Relationship Matters by InSilva
Disclaimer: don't own any Ocean creation. But my son has a nifty line in drawing jellyfish.
Chapter Seven: (Ab)Norming
Danny didn't plan to stay for the whole of the auction. He stayed long enough to look at the room and the exits and the cameras; he studied the auctioneer, polished and professional and he spotted Alex, clipboard in hand, organising the porters and the lots and glancing out at the audience; as for the atmosphere in the room…there was something and Danny wasn't sure what. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. The audience was for the most part interested and engaged and there were people bidding and winning and losing… He shook himself. Roundabout now, Rick would be raising his eyebrows and telling him to focus.
At the changeover of lots, Danny stood up and excused himself and walked down the aisle, aware of Rusty, sitting back in his chair, legs crossed, gazing with what might be mistaken for interest at the latest offering.
Alisha was at her desk when he left the hall and he nodded at her and she half-rose but he walked straight past and noted with satisfaction the disappointment as she sat down again. This was going to be a slow burn and this visit was all about sowing seeds for next time.
Danny saw the main bank of elevators behind the dealers' desks flanked by stairwells and he stood in the foyer and visibly hesitated, looking round, his eyes pinpointing the windows, the security on show, the security lying beneath the surface… He didn't move until a young and nervous employee wondered if he could assist and Danny asked for the men's room.
"It's right there, sir," said Young and Nervous, pointing at the corner and Danny rolled his eyes at himself and went to use the facilities.
There was something about the auction that was niggling at Rusty: he just wasn't sure what. The lots were mediocre and the bids were unremarkable and Alex was giving him shy smiles every now and then and he just couldn't identify what was the issue. He frowned to himself and pushed it to one side. It would come to him. Sometimes ignoring was the best policy.
Maria's face remained admirably neutral as Eduardo and Rick returned, accompanied by various pieces of equipment. She stopped Eduardo and unzipped one of the bags he was carrying for a closer inspection. Whatever she was looking for did not appear to be there and she nodded and stepped back.
"You should get a job in customs," Eduardo told her as they started to climb the stairs.
She flashed bare teeth at him and Eduardo reminded himself she was on their side. Probably.
"If they paid better than the bar I would do," she called after him and he was almost sure she was joking.
"Come on." Rick pulled him upstairs.
Danny had wandered out of Larner's and into the bar on the corner. He ordered a beer and a sandwich and sat down to digest what he'd learned. Alisha. The layout. The auction. After a while, he gave up and concentrated on his meal. It was probably that he was still out of practice; it was more likely that he just missed the sounding board of Rick sitting opposite and offering up common sense and likely explanations; even so he couldn't shake the feeling that there were more pieces to this puzzle.
It was gone two by the time the auction wrapped up and Rusty stood and stretched imperceptibly. He'd bid on one carefully chosen piece, going up against a woman in the row in front of him. Watching her body language, reading her face, he'd known when to pull out of the bidding gracefully. Just as well. He wasn't certain what he'd do with a lump of wood and a kneeler cushion. He wasn't really certain what anyone would do with it. It seemed to be a little bit elaborate for gardening.
As people started walking away, he found Alex at his side.
"Nothing of real interest?" Alex asked.
"Wouldn't say that," Rusty replied with a smile and Alex flushed and recovered.
"Of course, the prie-dieux." So that was what it was. Rusty was none the wiser. "Look, there's this bar on the corner and we go to it all the time and I don't know if you had plans for lunch…well, a late lunch…"
The timing was wrong. Alex probably had information that was helpful but if he and Danny were going to be in position in time, then he needed to move.
"Sorry, Alex." His expression was sincere apology. "I have another appointment. But maybe another time?"
"Sure." And Alex was doing a good job of keeping disappointment away from his face.
"That's the last of it," Rick said, reaching into the holdall and pulling out the overalls. "Think we're set."
The equipment was carefully laid out ready for inspection. Not that it needed it: they'd found everything they'd been asked for.
"You want a drink?" Rick was heading into the kitchen. "Reckon we've got a while before Danny and Rusty get back."
"Beer. Thanks."
He came back out with two beers and bags of chips and dropped down to the couch next to Eduardo and smiled at him.
"Here you go, kid." Rick handed him a beer and grinned. "Nice work today. You done that kind of thing before?"
