, nodding his head dumbly despite the fact that, no, he had not showered but he didn't really want to go back in there, he mostly just wanted to put his clothes back on. He stood under the water, he was going to be fine.
"I'm good. Totally good." Barry grabbed the towel and tied it around himself, pulling himself to his feet with a nervous smile. "Just kind of winded, my gut hurts but otherwise, totally cool. Thanks, erm, I'm Barry." Did people give names here? Too late, he had given it. He really needed to stop doing that, at least he wasn't offering his hand any more. "Good to meet you." He thought. Maybe.
"I'm Snart. You can shower, I'm not interested. Just get clean and get out." Leonard glanced at the door to make sure Mick had closed it. He didn't like company while showering. He didn't mind the kid being there, as long as he'd make it quick. "You're Axel Walker's cellmate. He mentioned you."
And from the looks of it, he'd been right. "You have to time your showers. Mick and I hit them at this time. Always. Come then, because I don't like a show. You'll be fine."
Hartley looked as if he hadn't slept and all he did was nurse his coffee, eyes on the mug and nothing else. Mick was stealing Hartley's food, not that he seemed to mind, and Leonard waited for his tea to cool enough to be drinkable. "Barry's going to sit with us. The new kid."
"I figured, since you showered with him yesterday." Word got around and Hartley earned himself a look with that.
Barry entered the lunch room with Axel, joining the line and picking up two trays, offering one to a clearly fed up Axel who seemed just entirely done with Barry. It wasn't a shock. Barry was constantly making mistakes, being an idiot, getting himself in the firing line and Snart's protection only extended so far. Axel was pretty much keeping an eye on him and keeping him alive at this point. Also trying to make sure Snart didn't kick his ass for failing him.
Barry loaded up his tray with as much food as he could get, waiting politely for Axel to finish and gesturing for him to come with him. A dodgy move given Hartley was there but eh, he'd chance it.
The two sat down and Barry grinned. God, he grinned. It was painful. "Hey guys."
Hartley moved over more than he strictly needed to to make space for Barry and Axel, which meant he wasn't too close to him. So, yes, he was salty and he wouldn't just get over it, but whatever. They had had something and now they had nothing. He had nothing. He didn't want to pretend that it didn't bother him, he wasn't that good an actor. Looking at Barry he mostly just arched his eyebrows.
Mick grunted, Leonard had just a bit of a smile as he watched Barry grin. Ray of sunshine, this damn puppy couldn't be for real. "Hey. Sleep well?"
Yes, apparently he was going to make conversation with the kid.
"Mostly. I slept pretty solid until like two am or something when the guys next door to us started to fight. Then me and Axel just talked until I got tired." Judging from the look on Axel's face, no, he didn't want to talk and no, it had not been a fun experience. Mostly just talking about aliens, the potential existence of a yeti and, weirdly, if he knew where to get vertigo. The kid was a druggie. Made a lot of sense.
"Oh it was magical, like a sleepover." Axel rolled his eyes and shuffled closer to Hartley, grinning playfully. "Morning handsome. It's rude to give the cold shoulder to me. And Barry, he's new."
"Hey." Barry greeted, smiling at Hartley. "Nice to meet you."
Axel leaned on the bars outside the cell, not moving in until he was told, a force of habit that extended to most, even those not technically above him. Not that he and Hartley were on the same level these days. Hartley had an empire slowly forming, he was hooked up with a lot of the higher end people and Axel was still Axel. Still trying to survive in a crappy environment. Alone.
"Can I come in?" See, look, manners and everything. That should earn him points. "I brought something."
"Not overly." Hartley had a room for himself, which wasn't that surprising, given that he was doing well. Not just where his behaviour was concerned, but also and most especially in less obvious ways. It showed in how comparatively comfortable he had it here. He was currently sanding the edges off a very small metal device with sandpaper. Safe enough. His real work had to be done at the workshop, but at least he could get things ready while in here.
"I told you to come, so yeah. Come in." He sat up on the bed and looked at Axel, keeping his face as blank as he could. "What do you have?"
