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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 3:19:51 GMT -5
Keith was suppose to be working today, but no one was coming in and the inked Tora was starting to get irritated so he decided to close early this one time. Gabriel was being watch by Frankie and Persephone to allow him some time to go out and figure out what in the hell was going on.
Satoru, that cranky son of a bitch that he considered to be a friend of his, for some reason decided to stop coming by. While this really shouldn't have bothered Keith the way it did, there was just something off about it that he couldn't put his finger on. He understood that the guy had a business to run, hell he probably understood more than most, but it was more than just THAT. He'd try to call and there'd be no answer, he would try dropping by the shooting range out of what little time to himself he had only to be told that he couldn't see the guy. That little fucker was ignoring him on purpose and he knew it, he just didn't know why.
The brunette entered the shooting range and went straight to the first employee he spotted. His name was Egil if he remembered right. Without so much as a greeting Keith walked up to him. "You tell that little piece of shit to come out here right now." He didn't raise his voice, but it was beyond obvious that he was far from happy.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 3:32:12 GMT -5
Satoru was kidding himself. He knew it. There was no way that hiding away from the source of his problem was going to fix it, it was just common sense. And yet there was a part of him that, despite the small size, had a very powerful voice. Going down the road he'd been heading on would wind up hurting like hell in the end, he knew that much. The lessons had been taught well. He was a freak, and he couldn't let anyone find out.
It'd be suicide for business, at the very least.
Which left him holed up in his office or doing private lessons at the range and taking the long way home to avoid a certain tattoo parlor. It... hurt, staying away, but he'd numb it in time. It always worked.
Egil, meanwhile, was unaware of his boss' thoughts on the manner, he only knew that there was an angry man with tattoos scowling and growling in front of him. He narrowed his eyes at Keith. "Mi' wann' r'phrase th't..." he rumbled.
While the blond didn't quite agree with his boss' methods of dealing with things, disrespect would not be taken lightly. It never was.
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 3:42:57 GMT -5
Keith's eyes widen for a brief second in a 'you REALLY wanna go there?' sort of expression before going back to its scowl. "I've been patient with all this bull shit and if he's gonna do this then he's at LEAST gonna be a fucking man about it and say something to my face." He had WAY too much going on in his life to deal with this, the little bastard should feel honored that he was even taking precious time out of his day for him.
"I've tolerated this for a while, so if I wanna be an asshole now, I'mma be the biggest asshole you've ever seen." Did he care that he could get kicked out? Or shot at? HELL NO! Satoru was gonna man up and talk to him whether he liked it or not and if that got Keith in trouble, well that was perfectly fine with him.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 3:55:39 GMT -5
"Yo! Hey!" A brighter voice pealed out from behind Egil, a dark haired woman striding forward to interrupt the potential brawl. "What's goin' on here?" A brow arched up as Mina took in the situation. "This that guy Toru mutters about when he passes out?" The offhanded comment, however unintentionally meant, caused Egil's brows to raise.
Now, that was worrisome.
It wasn't often Satoru worked himself to the point of passing out, and when he did it was always due to internal troubles. Not that Egil hadn't known that, but he had certainly underestimated how BAD it had gotten. Especially if Keith was on the brown haired man's mind even when he was unconscious...
Worrisome indeed.
Mina kept her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket and frowned. "Eegs, ya gotta use your words instead of givin' me that 'Toru's a real idiot' look, cuz I KNOW that much."
Instead of responding, Egil turned to Keith and frowned. "S'this way." He said, beckoning him to follow. Mina just sighed.
"Give 'im a knock around the head for me!" She called after them. Satoru's office wasn't very far off, so it wouldn't take long for Keith to reach it and suss out whatever the issue was.
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 4:02:38 GMT -5
Keith glanced at the girl that interrupted the two, giving her a strange look at the small exchange between the two employees. 'Mutters about'? What the hell?
Well, he'd find out soon enough. The brunette gave a short nod to the other man and followed him, not bothering on saying anything to the girl as they went off. FINALLY he was about to get some answers around here.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 4:19:46 GMT -5
Egil knocked on the door and waited for the answer from within. Opening the door without knocking usually resulted in a gun to the face, safety off and fully loaded. Old habits, the Swede supposed.
"What is it?" Came a muffled call from within.
"Visit'r f'r ya," The Swede called. A chair scraping... at least Satoru was coming over to tell him off personally... A plan was forming in Egil's mind.
The door opened a bit. "Told ya, no visitor-" The gunslinger cut himself off as he saw the familiar tattooed figure of Keith. There was a blur of panicked motion as Satoru slammed the door. His guts pure ice.
Egil, plan in mind, grabbed the door before it could shut and shoved it open wide, snagging Keith's arm to half-throw the brunette into the room after the sharpshooter. The blond man pulled the door closed with a 'BANG.'
".....Holy SHIT, Eegs," Mina said, eyes twinkling with mirth as the giant gave a half-pained smile to her. "I didn't know you had it IN you."
Egil just held a finger to his lips and pressed his ear to the door to listen, Mina quickly followed suit. Satoru might need some sense knocked into him, but they didn't want a dead boss.
