Drinks After Work (Joe)

[Justin Wright]

Justin didn't really like bars. He thought there were a lot of idiots in the world. And drunks were one of the worst kinds of idiots. Still it was nice to have drinks at the end of the day. So when he'd bumped into Joe during the day and the other man had suggest it, Justin had been up for the idea. Though he had suggested a restaurant instead of a full out bar. You had better luck avoiding idiots there. And you could get better burgers.

And right now, Justin was craving something meaty, greasy, and cheesy. 

"So how was your day?" Justin asked as they found a table. He picked up the menu and looked over it, even though he knew already what he was going to order. It was more out of habit. And to double check the specials. No use in wasting money. Justin did eat out a lot, mostly because it was a pain to cook for one sometimes.

His own day had been pretty easy. He had spent the day catching up on some paperwork and e-mails and such. And although it reminded him of his days as an intern and he thought it was sometimes a waste of time, it was also nice to have an easy day to regroup now and then. Just as long as they didn't come too often and make him feel like he wasn't getting anything done. Justin needed to be useful. He needed to be moving forward and making a difference. Or else he might start thinking too much. And missing his wife.

[Joe Honnick]

Running into Justin was a fortuitous encounter, Joe though, as he went through the rest of his day. He had only met the DA a handful of times before and they’d always gotten along well. Joe was heading a rather difficult case at the moment and today the jury had gotten back in ruling in favor of prosecution, which since Joe was the prosecutor left him feeling rather giddy. Another meta human behind bars, one down, hundreds to go. This man had been stealing, rather petty things, but the time he got caught he used his power and it was the first time Joe got to come down hard on a meta human and it felt so good. He only wished it was that man who destroyed his daughter’s life. It was this success that motivated him to invite Justin out for drinks.

Stomach rumbling, Joe was glad that Justin had suggested a restaurant instead of a bar. He loved Kali’s Kafe, they made the best burgers and Joe was feeling like celebrating and saying to hell with his healthy eating today. He smiled at Justin. “Great! Won that case I was telling you about earlier.” He didn’t say it, but he was grateful that this was a loss for meta humans. It was time they realized that just because they had powers they were not above the law. But the only problem with that is that this guy had been relatively easy to subdue. Others may not be so, who knew when they were going to meet someone who threw fireballs. It was just to show that the power corrupted and there was no exceptions. Not even a well to do man could resist when his power gave him the ability to walk through walls.

“How was your day, Justin?” He asked in return as he glanced over the menu and decided if he was going to break his diet he might as well do it all the way and get the bacon cheeseburger. He knew the responsibilities of the DA were hefty and Justin probably had a lot of stuff on his plate. Even though he was older than Justin, Joe had never felt any envy about Justin’s job. It put him right in the middle of everything. But they held the same ideals and Joe respected Justin as a colleague and superior.

[Justin Wright]

Justin was usually the one inviting other's out, though it wasn't usually out for drinks. But he did believe in creating connections with people who shared his interest and views. And though he and Joe hadn't talked too deeply about it, he was fairly certain that he other man shared his view on justice when it came to meta-humans. Of course all people in their line of work should value a sense of justice, but it seemed that far too many were willing to let things slide when it came to powers. Too many times he had heard about how they "couldn't help it" when it came to misuse of power. As if they had some malady that caused them to act out irrationally.

His assumptions were confirmed mostly by the way Joe spoke of his winning the case. Justin couldn't help but smile as he congratulated the man. "I'd propose a toast, but we don't have drinks yet." Though a waiter was on his way to take their order. Justin got a burger and fries for himself and a pint. Usually he didn't drink during "work" meetings, but he was just as happy at the outcome of Joe's case as the other man clearly was.

"Sadly, not as exciting," Justin said. Though it came with the territory he supposed. Not every case could be as noteworthy as chalking up one for the side of justice. "Too much sitting at my desk under paperwork and not enough action." He gave a little shrug. Though he had a better case load in the next few days, which he was grateful for. He didn't sign up to be a lawyer to sit in an office all day.

