[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.]
[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.]
[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.]
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.
[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.]
[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.
[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...]
[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.]
We saw what we saw. I'd rather not get hands on. That'd be the only way to tell though.
[Now he'll bump. It's what? Almost four am? It's safe to be touching on the kid here and now in the underground. It's what he's been dying to do all night. Why else would he take him to not one, not even two shoes but three with as much skin and content.]
You sure as hell can. Don't let anyone tell you they don't exist.
[The red light district is plenty active. People pass them on the sidewalk. The old man keeps his eyes peeled for pick pockets. If they walk closer together he can keep better track of both pockets.]
So. What did you like? I wanna know. Anything you'd try yourself?
[Just thinking about it makes him shudder mentally. Other stuff thought...the kid has an idea what the old man is getting at but he'll play harder just because he can.]
What, you mean like swinging my dick around in sequins and shit?
[Fishing for a bite is harder than it looks ain't it? But the bait was long since taken, now Larry just has to reel this sucker in and part of the thrill is the suspense, right?]
You wanna put diamond tassels on while you're at it, cause I saw you studying those moves.
I know for a fact that there's big cock in this town.
[Casual, cool. Dirty talk after a dirty show is particularly easy. That's the norm for them as it is. Still a sin though, huh so it's perfect for Sin City.
One way or the other he'll have fish tonight and eat like a king. Now he'll hold tight, and enjoy every tilt and sway of the boat.]
It can be arranged. We got diamonds, after all. Only if you can shake em while being drilled.
[Oh he's daring Larry to point his own dick out. Literally if they're going to be so close about it. Normally Freddy would be a bit apprehensive about this kind of contact but they're in Sin City, they just walked out of a dirty as fuck show. What's two men pressed side to side compared to a donkey show?
The challenge of holding the line is going really well until Larry says that. Suddenly Freddy's cheeks feel warm.]
I don't know...I don't think I'm that good. [Hey Newendyke what the hell! What happened to being fucking Baretta??]
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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.]
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[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.]
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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?]
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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.]
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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.]
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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?]
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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.]
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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.]
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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.]
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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.]
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[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.]
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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.]
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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.]
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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.
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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...]
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You saw it with your own eyes, my man.
[Pat pat right on the back.]
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[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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[Now he'll bump. It's what? Almost four am? It's safe to be touching on the kid here and now in the underground. It's what he's been dying to do all night. Why else would he take him to not one, not even two shoes but three with as much skin and content.]
Did you not like that one?
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[Then he bumps the old man back before giving a shrug.] I don't regret it, I mean, I can say I've seen it with my own eyes now.
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[The red light district is plenty active. People pass them on the sidewalk. The old man keeps his eyes peeled for pick pockets. If they walk closer together he can keep better track of both pockets.]
So. What did you like? I wanna know. Anything you'd try yourself?
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[Just thinking about it makes him shudder mentally. Other stuff thought...the kid has an idea what the old man is getting at but he'll play harder just because he can.]
What, you mean like swinging my dick around in sequins and shit?
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[Laughing now, like it's nothing. No bites yet? Huh.]
That first part sounds okay. We could get sequence if you're hung up on it.
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[Fishing for a bite is harder than it looks ain't it? But the bait was long since taken, now Larry just has to reel this sucker in and part of the thrill is the suspense, right?]
You wanna put diamond tassels on while you're at it, cause I saw you studying those moves.
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[Casual, cool. Dirty talk after a dirty show is particularly easy. That's the norm for them as it is. Still a sin though, huh so it's perfect for Sin City.
One way or the other he'll have fish tonight and eat like a king. Now he'll hold tight, and enjoy every tilt and sway of the boat.]
It can be arranged. We got diamonds, after all. Only if you can shake em while being drilled.
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[Oh he's daring Larry to point his own dick out. Literally if they're going to be so close about it. Normally Freddy would be a bit apprehensive about this kind of contact but they're in Sin City, they just walked out of a dirty as fuck show. What's two men pressed side to side compared to a donkey show?
The challenge of holding the line is going really well until Larry says that. Suddenly Freddy's cheeks feel warm.]
I don't know...I don't think I'm that good. [Hey Newendyke what the hell! What happened to being fucking Baretta??]
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