(no subject)

[brotimaeus]

Who: Richard Stroude & Kei
When: May 1st
Where: Some bar in Locke City
What: Awkward date over getting hammered
Warnings: Language. Kei does not know how to people?

---

Okay, so he might have thought this was a joke when the offer was made. It was funny how these things turned out.

With recent knowledge still buzzing in his head-- a lot of things, really.. the knowledge that several of his kid relatives had been dealing with this, the knowledge that he now had a massive 'kick me' sign painted on his back for the universe to take aim at, the knowledge that he really.. really didn't know what was going to happen to him...

That last one was the real kicker. That last one was what had him knocking back a measure of Jack before the man he was meeting here even arrived. That.. was what had been keeping him awake almost constantly since this entire thing had started.

Ugh. What a fucked up position to be in.

Comments

[occasus]

Kei kind of drifts--he's never been one place for very long until Locke city, always wandering around. Of course he jokes about being a guitar hobo are just that--jokes--but sometimes he realizes that it's sort of true.

At the moment, he's got his battered guitar case in his hand, and the too-big red jacket his other self wears that he feels compelled to slip on as well. A chipped cigarette is stuffed into one of the pockets, and--

"Ah." It's not a shout, but he is vaguely surprised that someone got there first. He makes a mental note to check out bus routes more often, takes a seat next to the other, and huffs a sigh as he slides the guitar case under his feet.

"I owe you a drink, na?"

[brotimaeus]

"Mm?" Ah, there he is. Richard is already one drink down but it didn't quite hit the spot (or rather it hit a spot, but not the right one) and he's down for a second attempt.

"Somethin' like that," he drawls out, lazy and tinged with something Texan from the years he spent living there. He just about manages to tilt a ghost of a smile as he scuffs one hand over his hair. "Got started without you."

[occasus]

It's definitely Texan, Kei realizes, and then sort of shrugs at Richard's insistance.

"Oh--now we can do this properly. Keisuke," He extends a hand, free one flagging the bartender down. He's a regular, and the man behind the counter just nods, and Kei allows himself to lean back.

"Kei is fine. Are you new here, or just to the network?"

[brotimaeus]

"Richard," he responds, taking the hand and shaking it firmly. Keisuke. Japanese? He's not going to ask. He'll figure it out. Briefly, his attention flicks to the bartender but it seems his companion is already known. Makes things easier.

"Mm. I moved here a few years back. Didn't know about all this..." A vague handwave. Shit. ".. until a few days ago. Could've done without it."

[occasus]

Kei snorts in response, and once two pints of perfectly average beer are placed in front of them h actually hesitates.

...Fuck it. He's ordering shots. Nothing fancy, but Southern Comfort is too funny for him not to order, expensive or not. Proud of himself, his lips turn up into a smile.

"I wish I could tell you you get used to it and it gets better, but I've yet to have that experience. Mainly just a lot of drinking so I don't have to think about it."

[brotimaeus]

"Not something I have any problem with..." Richard hums lowly, drawing the pint closer. He's always enjoyed chasing whisky with beer. Honestly, though? He'd prefer not to have to get constantly hammered to deal with this situation, but it worked as a stop-gap in the short term.. right?

"Ain't just gonna go away though," he says then, gaze on the rim of the pint glass. Shot are definitely in order, but he'll drink this first.

"How long's it been for you? Being in on all this."

[occasus]

"Too long," Kei answers, and can't help but give a half-grin again. "A few months, I suppose. That snake thing was what cemented the fact that I can't run away from any of this."

He had Shou, whatever that mess was. And he had others, strange cases where he'd just wanted to protect everyone. At least he had powers.

"The important thing to remember is the you you remember isn't actually you."

[brotimaeus]

A soft snort and an equally brief half-grin comes back to that. A few months is too much? Damn.

"Don't remember too much of anythin' yet." But there's something. Something that isn't his and it gives him the creeps. He'd never touched a sword in his life, why had he chosen to do it then?

"Nothing useful, in any case... Been told that's normal, though. For shit to not make sense."

[occasus]

"The question is," And Kei drives his point home by tapping lightly on the bar counter, "if it's something simple like a hair colour change or something like killing someone, for your first memory." Not that he speaks from experience.

...He speaks from experience.

"I'm not very good at showing new people around to the Numbered Club, but--that's what I've found to be the most jarring."

[brotimaeus]

"Mm..." Yeah, he could see how it would be. He shakes his head slowly and follows it up by swallowing another mouthful of beer before he speaks again.

"Picked up a sword in an antiques store. A katana, you know, one of those Japanese deals? Never used one." Hell, the closest he'd ever been to a blade was getting one shoved into his gut.

"But..." Richard pauses as he tries to think of how to phrase it. "It was like.. I suddenly knew how. I've got the knowledge up here." He taps the side of one finger to his forehead. "Like I already know what to do, just.. don't know where to start with doing it."

[occasus]

Kei nods as he listens, and he finds his head bobbing along with every sentence and doesn't even realize it.

"The same thing happened to me for my second memory. I just knew my reflexes better." He'll opt out of the corpse dance, or at least telling the guy, and he kicks his feet up onto the second ring of the barstool.

"This is the part where I offer to teach you more wisdom of my people. I don't think the other me was, though."

[brotimaeus]

Snrk.

He waves Kei off with one hand as he shakes his head, grinning slightly. "I don't even know what I'd do with it." What the hell kind of use was knowing how to use a katana in this day and age anyway? What kind of guy took the time to learn something like that?

"Is it rude to ask what you've been hit with? Ain't sure if there's an etiquette here."

[occasus]

"My first? Or all of them?" It's both a genuine question and also a way to stall him as he figures out just what is okay and not okay to tell. He should be better at this, he thinks. It should be easier.

