It's expected. ( it's what he encouraged, isn't it? for william to put himself out there and meet people. marriage isn't what he anticipated but duplicity is nefarious in its practices and its determination to drive people closer. ) The nature of this city and you being single.
( mm......mhm. change the subject. )
You won't need a coat. ( he tries, not certain if william hears him or not before he hangs up. he stares at the device in consideration for a beat, then shoves it into his pocket. as a man that appreciates routine as a means of encouraging productivity and order, he hasn't bothered cleaning up. he's not full-on homeless on the island get-up but his hair's grown in a few inches. it serves as a disguise in and of itself to people he doesn't want to be recognized by while he's out. whatever side they meet on is irrelevant to oliver, probably not to the regulations of the city. it can all be sorted when he reaches the front of the line.
his side of the line is shorter, if only because the walk there feels sketchy. he doesn't glance over his shoulder because he's attuned to listening for the right sounds and watching the shadows change, but he can see why someone would want to stay indoors. it's another tedious ten minutes or so before he's able to take the elevator up, feeling prickly at best. his smile is practiced when he spots william in line, three people ahead of him. )
You brought a coat. ( does he have regrets? it's warm. ) Hi.
( yeah, he hasn't really paid any attention to the temperature, not after the cloud he'd entered, after reading that letter. he sees his dad, before he registers seeing his dad and then he hears his voice. )
I brought a coat.
( he finishes through his side, meeting his dad in the middle. knowing Felicity is gone, despite her not being his biological mother, propels him into his father's arms. he's not afraid of realignment. or jail. but, coupling that discovery with that revelation. it takes his breath away. just give him this moment.
they are lucky they are not both dominants. there are no curious onlookers. to anyone else, it looks like a reunion after the failed? rebellion. )
( he doesn't realize he needs the embrace until he's in it and returning it openly. generally, he adjusts to the rule of thumb of whatever length william's comfortable with. the only good thing about having family in the city is being able to communicate without verbalizing any of it. felicity isn't his birth mother but for a time, she was his guardian. a mentor. someone that would have fought tooth and nail for him, and did as oliver recalls. she was a mother to him even if that version wasn't here, it was still her.
oliver thinks by now that he should be accustomed to losing people. he should be a professional with his coping mechanisms, sliding fluidly from one lost connection into another. it's survivable, never easier. maybe he leans into the bear hug aspect, crushing william because it isn't often they get to hug like this. pats on the back, one-armed quick hugs that men do? yes. he doesn't care if anyone's staring, though he imagines it takes more to turn heads around here.
when he draws back, one hand finds william's shoulder to squeeze it firmly. a reminder that he's here in spite of every bone in his body wanting to fold. he wants to go back to sleep. )
It's going to be okay. ( it's an acceptable lie. )
( he wants to reverse time. but, that's not things work, is it? not without a big mutliversal god. the hug ends before it should, but he's not going to cling onto him. he is Oliver's thirty-something grown son. he does not need to collapse into his dad's arms. he too desensitized himself to losing people years ago. but, he closed him off to that until he sought after lian yu. and then he gained a sister. )
It always is. Gets. Things get better. ( he means. ) Your hair's been longer.
( he can if he wants. he would catch him. it's neither the time, nor the place but he would keep william steady. over the years, he's come to care less and less about big, emotional displays. that's life. emotions and needing people is a huge part of being alive. he thinks he sees flashes in william. pieces that match his adamance to be an impenetrable fortress. he hopes that in finding himself, he sheds as much of that defense mechanism as he can. )
Time changes everything. ( whether it's an abundance or a lack thereof, time puts loss into perspective. ) Yeah. ( he grimaces but there's a smile pushing through beneath it. ) I was thinking of growing it out. Get one of those buns that the artsy guys wear.
No? ( is he joking? his expression got real serious. ) Be honest.
( a defense mechanism his dad still exhibits. william has done his best. he'd been making progress, too. he can't be surprised he's regressed. will regress.
that does earn his dad a laugh. )
No. Never. Please. There are so many things I'd rather see than you with a manbun. ( But, he'd also not rather see them either. So. It's time to change the subject. He thinks about leaving it, dealing with it himself, getting onto the network in a desperate attempt at drumming up someone. ) Dad, I...