Hartley had way more swag that he thought he had. Way more. He hadn't been here in a while so to look around and see how well he was doing, suddenly the thing he had to trade seemed kind of crappy and less like the holy grail he thought it was. Still, things like that never kept Axel down. When he first started here, he just decided to keep going no matter what. No matter how many times he got hurt, no matter how many people betrayed him or he had to betray. And here he was, trying to trade with one of the people he screwed over.
He pulled an item from the waistband of his trousers and presented it to Hartley. A broken three gens old ipod and some very manky looking headphones but hey, tech was so rare to come by here and Axel still considered this a lucky find. "It's broken but if anyone can fix it, you can fix it."
"Probably can." It wasn't just arrogance, Hartley had some experience with things like this. At the very least he'd be able to salvage some of the material, but he might even be able to make it work. Maybe there was music on it. It was pathetic that this excited him at all, but music meant to much to Hartley. He missed it, hell, yearned for it. It wasn't something that he let people know and he showed nothing much yet either. He'd not want to seem eager in any way. "What do you want for it?"
Leonard didn't spend all of his free time at the library, but a lot of it. It was quiet, one of the few places that hardly ever saw any fights and it meant he could have some amount of peace. Also, he actually enjoyed reading.
Of course, he also trained, but mostly he did that alone with Mick. As far as public leisure pastimes were concerned, this was just about the only one. He was reading now as well when Barry came in, looking up from his book - a history one - and waiting for the puppy to notice him and head over.
"I was talking to someone." Barry shrugged and pulled out the seat opposite Leonard, sitting down and smiling. It hurt to smile right now, he had a split lip on a count of being punched in the face not long ago but it was his own damn fault for making a joke to a guy that terrifying. "His friends were a little touchy but it wasn't so bad."
He licked his lower lip and decided to just move as swiftly on from having to explain it properly as possible.
"History of the Cold War. Mostly just skimming for the fun bits." Leonard turned the book, thumb between the pages, showing the cover. He looked at Barry, not surprised to see him look the way he did. He'd probably earned it, if nothing else than through sheer stupidity. "Looks like you had a very productive talk. Hit you with their best arguments, hm? You should probably stop being funny. Not what people want to hear from you."
"Yeah, I get it. Don't be happy, don't be funny, don't do anything." This place was impossible to make friends in because no one wanted to be friends. Didn't the cops get this? How was he supposed to integrate when all anyone wanted to do is fuck him or beat him. "It's like highschool all over again except I don't get to go home at the end of the day, I'm just stuck here." Barry sighed and dropped his head in his hand. "They were just a little touchy."
Axel had been avoiding Hartley for a while now, something that proved to be very unusual given that Axel never avoided Hartley, not even after he betrayed him. Just hearing those words though, the way he spoke to him? They actually hurt. Axel didn't see Hartley again until five days later when he turned up at lunch. And even then, he sat down besides Barry and not Hartley.
This had not been a good week. Two days had run out, he hadn't found anyone willing to accept his offer and it had been three days of things he didn't want to speak about and he was really fed up of Barry trying to talk to him about.
Axel emptied his pockets onto the table and put all the stuff he'd managed to steal and gather right there in front of Mick and Len. The ipod, the cigarettes, a lighter, some dollars, some strange white powder in a little bag and a folded up picture of a naked girl. "That's it. That's all my stash. Give me an offer." For protection, for help, for some lunch period where someone backed him up. And yes, he was addressing them and not Hartley for a reason. "Please."
Mick reached for the lighter and the picture right away, unfolding it while he tried to see whether the lighter actually worked. "She's nice."
Leonard snatched the lighter away from him with the ease of practice, putting it back down in front of Axel. He gave Mick a look and he sighed, but put the picture back as well. "My plate's full," was all Leonard said, not really bothering to look at Axel. Mick shrugged, offering Axel a grin, "Sorry, kid. Boss has spoken."
It was how it worked, Mick didn't make the rules and he generally didn't question Len's judgement.
"My offer still stands." It was all Hartley said, quietly, while looking down.
