onlythebranch | (no subject)

He hasn't been around much, but that's been for the best. Most people in this fucking place didn't deserve the consideration he gave them during the months he was without his coin, but he'd be damned if he fucked over Eddie just by being too bloody close to him. The kid was a disaster, but he deserved a hell of a lot better than to end up dead because of some shitty, unlucky leprechaun.

Mad Sweeney won't admit to a soft spot for him, but it's there. Plain as fucking day for anyone to see if they look for longer than a second.

A few weeks back, hanging around the high school while smoking a cigarette would have gotten his ass thrown in jail. Now it gets him a few weird looks, but his luck has turned and so when he smiles at people, it's the kind of disarming smile that puts them at ease. Besides, it's not as if his plans are truly nefarious, he's just hanging out, sitting on a low wall, waiting for Eddie to get out of class. He could probably text the kid or just show up at the Home, but that place gives him the fucking creeps for some reason and he's not a man prone to the goddamn willies.

The bell rings and the kids come pouring out and past him, some of them giving him a glance, but mostly he's ignored. The flood of bodies swells and wanes, until there's just a few stragglers coming out. When Eddie finally exits, it's in the company of a curly haired boy Sweeney's not sure he's ever seen before. He stands, still smoking, and approaches them, catching just enough of their conversation as he does to hear the other boy mention detention.

Then, in a quick movement, the boy kisses Eddie's cheek before he disappears back into the school and Sweeney is left there standing just behind Eddie, his cigarette tucked between his smirking lips.

"And now who was that?"

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"What?" Eddie startled, whirling on his heel, his eyes wide. Instinctively, he wanted to say that it was no one, because you had to keep that kind of thing quiet unless you wanted it to bite you on the ass later. But Sweeney was a friend, somehow. The weirdest, most unlikely friend Eddie ever had, but still. A friend. And it wasn't like they were keeping it quiet, anyway.

"Jamie. That was Jamie. Stop making that face, asshole!" He demanded, his cheeks flushing a garish red.

"What face? This is just my fuckin' face, kid," Sweeney declares, his grin widening. It's pretty fucking cute, Eddie having a boyfriend, and maybe the kid has detention, but Sweeney doesn't think that's the worst thing that can happen to a fucking teenager. Hell, if the kid never got detention, he'd find that a little bit more suspicious.

"Jamie, huh?" he drawls, dropping one big hand to Eddie's shoulder to steer him away from the school. While he has no particular plan, he figures the way his luck has been lately, something will unfold itself as they go and he'll figure it out on the way. Mostly at this point, he'd just wanted to check in on Eddie and make sure everything is okay. Make sure his shitty luck hadn't extended to him accidentally. "Guess a lot's changed since the last time I've seen you."

"I guess," Eddie shrugged under the weight of Sweeney's hand, the blush on his cheeks slowly fading. "Where the hell have you been? I thought you were dead."

He didn't actually think Sweeney was dead, but it at least came close to just how absent Sweeney had been. It wasn't like they were best friends or anything-- Sweeney was a grownup and Eddie had his own life, but it was still pretty weird for him to just up and disappear.

"Yeah, had a spot of bad luck I didn't want to pass along to anyone undeserving," Mad Sweeney answers with a shrug of his own. That's downplaying what had actually happened, glossing over the fact that other people had died and that he'd come goddamn close, but he doesn't want to scare Eddie. Doesn't want him to think that sort of shit is going to happen again or, more importantly, happen to him.

He's not likely to say it, but he's come to like Eddie. Last thing he wants is the kid telling him to fuck off and to stay away.

"Nothin' to worry about now," he adds, reaching into his pocket for his coin. He makes it dance across his knuckles, the light flashing off the gold sun on its surface. "Got my lucky coin back, lad, and all's well enough."

For a moment, Eddie was sure that Sweeney was joking, but then he remembered that Sweeney was an actual leprechaun, despite being a giant instead of tiny with a green bowler hat. Still, he hadn't really thought much about there being actual coins involved. He thought about rainbows and pots of gold, but thought it might not go over too well to ask Sweeney about them.

"A lucky coin? You're serious?" Eddie said, leaning in to get a closer look, his eyes widening with almost comical interest, "Is that real gold?"

"Yeah, y'want one?" he asks, tucking his coin back into his pocket, but making another appear in its place. With an adult, he'd probably flick it right at their face, only to make it disappear before it hit them, but with Eddie he gives it a much more gentle flick. It arcs toward him, flashing in the sun, and Sweeney has no intention of making it disappear.

Hell, he'll probably make another three or four appear in Eddie's pockets later.

"The bank'll trade 'em for cash if you wanna make a buck or two," he says. "But if you find a collector, they'll probably give you more. Or maybe that one's your lucky coin."

"Wow," Eddie said, only a little clumsy as he reached out and caught the coin between his palms. He turned it over slowly, rubbing at the golden surface with the pad of his thumb. It looked old, a little tarnished, and he only had Sweeney's word that it was real, but it was cool enough that Eddie didn't really care one way or another.

"So, you really never run out of money?"

"Haven't yet," he answers. "Not in seven centuries."

For all he complains, it's been a halfway decent way of living, having the hoard of gold at his fingertips. He can't always find a place to trade it, and he's slept in some shitty places as a result, but for the most part, the gold has treated him well.

They're near an ice cream place, some cute little thing with a red and white awning, and Sweeney's about to suggest they go inside when the harried looking owner puts up a sign in the window and Sweeney can't help but grin. His luck, he'd like to think.

"Wanna help 'em out?" he asks, nodding toward the sign. It reads, Freezer Broken. Free cones.

"Hell yes," Eddie said passionately, because even approaching winter, he was never going to turn down free ice cream.

"Seven centuries, holy shit," Eddie added, eyeing Sweeney with awe as they approached the shop. He knew Sweeney was old-- really old, but he wasn't sure he'd heard it put like that.

"Do you ever get like, really bored? I mean, this year seems like it's lasted forever, I can't imagine like, seven whole centuries. You'd see everything. More than once. Everybody you know would be de--" He cut himself off, his words stumbling to a halt like a record scratch. "So, um, what kind of ice cream are you going to get?"

"Everyone I know," he agrees, wearing a faint smirk, but the words are soft when he speaks. It's not something he talks about all that much, but with Eddie, it doesn't feel as heavy. He's just a kid and while he's been through some shit, it's still different than speaking to an adult.

He's talked to Spike about it, but then, it's different with Spike, too.

Opening the door to the ice cream place, he gestures for Eddie to go in ahead of him, then shrugs expansively and says, "Gotta see what my options are, kid. Maybe some rocky road. What about you?"