( he wants to divert all his energy into keeping things light. not avoiding or ignoring the problem but alleviating it for both of their sakes. dwelling only works in private when nobody is around to judge the depression cocoon. he tilts his head some, listening, feeling a change in tone. he expects this to the be the moment that william dumps an apology on him about felicity. it's a natural evolvement of what they haven't said out loud, that's what he thinks this is about. )
What is it? ( not shutting down means not cutting william off from saying what he has to say. ) You can tell me anything. You've already broken the ice by cutting me deeply about my style choices. ( but he's zipping it, presenting his palms to william in a vague c'mon gesture. let's hear it. they can walk if he wants, although that might involve putting in a planned itinerary. )
A man-bun isn't a style choice, it's a retro mistake.
( but, even that joking reply feels and sounds more rote than anything.
felicity being gone does swirl around his head. it clouds his thoughts and slows his optimism but his 'dad, i,' is about the letter he'd received and not his recently departed step mother. )
I got something in the mail. I have the weekend. To contract.
( Technically, the weekend and a few days, but, he has until the twentieth. )
I lost an entire month and this city still believes I should do my civic duty. I only have a few days before they expect me to find someone.
( one of his ex husbands, which is problematic at best as a sentence, let alone a reality. his eyebrows don't shoot up. his expression is predictably unresponsive, though there's no shortage of hair-raising anxieties to unpack. a weekend would be long enough for oliver who can disassemble a human being with his bare hands. for his son? it's not enough time to be certain of the quality of someone's character. )
We should sign one. ( he concludes, with or without the answer. he won't make william ask. ) There have been platonic arragenemnts in the city before.
Methos is contracted and Cassian is no longer in the city.
( He can answer questions better when Oliver asks for a plan of action. But, William's plan of action was slept on. Literally. His quick perusal of the state of play and the few people he knows aren't what he remembers. He was better off before he'd read the letter. But, it was better that he had read it, then missed it. )
And with that knowledge, we're both prepared to sidestep whatever comes next. ( naturally, it's not his first choice. he'd prefer to be alone. a man without any conditions or obligations, yet here he is, marked and living with a perpetual boot on his throat. with william here, he can never completely let go. he has to care. )
Do you have another option? ( short of propositioning the network? ) I'm not saying it's the perfect arrangement or even something I want to roll the dice on, considering what they're capable of here. You're running out of time and I won't let them lock you up as long as I'm still breathing.
Even you wouldn't be able to stop them, and then we'd both be locked up. And I couldn't have that.
( He drops his head, knowing what has to happen. )
If you're going after this city, if we're going after this city, we're doing it right. And, maybe doing this, it's a good first step. We stay under the radar. Write a really specific contract. You - ( He sighs. ) I don't like you living in the Down, dad. I know you lived on Lian Yu for years, but. Is there any way you think you -- could move in only to overhear me or me overhear you, never mind. Uh. Maybe I could get you a better place. I need to get a job. I could earn the money. You won't stay in the public housing forever.
( his smile reads bold of you to assume they would take me alive from one corner of his mouth to the other, not because any part of this is laughable.
none of his experience with his grown son has been hilarious from learning how he grew up isolated from felicity and mia to them both being sucked into this alternate reality. it's as close as he'll get to threatening the sin guards this close to them. )
I can handle the Down. ( the problem it presents is that william won't rest about it, he'll keep finding ways to visit oliver, to prove that if it's not okay for both of them, it shouldn't be okay for either of them. it's frustrating ( and endearing ) that he knows that willpower carried. ) But if it keeps you from venturing there, we can both find work. I was trying to set something up with a boxing gym, training beginners. I can keep looking along those lines and see if anything else comes up. It wouldn't only be up to you, although, you'd probably have to approve my itinerary.
( his eyes read you'd resurrect in jail right back. )
I'd approve it.
( Probably. He'd hope. Their boundaries still aren't clear, what they should know, or not know. What his father does vs what he does. If his father gets work, then he gets work. )
Or, I just have to sign something saying you can. I guess we should find out what's new. We should do this now, shouldn't we? How long did you give yourself in the Up?
We're already here. ( the sooner they get the paperwork sorted, the less he has to do a mental inventory of how many arrows he has left in his quiver. the warehouse space he once had in the down as a makeshift headquarters is long gone now ( and it had never been quite up to bunker standards ). ) Two hours. I wouldn't be shocked if they only approved one.