"Leonard? Come on, he just needs a little help." Barry didn't get it, if anyone needed help these passed few days, it was Axel and while Barry didn't have the strength to help him, he didn't think he'd find it this hard to get some back up. He watched as Axel gritted his teeth and his fists clenched, reaching out to pull all of his shit back. "He's having a really bad time of th--"
"Fuck off, Allen!" Axel snapped, not needing some pity defence from his stupid cell-mate. Leonard didn't want to help him and that was that. No changing his mind. They were never friends, he didn't expect anything more than making an offer and being heard.
He crammed all of his shit into his pocket and glared at Hartley for a moment. "Nah, don't want to burden you with my worn out ass." He just needed a few plan. Who else could he try? His eyes scanned the room, trying to find someone he hadn't already hit up.
Hartley clenched his fists in frustration, but that was just it. He finally managed to hurt Axel in a way at least approaching to how hurt he had been and now he couldn't get over it, just the way he kept accusing Hartley of being a little bitch over it. It was ironic and it hurt and it frustrated him to no end. He didn't know what to do to get through to him. "Fuck, Axel."
Leonard was ignoring Barry in favour of his food, because he didn't have time to explain his policies to the puppy. He was sure he'd get an earful later, which would definitely amuse Mick, but at least he could save himself some time for now.
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No hello, no specifics, straight to the point. Axel dropped down besides Hartley and stole off his tray, sitting as close to Hartley as physically possible and eyeing up Mick and Len across the table, trying to seem as close to these three as possible so the giant dude glaring at him from the lunch line got the idea that he wasn't to be messed with. "Hartley, could you be a dear and look like you like me a bit more than you do so I can keep all my teeth?"
He took a bite out of his toast and gave him a playful look, pretending to look as sincere as he could. "I'll make it worth your while."
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"What did you do, kid?" Mick was bored, so that was as interesting as anything, especially since Len didn't appear to pay attention, lost in thoughts.
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"Anyway, he threatened to shove his fist up my ass and that's either a really colour threat or he's violently kinky and either way, I'm not into it." Axel sighed and looked at Hartley, trying to get his attention. "I'll be pretty Pipers boy, if he lets me. Then he won't touch me."
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Hartley rolled his eyes and elbowed Axel's chest. "Get your arm off me. I've got better offers."
That said he straightened up and shrugged. "You can eat here."
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Axel looked at his arms and frowned, looking at Mick while pulling a face. "I tried, I don't get much more ripped than this. I'm wiry."
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Nothing like going to the shower and trying to keep a low profile, accidentally slamming into someone, dropping the soap so it bounced into the drain and then having a lot of pissed off guys glaring at him as he stood there naked.
He really didn't want any more trouble, he couldn't take any more trouble. Barry was already covered in bruises, he had his ass kicked more here than highschool and way more vicious too. They used all their strength, there was no messing around with these guys and Barry just hadn't been ready for this. What was he thinking when he agreed to this assignment.
"Get on your knees and say sorry properly."
"What?" Barry frowned and when he didn't respond fast enough, a fist struck him so hard in the gut that he actually fell to his knees anyway. This was just so not his day. Attacked in the shower? How cliche was this.
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The guy glared at Leonard and stalked toward him. "Maybe you'll like it better if you star in it, Snart."
"I might," Leonard admitted. Then he slammed the guy over his shoulder on the ground and Mick punched the nearest witness, just to get in on the violence. The ensuing fight didn't last long and ended with Mick carrying two of the unconscious men outside while the others left, mostly limping. Leonard stayed behind alone with Barry, looking at him and handing him a towel.
"Did you shower yet?"
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This wasn't exactly what he expected from meeting them. They looked exactly like their pictures yet not, there was an odd sort of realism he didn't expect, things that stood out more. Mick's burns, Leonard's eyes, the way both of them held themselves.
Barry swallowed and realised he was staring, nodding his head dumbly despite the fact that, no, he had not showered but he didn't really want to go back in there, he mostly just wanted to put his clothes back on. He stood under the water, he was going to be fine.
"I'm good. Totally good." Barry grabbed the towel and tied it around himself, pulling himself to his feet with a nervous smile. "Just kind of winded, my gut hurts but otherwise, totally cool. Thanks, erm, I'm Barry." Did people give names here? Too late, he had given it. He really needed to stop doing that, at least he wasn't offering his hand any more. "Good to meet you." He thought. Maybe.