Somehow, it isn't, so he chews on the corner of his lips and raises one brow.

[brotimaeus]

He figures it might be something of a touchy question based on other things he's heard. Not everyone would have had it as 'easily' as he did. A few extra reflexes? Nothing to lose any sleep over.

"Your first," he clarifies, quietly judging the reaction. "If it ain't too much."

[occasus]

"Dancing." And, carefully, Kei's gaze slides up to Richard, tongue moving to the corner of his mouth, lips slightly parted--a nervous habit he's always had and never quite been able to get rid of.

"A little bit more than dancing... Waltzing, maybe. With a gun." A beat, and Kei's gaze slips downwards, suddenly unable to look the guy in the eye. "It was some warehouse, I think in China or something, but I was dancing and not taking anything seriously even though there was a bunch of people coming at me with guns."

[brotimaeus]

Dancing.

He doesn't react, not really, save to slightly lift one eyebrow at the elaboration that follows. His attention stays on Kei's face even as the other man's eyes drop. There's something more to this, he's guessing, but they don't know each other nearly well enough for him to start trying to pry.

"Huh. Sounds like you were some kind of badass, pulling a stunt like that."

[occasus]

"I don't know." He squints, as if peering into some sort of haze, and dips his hand into his red jacket and fishes out a packet of cigarettes. He starts tapping the bottom with the heel of his hand, not even realizing what he's doing--he'll smoke later, but it's a habit.

"I mean I guess, but I don't think it was a good kind of badass. Just--an odd rage, you know?"

[brotimaeus]

Richard isn't even judging. He's a social smoker, himself, though he tends to resist for the sake of other people in enclosed spaces. Usually. Sometimes he just doesn't give a damn.

"An odd rage," he echoes, rubbing one hand along the faint stubble up the line of his jaw. "... You worried about it, Kei?"

[occasus]

"Eh?"

Kei stops tapping the cigarette pack and freezes. He has no idea how to react, and his tongue moves over the back of his teeth in thought. It's not quite shock, but...

"You're asking me?" He's genuinely surprised someone's actually wondering about him.

casually responds from bed

[brotimaeus]

"Well... yeah." His eyebrows lift up. Did he stutter? He's not drunk enough yet to be thinking things instead of saying them. As much as he can tell, plenty of them have something to worry about. Hell, he has a kid living with him with a bloodlust instinct he can't control.

"I'm askin' you."

[occasus]

"Huh." It makes Kei think. Actually think, and it's odd, to voice something that's been in his head for a while.

"Not yet," He says eventually, and goes back to tapping the cigarette pack. "But I don't now anything about this other guy--what he's like. Just that he's lost. So I figure it's better to play it safe, na?"

[brotimaeus]

He nods, bobbing his head for a fraction longer than is really necessary as his attention drifts back down to his now half empty pint glass.

"Better to play it safe. Long as you can, anyway." Richard frowns. "Can't help wonderin', though, how long is it before things get too fucked up for that."

[occasus]

"Knowing my luck, far too soon." It's a lament he wish he didn't realize, so he settles for sighing into his drink.

"The worst thing is that I definitely didn't want this. I don't imagine you did either, huh?"

[brotimaeus]

"Hell no, I was fine just doin' what I was doing." For once. He's had it good these past few years. Better than he ever did before and all off his own back too.

"And now we're stuck with it if we like it or not," he mutters, another mouthful of beer chasing the bitter taste of those words. "Feels like someone put a flashin' neon sign over my head, dude. How do you even deal with that."

[occasus]

"You drink heavily, roll a joint, and hope it all goes away." Kei's smile is half-true, at least, and he finally downs his shot.

"I haven't figured out how to properly cope. Especially with my Other Me--but when I do, I'll let you know, na?"

[brotimaeus]

He barks out a laugh, shooting a half-grin over to the other man. "That simple, huh."

Richard does recall a time when it was that simple, or seemed it. He nods again, downing the last of his pint with a grimace and joining Kei in knocking back a shot, hissing softly between his teeth.

"Looks like we got the drinking part down."

[occasus]

"Right?" Kei grins widely, and finally leans back a little, balancing the stool on two legs.

"I'm fairly good at that, drinking." And the grin settles into a little, smaller smile. "So--katana, right? That your only one?"

[brotimaeus]

He glances down, idly tapping his foot against the nearest spoke of the stool to bring it onto four legs again. It's a teasing act, mostly.

"Mm, only one so far. I bought it, though. Felt right to, even if I couldn't tell you why." It's in his office at home at the moment. He's not sure what to do with it yet.

[occasus]

Gee, thanks. If he didn't have his major reflexes he'd probably have flinched, but instead he just wrinkles his nose in Richard's direction.

Brat.

"Nnn--I bought this jacket. Not really my thing, but it's got a lot of memories attached to it. Apparently. I think the Other Me really liked it."

[brotimaeus]

He just grins right back at that wrinkled nose, a quick flash of a mischievous smile that makes him look younger while it's on his face.

"It's a nice jacket." Richard takes a moment then to actually appreciate it, casually looking Kei up and down. "Suits you, really, but I'm wonderin' why you wear it if you don't really like it."

[occasus]

"Dunno. I mean, it reminds me of stuff like 70s rock music, so I figure, sure. It's just kind of odd that it had so much emotional meaning to him, but not to me. I feel like I'm cheating."

And, sure enough, Kei has started to laugh at himself.

"I sound like an idiot, don't I?"

[brotimaeus]

"If it makes sense to you, who am I to judge?" But yeah, Kei, he's looking at you like you might be a few marbles short of a full bag at the moment.

"I guess that's the kind of thing I've got to look forward to."

A pause, just for a beat.

"... I'll drink to that."