( uncontracted and virtually less than human? he should glance at the app. )
But we have a little bit of time to iron out the details. We don't have to rush down there and sign it now unless you want to. We can sleep on it? ( he's used to crushing himself to fit in uncomfortable spaces of which signing a contract to be "owned" by his son is definitely one. he despises it here. ) Think about what stipulations we need included so that we aren't rushing and we don't leave any rock unturned.
Okay. Back to your apartment or somewhere closer? ( he'll take the lead out of habit, expecting william to fall in stride. if they need to alter where they're going in the app, he will. in the mean time, he's moving along for the sake of getting away from the crowd. long gone is the notion of privacy, he imagines whether they pick a coffee shop or william's place, someone will be monitoring them. )
I trust you. I don't think either one of us would omit something on purpose, but I know they'll find a way to twist the situation if it's not in writing.
Closer. I don't want any close calls with your reported time.
( is he overthinking it, he is. but, he needs to learn how to take the lead, at least in public. this will be a democracy, but they will get proper actions in writing. some stipulations he already thinks about as he steps out of line and walks his father back into the Up leaving the checkpoint behind.
with his mind always moving a mile a minute, william posts something to the network. )
I asked the network. They've been here longer than me, and longer than you, probably even with your first time, and maybe they can be of help. I don't want to miss anything.
( and while he waits, he spots a nice cafe on the corner, he looks both ways and hurries over, speed-walking to the other side. )
( as humbled as he's been before, he gives william a cautionary glance at mention of consulting the network. his reconnaissance is more to the point than oliver is usually capable of, often preferring to struggle his way to learning the ropes. he was considering more like bullet pointing their main concerns and stressing the nature of their relationship, repeatedly with bold underlines. )
It's smart. They might be able to save us some trouble. ( they might not have to endure something that someone else suffered. he crosses swiftly, stepping up onto the curb after william. )
I hadn't thought about it but now that you mention it, I'm starving. This place is as good as any. ( he goes to hold the door and it ends up holding it for what feels like a stampede of couples. ) We'll order, grab a table, and see if anyone has any input before we get started.
( that's in his plan, too. that's the crux of his plan. but, he needs to know if this has been done before. )
And we have public record of me learning how to follow the rules properly.
( It's flimsy, but it might hold up in... well, a regular court.
William waits as Doms and Subs, a group of them, take advantage of his father's politeness. )
Yeah...
( He waits one more second, making sure nobody else leaves before entering first. The host takes note of the line running down his father's neck and the lack of one down his. So, he speaks in a rigid, un-William-like tone to lower all suspicion. He needs to play along. He waits and gestures for his Dad to follow the host, giving the silent 'order' before they're left to their own devices.
William, literally. )
Okay, so, it's been done before. Twins. And someone - who contracted to someone who was like their father. Which, okay. Specific contracts. Sex is not a ( He clears his throat. ) requirement. That's - we'll put that in bold. It's off limits.
( those very same rules that keep them both out of harm's way, mhm. he's attempting to listen. he's here, isn't he? he's suppressing the grief that he's never going to see his wife again in his lifetime because this was it. this was their one horrific window. he loves william enough to put it aside in a box compartmentalized like his many traumas, but the part of him that cares about staying in line is having trouble remembering why.
it's okay because he gets to be silent out of respect, speaking when spoken to, and william is semi-distracted with firing off responses anyway until they're seated and oliver can stop acting like a soldier, rigid and obedient. )
Under no circumstances, that's a given. You might want to include that you can have relations with whoever you want outside of the contract, aside from the regular implication to avoid other dominants. You'd think it would be assumed here but I don't want to give them ammunition for citations.
So that's sex and living arrangements. Whatever I own would be yours by default, which would be true enough at home. I'm fine with that.
Yeah, you can also have any relations, literally, since you're a sub, so, that's done. Easy. I give you permission to work, to use the money I give you and to earn your own money.
( He pauses, setting his phone down and sitting back. )
What else, what are some other categories we're not thinking of? We have to cover everything.
Travel between the Up and Down, although that's mostly for me. They won't be as strict with you. ( those are the most obvious categories. oliver went right up to the edge of his first contracting period before he signed with wynonna. between coming and going from the city, he doesn't have an expansive portfolio of experience to draw him. felicity would have. )
Behavior? Punishment? I think we both know if we could put it in the agreement, I would accept all physical consequences for either of our actions. That's not really how they like it here. Everything reflects on both of us.