"It does me good to know we have lawyers like you fighting uphold the law no matter the circumstances," he added, testing the waters. Though he was getting more and more certain where Joe stood on issues, he didn't want to assume too much. Still Justin viewed this dinner as a type of work-meeting. Then again, there wasn't much in Justin's life that didn't in some way benefit his work and his views in or out of the office.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe was feeling more than victorious about the case he had won. The defense had tried so very hard to make it seem like the boy had no control over his power and that he was struggling to figure out how to use it. It had been a vicious strike, because Joe countered the argument, seeing as the man was a graduate of Hammel, that maybe the school wasn’t doing all it should be. That had been the primary hole in their argument and Joe had done his research and exploited that weakness viciously. Would Hammel feel attacked? Perhaps, but then it was their responsibility to get these kids trained right. So there was no question of whether or not the kid could control himself. It had become, much to Joe’s joy a case on the moral actions of stealing. It had been easy after the meta-human sympathies were destroyed.

It was always too easy for the defense to claim that the meta-humans were being discriminated against and that people were assuming that they were using their powers for evil. In this case, it had been just that. He grinned at Justin and nodded his head, “We’ll have to get drinks, then,” he said. He’d already called his wife and told her that he would be out tonight and that they would celebrate his victory later. “And thank you, it was a difficult one.” He said. It wasn’t hard to fight the facts of the stolen items, it had been hard to get the world to see that the thief was hiding behind the meta-human shield. He ordered a beer and followed suit with a burger and fries. “Don’t tell me wife,” he joked conspiratorially.

Joe shrugged and gave a sympathetic nod. Such was the life of a lawyer, and even more for the district attorney. There was far more paper work than anyone ever really imagined. “Action is such a small part of our jobs, sadly,” Joe said, “Though I’m not sure I’d say I wished it had more action.” More action meant more crimes and that was something that no one wished. Joe knew that the paper work following this case was going to be a mountain and he was not looking forward to having to tackle it tomorrow, but luckily that was the only thing on his schedule for tomorrow and he wasn’t looking to get drunk tonight. He hadn’t been drunk since college. Law school had been too stressful and ever since he became a parent he just never really cared to have more than a drink or two.

“I can only try to uphold the law,” he said humbly, “It’s why we become lawyers.” He shook his head. “I hate that politics is getting into the courts. It’s supposed to be blind, that’s how we’re taught, right? Whenever politics comes into it, people get sensitive and it becomes being the guy that looks good instead of being the guy that makes the hard calls.” It felt good to rant this at someone who was a colleague. He wasn’t sure of Justin’s allegiances, but he was a well respected lawyer and Joe trusted that he would also uphold the law. There were so many people that hid behind these politically correct shields. The waiter came by and dropped off their beers, a dark stout for Joe.

[Justin Wright]

Justin smiled at the other man. "Of course, just between us guys," Justin said. Of course he didn't even know Joe's wife. He thought maybe he had been casually introduced to her at some point, but he couldn't recall right now. Though if he was going to try to get closer to Joe, it would probably happen eventually. Not that Justin wasn't into meeting his co-workers family, but he'd been married to his work for so long that he sometimes forgot what it was like to have someone to come home to at the end of the day.

"True," Justin acknowledged. "I wouldn't want more crime. I just wish I didn't have to feel like I was wasting time filling out papers when I could be doing something...more." Of course he knew that paperwork was part of the job. And when it came time to do research, he was always grateful for records. But when he was sitting behind a desk, he couldn't help but wonder if somewhere out there was some metahuman getting off easy because he wasn't there. Sure there were other lawyers like Joe out there, but they were few and far between. Everyone seemed so eager to let them off because they didn't understand.

"I agree," Justin said. He hated it when politic entered the courtroom just as much as he hated jurors who couldn't seem to see the truth, who looked into the face of the defendant and saw their children, naive and innocent. It was almost as bad as the lawyers who defended them. And the judges who let them all get away with it.

"Don't even get me started on all of this politically correct BS," Justin said, joining in the other man's rant. He shook his head in disgust just as their beers arrived. He raised his glass to Joe. "To Justice," he said as a toast.

[Joe Honnick]

((Sooo sorry I'm so late!))

Joe smiled, it wasn’t even the least bit likely that Justin would meet his wife. Justin wasn’t exactly one who Joe would expect to remember meeting his wife, though he had. It was just as well Jasmine would probably give him this indulgence. She had gotten on him more recently about his eating habits as the doctor started warning him to watch what he ate. But in his opinion, one burger every now and again was not going to give him a heart attack. He hoped. He wondered if Justin was married, he had never heard of a woman. That didn’t mean that there would be one. It wasn’t like it would be secret, Justin was DA but he was DA of Pilot Ridge, not nearly on equal danger footing with Chicago or New York.

