Prequels and Aubades 2??
Geo
polished one of the last glasses of the evening, musing over his reflection in
it. Maybe he should cut the stupid beard off. Lose the hat. Cut his hair. He
looked a little too much like his dad, now that the fucker had resurfaced. It
was pretty uncanny, he had to admit, but didn’t serve his esteem too well. He
was going to be married in about a month, maybe he shouldn’t look like the
person who had poisoned the idea of this for so long for him.
His
reverie was broken by the sound of the door opening. He had sent Kurochi home
early, leaving just him and Spike, wherever the little guy had run off to.
Expecting some regular or another to have staggered into his bar super late without
any regard for his hours, he reached for both the whisky and beer, preparing
for both his father and Shian. Sometimes they were even there together.
“’Oly
fuck ya look like a fuckin’ goofball with that shitty ‘at.”
Cyril
grinned at him from the doorway, his hands up. Geo nearly dropped what he was
holding, but reminded his hands how much they both cost as he put them back.
“I
thought you were dead!”
“Yeah,
I’ve been gettin’ that alot. Surprisin’ ‘ow I ain’t. Myself included. Shit, do
ya know ‘ow much I’ve ‘ad ta tell people ‘oh I went on space fuckin’ adventures
ta die.’ An’ then apologize? Be some fuckin’ sentimental bastard for a few
seconds?”
"That
sounds awful.” Geo rolled his eyes. “You want a drink, or we just chatting?”
“I’ll
take a scotch. Cheapest shit ya got, I ain’t made o’ money.” Cyril sat at the
bar, resting his elbows on it. “Shian was fuckin’ right. Ya cleaned the fuck up
out of this place. Fancy food, fancy drinks.
Hell, ya fuckin’ even look like a bartender now.” The spirit laughed as
Geo began to pour the scotch out, a little miffed he didn’t ask for the
specialty stuff.
“So,
you went off to… do what exactly?”
“Fight,
y’know. Take on the numbers. Go out swingin’ ‘cause that’s the only way I know ‘ow
ta be.” Cyril sniffed at the drink put in front of him. It had higher alcohol
content than water, so he disguised his face as he sipped on it. “I really
fucked the pooch on it, Geo. Izzy’s gone to fuck off nowhere, e’ryone was so
fuckin’ worried, an’ all I got fer it was a good beatin’.”
“…Oh.”
This was the last reaction he had expected out of Cyril. He expected threats or
a fist fight over who got to be his best man, if he had even heard about that
yet. Not an outpouring of emotions. He put his hand on his near double’s
shoulder.
“Dude,
it’s fine. Weird shit happens all the time here. You going off to fight isn’t
even that surprising. I figured you had done SOMETHING like that, considering
you needed shittons of energy because, let’s face it, you weren’t exactly in a
stable state.”
“I ‘ppreciate
the sentiment, but I ‘ad a video that was gonna play when I died. But I fuckin’
didn’t. Was gonna ‘splain all that shit, I didn’t want people to boohoo over me
like I was some fuckin’ terminally ill patient. They shoulda thought ‘oh fuck
that was an awesome brief time ‘e was with us, I’m glad he did what ‘e did.’”
“Like
I said, it’s fine. I know we’ve been worried about you. Sanshi too, I bet. I
can’t speak for Isabel, but you’ve been missed here.” Geo gave a small smile. “Look,
I’ll make some arrangements, we can get you up in a hotel for you to stay in.”
“Onni
already made those, but. Thanks. So, we, huh? Gross.” Cyril chuckled. “But for
fuckin’ real, congrats. Ya two are fuckin’ perfect fer each other. Picture
fuckin’ perfect high school sweet hearts.”
“That’s
remarkably bitter, coming from you, Cyril. We can even go looking for Isabel,
wherever she fucked off to.”
“That’s
not fucking it. I can’t get your fiancé out of my fuckin’ ‘ead.” There. It was
on the table now and Cyril couldn’t take it back, even as it felt like his
stomach was bottoming out. He drained his drink. “I mean, I can’t get Izzy outa
my head either, but that actually makes some fuckin’ SENSE.”
“I
figured.” Geo said simply, starting to work on a larger, more elaborate drink. “It’s
not painfully obvious, like with that girl who may be my half-sister, but it’s
obvious for someone who knows you really well. And, for what it’s worth,
probably my fault it’s welded to you like that. So, y’know. Sorry.” Some gin, a
few drops of vermouth…
“’ow
the fuck did you figure it?!”
“Look,
we shared a body for more than a few months. Everything there is to know about
me, you know. It went both ways, hot head. I just didn’t DO anything with it.
Like, what use is knowledge about a dead kingdom going to be to a student? So
it kinda. Got dumped? But like, you liked her. You had… Kinda dates with her.”
As Geo spoke, he produced two chilled glasses from under the bar. “It ain’t a
big deal. You tell her?”
“Fuck
no. I’m pretty fuckin’ content bein’ yer friend, fer both of ya. Jus’ figured I’d
tell ya. I ain’t plannin’ on actin’ on it or anything.” The prince watched as
Geo poured the martini out. “Didn’t think ya ‘ad all this fuckin’ finesse in
ya.”
“I
mean, I figure if I’ve got enough control in my body to make pretty minute
changes in my battle stances, I can easily just pour fancy drinks.” He laughed
as he slid Cyril the drink and took a sip of his. “Thank you for telling me.”
“Ain’t
nothin’ ta write home about. Jus’ thought ya should know that it’s ‘appenin’.”
Cyril took a larger swig of his, letting out a small sigh. “Fuck, that’s good.”
“I
know how to make things that taste good. If you’re hungry, I can go fire up the
grill again. Also, I already got Onni as my best man, but if you want, you get
to be part of my groomsman or something.”
“Yeah.
Y’know what, I dun even gotta be yer best man. I’ll settle for fuckin’ that.”
“We’ve
got a few weeks to get it together. Also, if you see my dad trying to get
ANYTHING together for a ‘bachelor’s’ party? Stop it. Please.”
Cyril
chuckled darkly, unsure if he’d put a stop to it or be the flames for the
gasoline. Geo sighed and finished his drink off.
“It’s
good to see you back Cyril. I’m glad you didn’t die, as much as you thought it
needed to happen then.”
“Yeah,
well. I guess I’m pretty fuckin’ glad I didn’t get recycled into the beyond or
whatever the fuck ‘appens ta us spirits. Good news too. I’m pretty fuckin’
stable since my people found an’ fixed me. Ain’t ever gonna need yer or yer dad’s
body.”
“Good
to know. So is it our freaky blood that would allow you to bond with us? I’m
really curious. Does that mean we’re distant relatives? I seem to remember some
human girl in those memories… She was pretty fuckin’ bestial too. …Holy fuck if
you’re some sorta Gilgamesh was she an Endiku?!”
Cyril
turned a shade of crimson and polished off his drink. He was surprised that Geo even knew those words.
“So, it’s, ah. Gettin’ fuckin’ late. It’s been a fuckin’ long ass day an’ I’m gonna welcome a shower an’ a normal fuckin’ bed. Good seein’ ya Geo. Glad ya grew up ta be some sorta respectable guy.” Cyril left his glasses there as he moved out of the bar, leaving Geo to laugh and shake his head at the retreating form.
