teaserving | ⏪ INBOX

[He tsks at the bold move, but doesn't really mind. Balthus is an interesting composition of self-assured while not being an arrogant dick about it, so he doesn't gripe when the sunglasses are lifted up.]

It'd be a waste for both of us.

See something you like, big guy?

Yeah, as a matter of fact. I don't get to look at your face much, by comparison.

[He whistles low, the purse of his lips melting into an easy smile as the sound fades away.]

Shame, really. You're awful pretty.

[There's a snort that escapes Abbacchio but he's not immune to the flattery. He reaches up, gripping Balthus by the chin, glancing at him as if really looking at him for the first time.]

Huh. Guess you're not so bad yourself.

[No, he does genuinely think the other man is handsome. What isn't there to like? He has an immaculate body, well proportioned, and he's always been very easy to get along with. Honest enough without being naive. It's a good combination. Yuri's got good taste in this one.]

I'd hate to piss off the girls though, so we should bail.

Whew, you got that right. I wouldn't mess with those girls for anything.

[He gently replaces Abbacchio's sunglasses, then lowers his hand to the other man's hip, pressing lightly to guide him back out the door and on their way.]

Nice to see you're a guy with some self-preservation instincts. C'mon, this way.

That's rich, coming from the guy that beats the shit out of people for fun.

[Not that he can complain about that too. Balthus looks like he's in his element when he's having a decent fight.]

What's so wrong with that? I always win, don't I? That's some self-preservation right there.

[As they walk, he doesn't move his hand away, but instead keeps it idling at the small of Abbacchio's back — mostly to see if he can get away with it, or if he'll eventually move such that his hand falls away or out of reach.]

Besides, those are just ring matches, even when they're no-holds-barred. That's a lot different than a real battle.

[Huh. He kind of expected that hand to move away at some point. Usually, Abbacchio is used to being more assertive in such ways, particularly with Yuri, but he's not about to complain about a large, warm hand against his back either.]

Fair enough, tough guy. I figured you and Yuri have been in some pretty tight spots before. Have to be in that line of work.

And I mean something besides giving an incredible massage.

Hmmm. How much has he told you, exactly? Not just about our "work", but about...how we came to be in that line of it in the first place?

[Almost absently, he strokes his thumb over the small of Abbacchio's back — slight, shallow, but there.]

I'm not trying to be all secretive or anything. On the contrary, I just don't want to wind up telling you something you already know.

Bits and pieces. More that he talked about himself a bit, didn't really talk about you other than you two are from the same gang. Out of privacy, I assume. I respect that.

[It's not like Abbacchio goes around talking about the rest of his gang either. Even Giorno. That's just being a halfway decent teammate.

The hand is still nice. The idle movement. He doesn't mind it, even if he's not used to it.]

All right, well. I'll mostly tell you about me, then, though a smart guy like you can probably extrapolate just from that, right?

[Things you wouldn't expect to come out of Balthus von Albrecht's mouth: the word "extrapolate", used correctly. Isn't he just full of surprises.]

You probably know already that people don't usually land in that kind of life by choice. Me, I've pretty much sunk any chance that I'm ever going to have what people think of as a "good" life back there. I got debts from here to Enbarr — which, you don't know where that is, but, uh. Just. It's far away — and about a dozen bounties on my head besides. But our group, we take care of each other. We're the ones society didn't want.

[A brow raises at Balthus, but he doesn't remark on his language. He does seem to be an odd mix of clever but also extremely stupid in a lot of ways.

But he listens, and he nods, picking up on what he does understand.]

That's about the same for the rest of the people I was working with before I got here. Society turns its back on you, spits you out, and you end up somewhere.

...Me, I was trash in a gutter, but someone saw worth in me anyway. So does Yuri, so I'm... trying not to let him down.

Oh, someone saw worth in us, all right.

[Not that he's still a little bitter or anything!! AELFRIC!!]

Anyway, what you said before, about being in tight spots and all that. I don't know all of what Yuri's got his fingers in here, and what you're helping him with. He doesn't want me in the middle of it, so I keep out of it. ...For now.

But I think what he's doing here, it's different than what we were doing back home. It's not about survival here. It was, back there.

We're not the ones struggling to survive in this place, so I'm not real surprised about it. I'm a private investigator by trade, even before I ended up here. I won't say much more than that. I mostly work for Yuri, but I've done a couple of other odd jobs for people too.

[Yuri just happens to be his first concern right now.]

Anyway, you're probably right.

I'm a guy who hits people by trade. Which is to say, I don't really have a trade to begin with. But I do all right. I go where I'm needed and I hit what needs to be hit, and usually I let the people who are smarter than me do the thinking.

[He hums under his breath.]

Let me ask you something. You got people who make you happy?

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