orangetoughguy | log post II

I think you're gonna have to put'em on and find out.

[Freddy suggests with a point of his finger. There's just something way more comfortable for him in a pawn shop compared to an upscale boutique. Where the kid has to be coaxed into being tailored under the old man's guidance here Freddy talks and acts as he pleases. Maybe he's underestimating the staff.]

I think you're right. What about your goods?

[He nods at the 'ordinary comics' over there.]

Excuse me. [Voice raised politely to address anyone who's near by.] I wanna take a look at those. Think that's number...18-6-12? This guy wants some help too.

[That's you, Freddy.]

I can't try on comics.

[That's a dumb remark coming from the kid but he doesn't know what else to say because he's not ready to negotiate prices just yet. He waves a hand at the other guy.]

I'm only buying if he's buying.

[Maybe vice versa if the two can manage. The older one won't buy those cufflinks if the younger one can't buy his comics. Fair enough for a pawn shop, right? That's another thing Freddy wouldn't dare suggest at a swanky boutique.]

Take a look at it and make sure it's what you thought, you know>

[Elbow. He does it because he cares. Even if they don't bother buying, they get the satisfaction of handling pretty cool shit. The big drink of water comes on over and opens up the case to place the cuff-links on the counter. The man is not going to budge until it's replaced into the case.

Larry turns it over, looking with mild interest. They really are fine pieces. It's the kind of shit only real wealthy people buy and use. It'll rest for the night on top of the old man's nightstand with a comb, an ashtray and a digital clock, not some fine case. Sheer luxury item.]

Don't they ever polish these things?

[...gotta start somewhere.]

Got it, got it.

[The kid waves a flappy hand. He'll rifle through the stock while watching and listening in on the old man's conversation. He may not say it often but Freddy loves watching Larry work his magic, his fucking charm. His infatuation with it started long before Toby Wong. Who knows if it's gonna work on this other guy though.

Holy shit. What's this?]

The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe. [Yes, he's reading it aloud. Flip flip flip flip. The kid's going through the pages enthusiastically. Too fast to be reading it all of course so don't have a cow, salesman.]

["Of course they do. You're buying it as is. Market price right now is--" far more than what it looks like for something so small. Huh. Larry holds one of the links up to the light then tests the hinges.]

That's the price if it wasn't...you know what I'm sayin'. I understand you guys gotta make a business here. That's fine, believe me. A price like that I gotta think about.

[Eyeballs roll Freddy's way.]

That one any good?

I'm liking it I'm liking it.

[Whoa tone it down Newendyke, that's no way to make a bargain. Sorry Dimick, the kid might blow it. Ahem, he puts the comic down.] Let me see.

[There he is again, trying to play it cool, wanting to see those links on his man.]

[Here, the old hand will help.] Sure but are you lovin' it? [Please don't answer Freddy...though Larry won't love you any less if you say yes. The way those green eyes are glittering with glee it is true. Hopefully the pawn dude shaped like a barrel can't read it as plainly.]

I guess I can try em on.

[As though reluctant. Can they both be an Oscar winning duo?]

Edited 2011-07-14 18:12 (UTC)

[It's a miracle the kid manages to keep his mouth shut but anyone who can read those caramel green eyes can tell his answer is "YES." He has to mentally slap himself from laughing over the absurdity of Frank Castle slaughtering the X-Men.]

They any better than your other ones?

[The unseen challenger is just a ruse to get the barrel to lower the price a bit. Haggling is a delicate art. At least Freddy's managed to take his mind off the comic....but it comes with him when he joins Larry at the counter to look.]

Sure. I kinda like the color but. Mmm. [He turns his wrist this way and that to look at it.] That black one's nice. It's what? Hmm.

[There we go. Now the barrel is hemming and hawing. Down goes the price.]

Tell you what, I got a little less than that but I'll pay that if you throw in whatever he's got. Twofer.

[Hoooopefully that's in the range he was thinking of.]

[Oh now the barrel's getting ideas because that comic's no two cent castoff either. Granted it's not a quadruple digit either, not even a triple digit, but it's the very first run. It ain't no insert in a trade paperback. It's a small sacrifice to make for the links.]

And this.

[In goes a MINT ON CARD little metal model of an 80s era Batmobile. Larry might not know it yet but this is actually for him, to add to his 'collection' of toy cars. So, how about it barrel?]

[Here comes the sob story. He's runnin' a business guys. This shit ain't cheap. He'd have to at least go up to double the cuffs if they want all of that all together. It's steep, but Larry's not sure what the kid has up his sleeve. Are they gonna drop the car off after and go lower? Cuz that is a cool car after all.]

You'll be getting rid of three things at once. How about we pay the cuffs in full and half on the comic or whatever that is. It's just paper, pal.

[This is why Larry has fun. It's like gambling but not. And everyone's gonna win.]

[Now Freddy leans in to talk to the barrel directly.]

Tell you what, round it even.

