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king is right: MATIAS SILPH is drowning and there's nothing, no lifeline anyone could throw him that could save him, not when he has to reach out and accept it in the first place.

and yet, despite himself, there is a glimmer behind his gaze that speaks, 'help me.'

"i'll continue drowning if that's what it takes."

he sighs, moving on without missing a beat.

"i know you're done with rocket," he suspects king's goals never aligned with theirs in the first place; they were simply a means to an end; a tool to help achieve vengeance, "why not fight them now?"

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If Matias came here for pity than he would be sorely disappointed. Instead, he nearly barks a laugh in the man's face.

"Fight them?" The corner of his lip peels back to reveal a sharpened canine as King raises an eyebrow in incredulity. "Fer what? To what end?"

Glass empty, he places it on the counter and comes around, sitting in a chair at the bar a bit further down the line from Matias.

"Tried that once didn't I? Look where it got me."

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he's always wondered whether king sharpens his canines or if he was simply born that way. he's never bothered to ask as it has always been more amusing to assume it's the former; that at the end of every week, king has to sit down and file his canines to fit his vision.

"to the end they deserve."

he turns in his seat.

"things are different this time; fuck, even the fight's different, surely you've realized as much; don't you crave it, wayland? the thrill of the fight. the bloodshed. the violence."

there came a point where win or lose didn't matter anymore. he wonders if KING WAYLAND ever felt the same.

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Matias appeals to King's silent passenger and, at one time, that might've worked.

Now? He could only grumble something akin to a laugh.

"Just cus yer enemy's different doesn't mean the fight is." His eyes fill with the listlessness of being far away. King blinks away the sensation. "But ye, I miss it. Sometimes. Just like I miss stakeouts, sharin' rasions, and all that other shit that only lasts a breath or twa."

His world had been made whole by the gap-toothed smile of a young girl. He'd burn down anything and everything to ensure that little girl's future — League, or Rocket.

"What're ye lookin' fer Matty? Permission? Validation? A reason ta continue? Secret ta happiness?" He blows out along exhale. "I always thought people like us didn't deserve that shit — still don't, not really at least. But I got people that need me ta make it to tamorrow, so, I do my best ta."

"Ye got that?"

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"not really."

not anymore, anyways, and perhaps never to begin with. the distrust he has been shown is not what has isolated him; that had been his own doing, his pride too high to ever see the good around him.

"this is your best? running and hiding? fuck off."

despite what he may feel for the man now, he knows king to be a capable fighter, vicious and adept when they need to be. the man that sits across him now is not the same man he fought alongside for years.

"you'll never be free of your past, wayland. your crimes cling to you like shackles but they don't always have to. the tools lay before you; a means to redeem yourself; so pick it up and join the fucking fight."

he turns suddenly, pointing.

"that's the only way to make it to the end in one piece. delta deserves that much, surely."

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Something King can't see pushes Matias forward down this path. He knew deep down that he didn't give a flying Aipom of a fuck about his redemption. There was something more here. He just couldn't place it.

"Wearin' a wire 'er somethin' Matty? Got a hidden camera? We both know my crimes aren't just mine ta bear. Forgettin' that phone call with Eva Morales are we?"

Nevertheless his foot taps in agitation. If he wanted to thread the needle that would piss him off, he was precariously close to doing so.

"Keep 'er name out of yer fuckin' mouth, got me?" The growl in the back of his throat is tempered. "What she needs is 'er Dad ta live ta see 'er grow up. Nothin' more, nothin' less."