How does the dynamic work? That's likely going to be what they're looking for. How am I ... serving ( his expression does a little twinge, he's human ) you? How else are you responsible for me? That sort of language. ( frankly, it gives him a headache and makes him uncomfortable. he should be providing for william. )
Any time you want. I'm not going to restrict where and when you go.
( He wants to restrict him being the Green Arrow but that would imply rebellion. They will have to come to a personal understanding, that they have to play a longer con if they want to make the difference they need to until he can get more answers.
He hates that self sacrificing side of his father, it brings him back to being a little kid. )
First, I can't let you take every physical punishment because not every punishment here is physical. It's about character. It's realignment. So, they'll either assign you to a Sub to teach you how to properly sub or to a Dom who will DOM you. So, we share in that. Besides, I think, if you do something, I get hit, too. It's - me taking responsibility. Your... mine. ( He grimaces. ) I will pay for any indiscretions, however. If there are fines, I will take care of them, now you. And, let's -- put in normal father-son stuff. Dinner once a week. Sundays. It's a holy day - unless we're not ourselves. We talk several times a day. We text. Either-or. It all counts. We communicate.
( He hesitates. )
We don't lie. I know you keep things close to your chest, and I'm not going to ask you to suddenly be an open book, but just don't lie to me. I know what you do. I know who you are. When the time comes, let me help. ( He pauses. ) We won't put that in.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2021-05-14 01:07 am (UTC)( mm......mhm. change the subject. )
You won't need a coat. ( he tries, not certain if william hears him or not before he hangs up. he stares at the device in consideration for a beat, then shoves it into his pocket. as a man that appreciates routine as a means of encouraging productivity and order, he hasn't bothered cleaning up. he's not full-on homeless on the island get-up but his hair's grown in a few inches. it serves as a disguise in and of itself to people he doesn't want to be recognized by while he's out. whatever side they meet on is irrelevant to oliver, probably not to the regulations of the city. it can all be sorted when he reaches the front of the line.
his side of the line is shorter, if only because the walk there feels sketchy. he doesn't glance over his shoulder because he's attuned to listening for the right sounds and watching the shadows change, but he can see why someone would want to stay indoors. it's another tedious ten minutes or so before he's able to take the elevator up, feeling prickly at best. his smile is practiced when he spots william in line, three people ahead of him. )
You brought a coat. ( does he have regrets? it's warm. ) Hi.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-14 01:22 am (UTC)I brought a coat.
( he finishes through his side, meeting his dad in the middle. knowing Felicity is gone, despite her not being his biological mother, propels him into his father's arms. he's not afraid of realignment. or jail. but, coupling that discovery with that revelation. it takes his breath away. just give him this moment.
they are lucky they are not both dominants. there are no curious onlookers. to anyone else, it looks like a reunion after the failed? rebellion. )
no subject
Date: 2021-05-14 01:38 am (UTC)oliver thinks by now that he should be accustomed to losing people. he should be a professional with his coping mechanisms, sliding fluidly from one lost connection into another. it's survivable, never easier. maybe he leans into the bear hug aspect, crushing william because it isn't often they get to hug like this. pats on the back, one-armed quick hugs that men do? yes. he doesn't care if anyone's staring, though he imagines it takes more to turn heads around here.
when he draws back, one hand finds william's shoulder to squeeze it firmly. a reminder that he's here in spite of every bone in his body wanting to fold. he wants to go back to sleep. )
It's going to be okay. ( it's an acceptable lie. )
no subject
Date: 2021-05-14 01:49 am (UTC)It always is. Gets. Things get better. ( he means. ) Your hair's been longer.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-14 02:05 am (UTC)Time changes everything. ( whether it's an abundance or a lack thereof, time puts loss into perspective. ) Yeah. ( he grimaces but there's a smile pushing through beneath it. ) I was thinking of growing it out. Get one of those buns that the artsy guys wear.