“I can understand that. I tell you what, when I became a lawyer I did not expect nearly as much paper work,” Joe said with a slow shake of his head, trying to remember what he thought being a lawyer would be like. “I guess we can only hope that what we’re doing makes a difference.” He added, every person in law enforcement and criminal justice knew that for every arrest and every conviction there was someone who got away. Someone who got off easy. Joe just supposed they had to take the wins they could and try their best to keep up with the criminals. Especially now with the rise in meta-humans. There were far too many of them and often they were impossible to control, impossible to predict and capture. At least for anyone other than another meta human.

“To Justice,” Joe said and raised his glass to tap it against Justin’s. Joe couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s like walking on eggshells. You can’t have a case now where an appeal doesn’t try to get on someone for racial or religious prejudice.” He remembered when he became a lawyer back in the eighties he had had a great deal of clients that had thought he would save them because they were both African American. However, what they hadn’t realized was that Joe was more in love with the law than a random person he’d only just met. Equally he had had some people reject him as a lawyer because of his skin color. Luckily that had passed more or less. But ironically it seemed like it was rearing its ugly head again and he was getting called biased whenever he helped convicted someone white and a traitor when he helped convict someone who was African American.

Joe shrugged and took a swing of his beer, smiling, it was full of hops. “I guess we can say we’re getting somewhere with the meta-humans though. Too many of them get off far too easily.” He said, bitterness cutting in his voice.

[Justin Wright]

((no worries, sorry for being late too!))

Justin didn’t talk much about his personal life at work. Partially because he couldn’t stand the look of pity people gave him when they learned his wife had died. But also because Justin didn’t really have a personal life. His work was his life. And though is co-workers had been known to invite him out for drinks, or even the occasional blind date, Justin only joined in if he thought the activity would benefit his work life.

“Some days you feel like the guy with his finger plugging a hole in a dam,” Justin said thoughtfully. It was true, he’d gotten into this business with the hopes to make this world a better place. A more equal and just place. But it was hard work. And for each win there seemed to always be more back sliding. If only he had more power somehow.

Justin joined Joe’s laughter glad that the other man agreed with him in this area. He made a metal note of it. These days it seemed more and more public officials and figures were afraid to speak their mind or admit that the world was becoming too sensitive. It was good to know at least one person he didn’t have to walk on eggshells around.

“Far too many,” Justin said, echoing the bitterness. “If only there was some way to nail them down without having to tiptoe around issues of minorities and crap. If I had a nickel for every time I had to argue against the ‘they can’t help it, it’s how they’re born’ defense.” He sighed heavily, his anger burning down into something closer to tiredness from the constant uphill battle.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe didn’t know why Justin had agreed to get drinks with him, it wasn’t like Justin, but Joe wasn’t complaining. It wasn’t often he could just go out for drinks with friends and Jasmine and he hadn’t had drinks in the house for a long time. Not with Lesedi so unstable. “Amen to that,” Joe agreed, lifting his beer in a salute before taking a sip. “I honestly can’t say I’d regret being out of a job if it meant that people were just decent to each other.” He said with a shake of his head. The people he had defended in the past were, he thought, good people. Not terrible, not bad, just confused or hurt or scared. It was the true sociopaths that got Joe into prosecution. He couldn’t understand the people who just wanted to destroy the world, or kill for the sake of killing.

There was a huge difference, he’d found between putting away someone who was a person put into a bad spot versus someone who smiled at the details of a kill. The prior was occasionally just sad, while the latter was always satisfying. “It’s all political,” Joe added, “I mean we have to go after everyone who breaks the laws, but these people seem to think that when they have this power they are above the law. That is how delusions of grandeur begin.” He said, he was sure Justin knew what kind of people Joe was talking about. The meta humans. They couldn’t control their power. Tthat was always their excuse. But if you wanted to lock them up to protect others against them, suddenly the whole community was up in arms. Forgetting that said meta human in question did serious damage.

The more he spoke to Justin the more he decided that saying such a thing was okay. Others might debate him, but Justin was a man Joe respected because he upheld the law before everything else. Before political and personal vendetta.

“We’d both have a million dollars,” Joe agreed, “In my opinion, if they can’t help it, then it’s all the better that they are kept away from others. In fact, I don’t understand why they would not want to be prevented from hurting people, unless in fact, they do.” He said, it was an argument he’d had time and time again. “A psychopath can’t help it either, but you don’t see them asking up to pat them on the head and sending them on their way.” He added with a shake of his head. “In my opinion, if they hurt someone that’s that, it doesn’t matter. It should be treated like every other case like it. These people cannot be above the law.” The passion in his voice was hard to contain, he had a very personal reason for thinking this.