[The total amount to a single solid even number. That takes only a little bit off the cuffs and half and half for car and comic, if the guy can do the math anyway. Good deal for everyone yeah? He'll be making most of his money on the links. Seriously how can a guy be so damn stubborn about a comic and a car? Of course, he could be a geek in disguise too.]

[Barrel gives a kid a look this way, then that way. Know what? He's gonna go for it. Since Freddy's the one who made the deal, he gives him his hand. Larry's grinning like a kid in a candy store even as he throws up his hands.]

This place. Shit. Well. Seein' as we're in this shit together I'll foot the bill. I guess.

[He will. All of it. Is Freddy having fun? Is he?]

[Freddy gives the barrel a firm shake to close the deal. He's grinning too but mostly on the inside so as not to ruin Larry's intricate charade. Oh wait, the old man's smiling, but maybe his smile is just subtly different from the goofy type the kid would be wearing. Keep it cool Newendyke. You're almost finished.]

Cool.

[Does it not occur to them the Barrel might get more ideas based on the fact that Larry's paying?? Freddy doesn't seem to mind at the moment. He's too busy flipping through his comic book again.] You gonna wear'em outta here, highroller?

[He means the links, obviously. The car on the card's gonna need a bag.]

[If the old man is paying, maybe Freddy's a kept kind of a guy. Since they came in there's been no physical contact outside of a nudge. ...Sometimes a nudge is all that it takes.]

I think I will. Want the old ones?

[They're nothing to sniff at with their shiny black surface, it looks like marble. The old cuffs don't hold anything on the gold lined tusks. Larry starts to make the change as he gives the barrel man is dough. The car is definitely bagged.]

[That might be the case but don't say it aloud. Freddy's not the type to want to be a kept anything. The fact that he is one anyway doesn't factor in as much. The offer of the old ones though, he'll accept.]

Sure. You can't wear two pairs anyway, that's fuckin' weird.

[The kid smiles, hand out to accept the old links. He'll wait until they're out of the barrel's earshot to tell Larry he doesn't know how to put this kind on.]

[The old man is that way enough to be up on the kid that is that way 100%. Even though it isn't anything new, it is still going strong.]

Just my thinking. If I like these real well, you can have those.

[Old cuffs go right into the kid's hand. And the money is changed, they got their car in a bag.]

I'm about ready to head out. I dunno about you.

[Which is slightly less gay than saying let's go. Slightly. Barrel sees these guys. Huh. They could be Italian. Those fuckers are always strangely close.]

I'm cool.

[Freddy says ever so casually, links in one hand, comic in the other with the Batmobile in a bag. Yeah barrel man he's gonna play this super smooth...but only after Larry goes first.]

Wanna take in a show?

[How's that for throwing off Italian vibes? He never said sequin and rhinestone tit tassels though.]

[When is he not? That kid always is. Always.]

Course. That's one of the things you gotta do here. Outside of gambling. [Which is a no brainer. Out on the street he grins. No more reason to hide since everyone's paying attention to other shit. Fuck does he love seeing Freddy in a suit.] The one's I got in mind might have to pound some ground.

[He slows up to take out a smoke.]

Edited 2011-07-16 04:28 (UTC)

[Does he love seeing Freddy in a suit trying to put on cufflinks while walking and not dropping them? He hasn't lost a link yet but neither has he managed to put them on right.]

Whatcha got in mind?

[Listen to this kid engage the old man in conversation, maybe to distract Larry from his own unrefined ineptitude. Whoops almost lost a cufflink there.]

[The old man is right here to help. No worries at all. Watch, kid. He's gonna do this one for ya. And without a shred of scorn. Not many bastards wear cuff-links anymore.]

They got some with dancers and shit. Lots of neat things.

[The farther down the Strip, the dirtier. Say, is the Underground cursed? Now he's getting ideas. The night is young enough still.]

Trust me.

[There's something utterly intimate about getting his cufflinks done in public. It's like when a boyfriend fixes a girlfriend's earring or something, not that Freddy considers himself the latter. Fucking hardly. But the metaphor stands...it feels personal yet most everyone else is too self-absorbed to see it and understand. Fucking perfect.]

Okay. [He gives a small kind of secretive smile.] I trust you.

[Famous last words because a good three shows later the kid's walking out through the red blinking doorway with a look of shock still fixated on his mildly freckled face.] It's gotta be magic or some mutant gene, it's not humanly possible to do that.

[Except Freddy just saw it so...]

[Earrings or cuff links, it's a display of comfort. What they got is comfortable. It's worth shaking things up now and then with an off the wall show. Larry swaggers out, laughing incredulously. It's been some fucking time since he had seen one. A man doesn't forget but witnessing it with someone else...]

You saw it with your own eyes, my man.

[Pat pat right on the back.]

It's some fucking illusion that's what it is.

[He's convinced because the size of that thing and the size of her and him and the it? Yeah. Fucking crazy. It's a good end to a round of shows though. Those first two left him feeling a little squirmy in his seat for various reasons. The last managed to ease it all a bit by sheer outrageousness ironically. There's just something about seeing this stuff in a group of people that makes Freddy Newendyke feel dirty.]

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