No? ( is he joking? his expression got real serious. ) Be honest.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-14 02:19 am (UTC)that does earn his dad a laugh. )
No. Never. Please. There are so many things I'd rather see than you with a manbun. ( But, he'd also not rather see them either. So. It's time to change the subject. He thinks about leaving it, dealing with it himself, getting onto the network in a desperate attempt at drumming up someone. ) Dad, I...
no subject
Date: 2021-05-14 02:28 am (UTC)What is it? ( not shutting down means not cutting william off from saying what he has to say. ) You can tell me anything. You've already broken the ice by cutting me deeply about my style choices. ( but he's zipping it, presenting his palms to william in a vague c'mon gesture. let's hear it. they can walk if he wants, although that might involve putting in a planned itinerary. )
no subject
Date: 2021-05-18 03:34 am (UTC)( but, even that joking reply feels and sounds more rote than anything.
felicity being gone does swirl around his head. it clouds his thoughts and slows his optimism but his 'dad, i,' is about the letter he'd received and not his recently departed step mother. )
I got something in the mail. I have the weekend. To contract.
( Technically, the weekend and a few days, but, he has until the twentieth. )
I lost an entire month and this city still believes I should do my civic duty. I only have a few days before they expect me to find someone.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-19 05:47 am (UTC)( one of his ex husbands, which is problematic at best as a sentence, let alone a reality. his eyebrows don't shoot up. his expression is predictably unresponsive, though there's no shortage of hair-raising anxieties to unpack. a weekend would be long enough for oliver who can disassemble a human being with his bare hands. for his son? it's not enough time to be certain of the quality of someone's character. )
We should sign one. ( he concludes, with or without the answer. he won't make william ask. ) There have been platonic arragenemnts in the city before.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-19 05:57 am (UTC)( He can answer questions better when Oliver asks for a plan of action. But, William's plan of action was slept on. Literally. His quick perusal of the state of play and the few people he knows aren't what he remembers. He was better off before he'd read the letter. But, it was better that he had read it, then missed it. )
Dad. We both - we both know what this city does.
( The mirrors alone, that first day. )
no subject
Date: 2021-05-19 06:06 am (UTC)Do you have another option? ( short of propositioning the network? ) I'm not saying it's the perfect arrangement or even something I want to roll the dice on, considering what they're capable of here. You're running out of time and I won't let them lock you up as long as I'm still breathing.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-19 06:10 am (UTC)( He drops his head, knowing what has to happen. )
If you're going after this city, if we're going after this city, we're doing it right. And, maybe doing this, it's a good first step. We stay under the radar. Write a really specific contract. You - ( He sighs. ) I don't like you living in the Down, dad. I know you lived on Lian Yu for years, but. Is there any way you think you -- could move in only to overhear me or me overhear you, never mind. Uh. Maybe I could get you a better place. I need to get a job. I could earn the money. You won't stay in the public housing forever.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-19 06:19 am (UTC)none of his experience with his grown son has been hilarious from learning how he grew up isolated from felicity and mia to them both being sucked into this alternate reality. it's as close as he'll get to threatening the sin guards this close to them. )
I can handle the Down. ( the problem it presents is that william won't rest about it, he'll keep finding ways to visit oliver, to prove that if it's not okay for both of them, it shouldn't be okay for either of them. it's frustrating ( and endearing ) that he knows that willpower carried. ) But if it keeps you from venturing there, we can both find work. I was trying to set something up with a boxing gym, training beginners. I can keep looking along those lines and see if anything else comes up. It wouldn't only be up to you, although, you'd probably have to approve my itinerary.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-19 06:27 am (UTC)I'd approve it.
( Probably. He'd hope. Their boundaries still aren't clear, what they should know, or not know. What his father does vs what he does. If his father gets work, then he gets work. )
Or, I just have to sign something saying you can. I guess we should find out what's new. We should do this now, shouldn't we? How long did you give yourself in the Up?
no subject
Date: 2021-05-20 09:08 pm (UTC)( uncontracted and virtually less than human? he should glance at the app. )
But we have a little bit of time to iron out the details. We don't have to rush down there and sign it now unless you want to. We can sleep on it? ( he's used to crushing himself to fit in uncomfortable spaces of which signing a contract to be "owned" by his son is definitely one. he despises it here. ) Think about what stipulations we need included so that we aren't rushing and we don't leave any rock unturned.
( there will be ZERO loopholes. )
no subject
Date: 2021-05-20 09:29 pm (UTC)I think, what they approved is what they approved, but we should use whatever time you have.