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 4:30:06 GMT -5
Everything had happened so fast, it was hard to process for a moment. He saw Satoru, then he didn't, then the next thing he knew he was being thrown into the room and-
Wait, was he on top on 'Toru?
He was, and was going to take advantage of it. The inked man sat up a little and grabbed Satoru by the collar of his shirt to keep him in place. "Alright you sorry shit, you better talk NOW!" He had half a mind to punch him, but that could wait until he heard what the other Tora had to say.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 4:38:21 GMT -5
Satoru could have swore in that instant his heart had stopped. Because of all the ways today could of gone, this was the ABSOLUTE worst. As petrified as his guts felt, though, his brain was whirling on instinct and long-instilled habits. Keith was too large and heavy to shove off of him, even without factoring in the handicap of his leg. He couldn't reach his guns and the younger man already had a good hold on him.
....Yep. Satoru was utterly boned.
"'Bout WHAT?" He managed to spit out with as much venom as he could muster. It came out sounding more defensive than he had intended.
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 4:48:32 GMT -5
That was it. Keith landed one good punch to the man's jaw while he kept the other hand tight on his collar still. "You KNOW what!!" he yelled at him. "What in the HELL did I do to you?! I thought you were DEAD until I came up here a while back to find out you've just been IGNORING ME?!"
Keith was never this mad, and he wasn't exactly sure why he was so upset about this. Satoru had been a friend, and the brunette didn't have many of those since he rolled into town. "Now you're gonna man the FUCK up and talk to me NOW!!" He sounded kind of hurt as he shouted at the gunslinger.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 4:58:26 GMT -5
Satoru grit his teeth as his jaw throbbed. Not as hurt as he could be, though he could taste some blood. At least Keith hasn't gone for his nose. And now the issue was just... what to say. He couldn't tell him the truth, he was in a bad enough position as it was, if it got worse he'd wind up choked to death...
But lying to Keith? The bigger man seemed like the type to sniff out a lie no matter how good a bluff it was. "You didn't do a damn thing!" He growled out, keeping his teeth set in a grimace as he glared up at Keith. "So WHAT? D'ya need me comin' 'round ta check on ya all th' damn time?" Deny and compress and compartmentalize. Get him out and away and everything would be... okay. Sort of. He'd be short one Keith... and he'd be lying if his chest didn't ache at the thought.
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 5:17:24 GMT -5
Keith froze for a short second before growling again. "You were gone for WEEKS! Not a word, no calls, NOTHING! What dick does that to his friend, huh?!" He'd been so worried, almost as worried as he'd been during that crazy mess with Gabe's mother and that was saying something. All he had was his son, the tattoo parlor, and what few friends he had, and when one of those few friends decides to cut all ties with you it SUCKS. It sucks and he hated feeling like that. There was something Satoru wasn't telling him and he wanted to know what it was before he completely flipped out.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 15:39:21 GMT -5
Apparently, he mused, HE was the dick that did that to people. Which, well, he couldn't deny. He had just stopped talking to Keith for weeks, but it was either that or accidentally tip his hand to the other man, and that...
Well, it wouldn't be ending on terms Satoru could handle, that was for sure. Not that this was much better. Keith had come looking for him (repeatedly, he knew. It was hard not to hear about what went on with Mina chattering away by his ear as she decided to 'graciously make sure he didn't keel over going home.') and as much as he wished that was a good sign, it couldn't be. He might have survived bullet and knife wounds, a bomb, and even a shuriken or five, but that was all his luck ever extended to. Surviving.
This wouldn't count.
"Apparently, me." The brown-haired man squirmed a little. "Get OFF will ya? Yer heavy as hell."
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 15:52:40 GMT -5
Keith thought about getting off of him. He clearly wasn't getting the answers he wanted while sitting like this, maybe it would be easier if he got off. Then again, if Satoru still refused to tell him what he wanted he wouldn't be in a position so perfect to knock him around a few more times.
Decisions decisions…
He sighed, releasing the other man and moving to get off of him. He sat on the floor and rested his back against the wall, ruffling his own hair as he tried to calm down. "There's something you're not telling me, and you better spill." He hung his head down and rubbed his neck. "Not putting up with this shit…" He muttered under his breath.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 16:25:41 GMT -5
Satoru let out a breath of relief as he sat up. Now that Keith wasn't as close it was easier to think. And breathe, now that the weight was off of his everything. He rubbed his bum leg to try and coax the blood to flow properly, or semi-properly, again. "Well, tough." Satoru groused. "Can't always get what you want." Oh dammit mouth, there went another stab at his heart. He hated this, fucking hated it. Words hurt. WORDS of all things. The gunslinger was tougher than that on a normal basis and now everything felt like a physical stab. The sooner Keith got frustrated enough to leave the better.
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 6, 2014 16:41:37 GMT -5
Keith let out a strained and irritable laugh. "Man I've dated guys that aren't as difficult as you." Of course it had been YEARS since he'd been with a dude, but the fact still remained.
He sat up a little straighter and looked at Satoru with all seriousness. "Shop's closed and I got babysitters, I can wait here all day until you tell me what's up." He deserved that much. If Satoru didn't wanna hang out then fine, Keith would be… somewhat cool with it, but not without a reason why.
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