The narrow little street at the back of Larner's was deserted. Danny had dropped round there intent on checking the service access. There shouldn't be any problem. They'd need to override the code in the elevator but as people rarely changed them from the factory default settings, he doubted he was going to have to hotwire the thing.
"Looks a clean enough way in."
Danny didn't jump but he came perilously close to it as Rusty melted out of the shadows.
Rusty looked at him and grinned. "Did I scare you?"
"No," Danny said shortly.
"You sure? You have the word "Fuck" written right across your face at the moment."
"I'm just amazed that you can hide successfully in that shirt."
It was silver and shiny with some sort of delicate embossed pattern on it that looked like it was a message in Braille. Danny thought back to the morning and the conversation around Rick and Eduardo. Probably a warning that the contents were unpredictable and had potential to explode.
An expression of extreme offence materialised and Danny was almost sure it was an act.
"This shirt was a gift."
Danny studied it again critically. "They can't have liked you very much."
The grin reappeared. "Come on, let's head back."
Danny cast an eye over the back of the building.
"I've got it all, don't worry. We need to get ready. Also, we need to find food."
"Oh, I've eaten," Danny told him.
Rusty just looked at him and Danny felt his mouth twitching. Right. Not really the point.
Eduardo looked up as the door opened and Rusty walked in with a tray of something fried and a fork followed by Danny who was holding a bag of Krispy Kremes.
"There would be krill," Rusty was pointing out in between mouthfuls.
Eduardo smiled. One of Rusty's wayward conversations that started from a point of almostlogic and disappeared fast down the road of tangents and the twisted.
"But could man live by krill alone?" Danny was musing as he shut the door.
Rusty pushed the empty polystyrene tray at him and took the doughnuts. "This man couldn't."
"Krill?" The question came from Rick and they both looked over.
"We were talking about places to live," Danny explained.
"Different places we had lived," Rusty went on.
"And we were just debating how long you could survive in a whale."
"Who survives in a whale?" Rick's face was quizzical.
"Pinocchio." "Jonah." The answers came simultaneously and were followed by mutual soft laughter.
"Which of you lived in a whale?" Eduardo wanted to know. He wasn't sure about Danny but anything was possible with Rusty.
"Neither of us," Danny assured him. "We were just-"
"-considering options," Rusty finished with a mouthful of sugar. He looked over at the equipment. "How'd you get on?"
He saw Eduardo's face light up.
"We got everything. And Rick was great."
Rusty's eyes focused on Rick, sitting back on the couch, beer in hand, relaxed and smiling.
"Eduardo was a real help," Rick said and there was a look on his face that told Rusty he was seeing Eduardo with fresh eyes, that he was seeing Ed had genuine value. Good. Good. That was as it should be.
Now that he was looking for it, Danny could see Rick's attitude towards the kid and something had definitely shifted. Rick was a hundred percent more comfortable around Eduardo and Danny smiled to himself. Good.
"How'd it go today?" Rick asked.
"Fine," Danny said. "Met Alisha, built a few bridges, sat in on the auction…" He hesitated. There was still something about the… He saw Rick's eyes on him bringing him back to the real world and the concrete. "Sat in for most of the auction and then checked out the rest of downstairs that was on show."
"And I nearly bought a prie-dieux," Rusty added and glanced round the room. "Don't know where we'd have put it though."
"Did you see Alex?"
The question was natural flow and innocent enough but still Danny stared at Rick's face, bland and polite: just by the way Rusty's weight tipped slightly forward on to one foot, Danny was certain Rusty was wondering about the motivation for asking too.
"Yes," Rusty said apparently deciding to take the question as being without any hidden agenda. "He was still friendly and he still seems a reasonable line in to running of the place. Might need to explore that relationship further."
The last sentence was a test. Danny saw it at once. An opportunity for Rick to deliver a quick and biting riposte and Rick said precisely nothing. He simply nodded gravely as if considering Rusty's words. Danny exhaled and was surprised to find he'd been holding his breath.
"Clothes are on your beds," Rick told them. "Figured you'd want to pack the bags yourselves."
"Yeah. Thanks." Rusty nodded. "Looks like you've been very thorough."
Danny felt the smile bubbling under. The tension from yesterday had disappeared and the four of them were going to be able to get along, to work together. Relief flooded through him.
A/N: edited because my Biblical knowledge let me down at 5.30 in the morning. Huh. That might be the time when I need it most.