( William still holds his phone in his hand, nodding. Details that need ironing. That's right. )
Yeah. Smart. Let's go somewhere then, try to talk through what we think might be missed. So, we don't.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-20 09:59 pm (UTC)I trust you. I don't think either one of us would omit something on purpose, but I know they'll find a way to twist the situation if it's not in writing.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-20 10:07 pm (UTC)( is he overthinking it, he is. but, he needs to learn how to take the lead, at least in public. this will be a democracy, but they will get proper actions in writing. some stipulations he already thinks about as he steps out of line and walks his father back into the Up leaving the checkpoint behind.
with his mind always moving a mile a minute, william posts something to the network. )
I asked the network. They've been here longer than me, and longer than you, probably even with your first time, and maybe they can be of help. I don't want to miss anything.
( and while he waits, he spots a nice cafe on the corner, he looks both ways and hurries over, speed-walking to the other side. )
How about here. You must be hungry.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-20 10:18 pm (UTC)It's smart. They might be able to save us some trouble. ( they might not have to endure something that someone else suffered. he crosses swiftly, stepping up onto the curb after william. )
I hadn't thought about it but now that you mention it, I'm starving. This place is as good as any. ( he goes to hold the door and it ends up holding it for what feels like a stampede of couples. ) We'll order, grab a table, and see if anyone has any input before we get started.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-20 10:33 pm (UTC)And we have public record of me learning how to follow the rules properly.
( It's flimsy, but it might hold up in... well, a regular court.
William waits as Doms and Subs, a group of them, take advantage of his father's politeness. )
Yeah...
( He waits one more second, making sure nobody else leaves before entering first. The host takes note of the line running down his father's neck and the lack of one down his. So, he speaks in a rigid, un-William-like tone to lower all suspicion. He needs to play along. He waits and gestures for his Dad to follow the host, giving the silent 'order' before they're left to their own devices.
William, literally. )
Okay, so, it's been done before. Twins. And someone - who contracted to someone who was like their father. Which, okay. Specific contracts. Sex is not a ( He clears his throat. ) requirement. That's - we'll put that in bold. It's off limits.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-21 02:14 am (UTC)it's okay because he gets to be silent out of respect, speaking when spoken to, and william is semi-distracted with firing off responses anyway until they're seated and oliver can stop acting like a soldier, rigid and obedient. )
Under no circumstances, that's a given. You might want to include that you can have relations with whoever you want outside of the contract, aside from the regular implication to avoid other dominants. You'd think it would be assumed here but I don't want to give them ammunition for citations.
So that's sex and living arrangements. Whatever I own would be yours by default, which would be true enough at home. I'm fine with that.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-21 02:24 am (UTC)( He pauses, setting his phone down and sitting back. )
What else, what are some other categories we're not thinking of? We have to cover everything.
no subject
Date: 2021-05-21 02:57 am (UTC)Behavior? Punishment? I think we both know if we could put it in the agreement, I would accept all physical consequences for either of our actions. That's not really how they like it here. Everything reflects on both of us.
How does the dynamic work? That's likely going to be what they're looking for. How am I ... serving ( his expression does a little twinge, he's human ) you? How else are you responsible for me? That sort of language. ( frankly, it gives him a headache and makes him uncomfortable. he should be providing for william. )
no subject
Date: 2021-05-21 03:15 am (UTC)( He wants to restrict him being the Green Arrow but that would imply rebellion. They will have to come to a personal understanding, that they have to play a longer con if they want to make the difference they need to until he can get more answers.
He hates that self sacrificing side of his father, it brings him back to being a little kid. )
First, I can't let you take every physical punishment because not every punishment here is physical. It's about character. It's realignment. So, they'll either assign you to a Sub to teach you how to properly sub or to a Dom who will DOM you. So, we share in that. Besides, I think, if you do something, I get hit, too. It's - me taking responsibility. Your... mine. ( He grimaces. ) I will pay for any indiscretions, however. If there are fines, I will take care of them, now you. And, let's -- put in normal father-son stuff. Dinner once a week. Sundays. It's a holy day - unless we're not ourselves. We talk several times a day. We text. Either-or. It all counts. We communicate.
( He hesitates. )
We don't lie. I know you keep things close to your chest, and I'm not going to ask you to suddenly be an open book, but just don't lie to me. I know what you do. I know who you are. When the time comes, let me help. ( He pauses. ) We won't put that in.