A fruit basket sat on the floor between the twins. Laurel stared at it before finally speaking.
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“I guess it’s rude to regift something…”
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With a mouth full of pineapple slices, Yancey replied:
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“Exactly! That’s why I bought that one. I’m on my way upstairs right now. Wanna come?”
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“Yancey… we were told in very clear terms not to go up there.”
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“Better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission!”
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That statement earned Yancey a glare from his brother as he shook his head.
“I wish I had your confidence. At least take the tag off of it first ok… the anime girl is kinda tacky.”
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With a thumbs up, Yancey grabbed the basket and went upstairs to introduce himself to the landlord.
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As he knocked on the only door on this floor, he used his other hand to stash the tag into the pocket of his jacket.
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The door opened to a rail thin man towering over Yancey. He looked like he just came from an underground grunge band show with his Mohawk and heavy eyeliner. A shimmer of sliver caught Yancey’s eyes, leading him to notice a single dangling cross charm on a necklace.
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“What?”
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“Oh! This is you for you!”
Yancey pushed the basket towards the man while continuing to talk.
“Me and my brother just moved in downstairs and wanted to thank you since you’re the landlord!”
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He left the basket in Yancey’s hands, still glaring at the shorter man.
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“I ain’t your landlord. Didn’t whatshisface tell you not to come up ‘ere?”
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“He did! Multiple times.”
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“Kid, go home.”
He gave Yancey one last look before closing the door before stopping his eyes wide as it made contact with something in Yancey’s pocket.
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“Oi, what else you got there?”
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“Huh?” Yancey fished the tag out of his pocket. “Just this?”
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The man snatched the tag from his hand, a grin stretched across his face.
“You didn’t tell me, you had onena these! Come on in,”
He motioned for Yancey to follow him inside as he took a closer look at the tag.
“...I’ll get Desire for ya. They’re the landlord yeah. You can put that… anywhere. Don’t…. don’t touch anything.”
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He walked in. The place looked straight out of a period piece of the roaring 20s.
“Woah, your place is really cool…”
“It’s Desires, yeah.”
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He turned a corner and a few seconds later a ginger haired guy came into the room.
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“Hello there Yancey.”
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“Hi! You must be Desire right?”
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He nodded and Yancey saw the punk guy go into a room and inside he saw a multitude of figures, poster, and other merch featuring the character that had been on the tag.
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“So… thank you very much for letting us move in downstairs!”
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Desire cocked his head to the side as a silver cross earring on a chain briefly showed from through his fluffy hair.
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“There’s more than one of you?”
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“Oh! Yes, my brother Laurel! He moved in too.”
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An unreadable expression adorned Desire’s face as he spoke.
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“Good. I hope you enjoy your time there. There’s a Dropbox in the lobby, just put the rent in there.”
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Yancey nodded as Desire walked to the front door and opened it.
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“It was nice to meet you, Yancey. See you soon.”
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With a smile, he bounded out of the apartment nearby crashing into a girl.
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“Hey! Watch it man! Almost made me spill my coffee! It’s ONLY from Moondoe!”
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“Oh! Sorry!”
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He didn’t look too closely at the short girl, only noticing the cross painted across her shirt as he raced down the stairs with a wave.
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_____________
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After assuring Laurel multiple times, Yancey convinced him that everything was fine. Besides the landlord's strange name, he was a nice guy; besides who were Yancey and Laurel to judge anyone on their name?
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Together they headed over to the lounge where their new found boss waited for them.
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“Alright, so first things first. We have a dress code here. Laurel, you’ll need at least three suits. And Yancey,” he looked the blue haired twin up and down before continuing, “You’ll just need to switch out your shirt for now.”
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He walked out of the office motioning them to follow him. “So Yancey, ever served drinks before?”
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“Nope!”
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With a laugh he replied, “At least you’re honest. Alrighty we’ll have you learn today then a trial run tonight. This is the locker room, put your stuff, get a shirt, et cetera.”
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Looking around he didn’t seem to find who he was looking for. “I’ll take Laurel to get his suits fitted. Meanwhile, at the bar, go see Ashley. She’ll teach you ropes.”
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With a nod, Yancey went to get changed and Cobblepot left with the other twin.
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The shirt was a bit loose but once he tucked it into his pants he was fine. After adjusting his hair, he went to the bar where he was taught the ropes of bartending; though Ashley promised him that she would be there for half the night to help, after lunch that was.
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Laurel came back with a smile.
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“He’s such a nice man.”
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“Mr. Cobblepot?”
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“Hm. He bought me those suits.”
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“Well he wants you to look your best!”
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Laurel nodded and chuckled. Suddenly a man came in. On either side of him were members of the GCPD. Yancey called out to them with a cheery tone.
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“Welcome to the lounge!”
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“Where’s Cobblepot?”
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Yancey titled his head. Why were they looking for his boss? Surely nothing good…
“Oh? I think he was downstairs? Could you take them, Laurel?”
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The twins made eye contact and Laurel nodded.
“Of course. Gentlemen, please follow me.”
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Laurel took the three men down the stairs while Yancey quietly went to Cobblepots office. Where he was chatting with a man Yancey didn’t recognize.
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“Excuse me, Mr. Cobblepot, the police are looking for you.”
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Both men quickly turned their attention to Yancey.
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“And what did you tell them?”
“I thought you were downstairs and if Laurel would take them there.”
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He nodded. “Good. Alright. We have about 10 minutes max. They must be here about the Arkham breakout. Yancey, I think I will retire for the evening. Tell the officers that you misspoke and I went out to play poker with Mr. Napier this evening.”
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“Joker?”
“Worry not, they’ll know what you mean.”
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Yancey nodded and went back to the bar where he saw two patrons patiently waiting.
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“My apologies, I was called away; what can I get you?”
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The officers soon came back upstairs with a confused Laurel leading them.
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“He wasn’t there…”
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“Oh! Sorry, I thought of something while you all were away. He saw something about going to play some poker with a Mr. Napier?”
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The officers looked at each other, their jaws clenched while the center man handed him a card.
“Call me if you have any more information.”
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Yancey nodded while reading the name ‘Jim Gordon: Police Commissioner’ on the card.
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The three of them quickly left while the twins looked at each other. Laurel spoke up first.
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“Napier? Like Jon and Jack?”
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“I think so. He for sure knows Jack. I know that much…”
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Ashley came back and Laurel was told to start performing around 7 or so.
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An hour or three came and went and Yancey was getting better but it was a godsend that there was a drink list behind the counter. He didn’t think he could possibly know all these concoctions otherwise…
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He was bending down looking at the list since sweet Ashley had already left with a “the guy coming in is super nice. If you need any help please just ask him!”
After find out the ingredients for a Lynchburg, he stood back up and as he locked eyes with the man in front of him, his heart skipped a beat.
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It was Jon.
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His brown hair was nicely combed but he still looked tired. Much like Yancey, his shirt was a bit loose. He could feel the tears prick his eyes. He had to say something, anything to stop the tears.
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“Heya Jon. I missed you, so I decided to move out here, oh I brought Laurel with me. Doesn’t he sound great?”
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