Good Cop Bad Cop: Chapter Two

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Ellie watched Shane suspiciously. Was he trying to teach her things again? Hmm.

Matt looked around. "Uh.. we have an uneven number right? Who else is terrible at bowling? Two of us equal one person with hand eye coordination!"

"Or have one keep score" Rigel suggested and chuckled "I will do that"

Asher smiled. "Numbers are wonderful things," he agreed. "It's funny how people usually don't understand that."
He nodded, "I don't know if I can get them at the Guild, but probably at our next stop after that. Until then, I'll need to find other projects." Which didn't bother him at all, honestly.

Matt hesitated, then counted again. "Man, everyone pair off."

Shane stayed with Ellie while Dawn and Rigel stood together. Starr came over to stand with Matt so Tala and James could stand together "Eight, we have an even amount" Starr said and smiled

Kay smiled softly. [Also a great deal easier than crosswords when it's not your native language.] He shrugged. [How long do you think before one of our brothers gets themselves hurt stupidly and we have to go deal with it?] He smirked.

--

Matt cheered. "right, four to a team then?"

Starr nodded and smiled "How about You, me, Ellie and Shane against the others?" That would put Dawn and Rigel with Tala and James

Matt chuckled. "Sure, if you want my dead weight."

Starr chuckled and shrugged "Why not? It's just a game after all"

Matt laughed. "I don't think you realise quite how much of a dead weight I am." He grinned. "Have we got those ramp things you let kids use? I wanna use the ramp things!"

Starr shrugged and chuckled "I don't know what the 'ramp things' are, or how to play"

"I can believe that. Sudoku would be far easier than a crossword puzzle," Asher said with a laugh. "Hmm, I'll give them forty minutes before one of them comes running to us for help. They seem to amplify each other's foolishness."

~~
"Yes! I want Matt!" Ellie looked happy to have him.

"I want Matt too," James pouted.

"Yay everyone wants me!" Matt laughed. "It's so nice to be popular." He blew them all kisses.

---

Kay nodded. [At least Matt's sober, or... was when I left him. Makes a change.]

James looked at Matt sadly. "We'll win in your honor," he teased.

~~
"Maybe it'll be James who gets hurt then," Asher mused. "Which would be great because i want to see you tell him off."

Kay smirked. [You enjoy my wrath a little too much Asher.]

--

"Yay!" Matt grinned. "Oh James, such a romantic!" He cackled. "Let's bowl!"

"Do I?" Asher gave Kay an innocent look. "Oh no, it's terrifying to see. Really." He looked amused.

[Maybe only when it's not directed at you.] He shook his head, looking amused. [James better not get hurt again, he'll use up all the adhesive and as you pointed out, replacement skin is extremely expensive. We can't have his foolishness draining our funds.]

Asher laughed. "It's more fun to watch you rage from the sidelines, yes. Is it wrong to like watching someone tell people they're being idiots, when you can't do it yourself because you're too chronically nice?" He nodded, "We have plenty of adhesive, that stuff is very cheap. But if he goes and does some serious damage to himself, we'll be in trouble. He can pay for his own repairs now though, so there."

[Maybe we should start charging him for the supplies he uses.] Kay smirked. [I considered charging Matt for the painkillers his constant binges but as i'm already keeping a tally on how much he owes me in bail money, it's just more cash i'm never getting back off him.] He patted Asher's arm. [ You ARE chronically nice. But I like that about you. I'll never be as patient and understanding. We balance one another out nicely I think. I'll handle the lectures and judgement, you handle the hand holding and making the soothing noises.] he then realised what he'd written and looked slightly embarrassed, ducking his head. Damnit Matt.

Starr chuckled and they moved into two groups "Now, how do we play?" She asked as she looked to the others.

"uh.. you roll the ball at those wooden things." Matt pointed at the pins at the end of the alley. "We have a similar game back home but it's done outdoors. You wanna knock the wooden things over right?" He looked to James for confirmation. He'd bowled once, only once, and had managed to knock over 2 whole pins through the entire game. Oops?

Asher nodded. "Sadly, our dear brothers shall never be able to pay back what they owe us. I guess we're running a charity around here now. It's our lot in life, Kay, I'm sorry."
He looked at Kay's tablet screen for a moment, and at Kay;s embarrassed expression, then looked out the window. Umm. He kind of wanted to ask. But he was sort of embarrassed to ask. Awkward.

~~
"Yeah!" James nodded. "You roll the ball to knock over the pins, and everyone cheers. It's a good game."

Starr chuckled "Alright, who goes first?"

"or in my case, it goes into the pit at the side and I lose." Matt laughed. He was totally fine with his sporting ineptitude.

---

Kay nodded. [If I could, i'd dock Matt's pay. As it is, I think Vestia should siphon some off for the bail Matt out fund.] He noticed the looking away and sighed. [Sorry.]

"Uhh, I'll go first!" Ellie got a bowling ball and headed for one of the lanes, and rolled the ball down with a dramatic flourish. It rolled off into one of the ditches. "Close enough!"

~~
Asher nodded in agreement. "Matt needs to earn his keep," he said, amused.
He looked back at Kay, smiling softly. "There's nothing to apologize for."

Matt cheered. "Go Ellie!"

---

Kay looked awkward but nodded. He wasn't sure what to say really, he didn't want to bring it up, unsure quite how Asher would take it.

[By your estimate we still have at least half an hour before someone injures themselves, so... what should we do?]

yes, change the subject, always change the subject.

Shane clapped, even if it had gone into the gutter "Try again"