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And from the looks of it, he'd been right. "You have to time your showers. Mick and I hit them at this time. Always. Come then, because I don't like a show. You'll be fine."
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Hartley looked as if he hadn't slept and all he did was nurse his coffee, eyes on the mug and nothing else. Mick was stealing Hartley's food, not that he seemed to mind, and Leonard waited for his tea to cool enough to be drinkable. "Barry's going to sit with us. The new kid."
"I figured, since you showered with him yesterday." Word got around and Hartley earned himself a look with that.
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Barry loaded up his tray with as much food as he could get, waiting politely for Axel to finish and gesturing for him to come with him. A dodgy move given Hartley was there but eh, he'd chance it.
The two sat down and Barry grinned. God, he grinned. It was painful. "Hey guys."
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Mick grunted, Leonard had just a bit of a smile as he watched Barry grin. Ray of sunshine, this damn puppy couldn't be for real. "Hey. Sleep well?"
Yes, apparently he was going to make conversation with the kid.
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"Oh it was magical, like a sleepover." Axel rolled his eyes and shuffled closer to Hartley, grinning playfully. "Morning handsome. It's rude to give the cold shoulder to me. And Barry, he's new."
"Hey." Barry greeted, smiling at Hartley. "Nice to meet you."
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Axel leaned on the bars outside the cell, not moving in until he was told, a force of habit that extended to most, even those not technically above him. Not that he and Hartley were on the same level these days. Hartley had an empire slowly forming, he was hooked up with a lot of the higher end people and Axel was still Axel. Still trying to survive in a crappy environment. Alone.
"Can I come in?" See, look, manners and everything. That should earn him points. "I brought something."
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"I told you to come, so yeah. Come in." He sat up on the bed and looked at Axel, keeping his face as blank as he could. "What do you have?"
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He pulled an item from the waistband of his trousers and presented it to Hartley. A broken three gens old ipod and some very manky looking headphones but hey, tech was so rare to come by here and Axel still considered this a lucky find. "It's broken but if anyone can fix it, you can fix it."
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Of course, he also trained, but mostly he did that alone with Mick. As far as public leisure pastimes were concerned, this was just about the only one. He was reading now as well when Barry came in, looking up from his book - a history one - and waiting for the puppy to notice him and head over.
"So what were you up to?"
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He licked his lower lip and decided to just move as swiftly on from having to explain it properly as possible.
"What are you reading?"
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This had not been a good week. Two days had run out, he hadn't found anyone willing to accept his offer and it had been three days of things he didn't want to speak about and he was really fed up of Barry trying to talk to him about.
Axel emptied his pockets onto the table and put all the stuff he'd managed to steal and gather right there in front of Mick and Len. The ipod, the cigarettes, a lighter, some dollars, some strange white powder in a little bag and a folded up picture of a naked girl. "That's it. That's all my stash. Give me an offer." For protection, for help, for some lunch period where someone backed him up. And yes, he was addressing them and not Hartley for a reason. "Please."
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Leonard snatched the lighter away from him with the ease of practice, putting it back down in front of Axel. He gave Mick a look and he sighed, but put the picture back as well. "My plate's full," was all Leonard said, not really bothering to look at Axel. Mick shrugged, offering Axel a grin, "Sorry, kid. Boss has spoken."
It was how it worked, Mick didn't make the rules and he generally didn't question Len's judgement.
"My offer still stands." It was all Hartley said, quietly, while looking down.
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"Fuck off, Allen!" Axel snapped, not needing some pity defence from his stupid cell-mate. Leonard didn't want to help him and that was that. No changing his mind. They were never friends, he didn't expect anything more than making an offer and being heard.
He crammed all of his shit into his pocket and glared at Hartley for a moment. "Nah, don't want to burden you with my worn out ass." He just needed a few plan. Who else could he try? His eyes scanned the room, trying to find someone he hadn't already hit up.
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Leonard was ignoring Barry in favour of his food, because he didn't have time to explain his policies to the puppy. He was sure he'd get an earful later, which would definitely amuse Mick, but at least he could save himself some time for now.
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