Who: Marsh & Nobu. What: Making friends. Where: Las Vegas, then Lucky's. When: October 23rd. Ratings/Warnings: Low.
He’d gotten the call while he was still in bed, his dog Rudy barking at the ringing. He managed to make his way out of bed enough to grab his phone from the other room. “Hello?” He mumbled tiredly into the receiver. It was the boss man, the truck holding this week's shipment of liquor was in a small crash on the main strip and since Marsh had a truck could he go and get it please. Reluctantly he agreed and got dressed. When he got to the door Rudy was holding his leash like he always did first thing he woke up. Sighing he looked down at his dog and rolled his eyes.
“Come on Rudy, we’re going for a drive.” He grabbed the leash from his dog's mouth and led him to the truck. Most days he didn’t need a leash, Rudy had all but learned to stay close to Marsh with the occasional distraction getting in the way.
The drive there wasn’t a long one but the traffic was absurd. This is why he chose not to gamble and drink his problems in Vegas, too many damn people. Finally he made it to the truck, opening his passenger door to grab some sturdy gloves.
The dog ran out immediately up to a man who was on the shorter side, he’d say about a foot shorter than himself. “Rudy!!” He called after his dog so he’d leave the man alone.
Nobu had just gotten up from a long day’s nap and was pondering over food when he heard about a sidelined truck. Something was going on, something different, so of course he had to be right there to see what the fuss was about. He hovered around the area, watching from the sidelines as the irritated driver huffed and puffed about the situation. This proved amusing for a time but it wasn’t long before the young tanuki found himself bored of the grumbling man and seeming lack of activity going on. He was just about to leave when a pick-up came to a stop and its driver exited the vehicle. A new arrival! Well, then, perhaps he could stay a little while longer.
The opening of the truck’s doors encouraged Nobu to draw closer to inspect the contents. No food, alas (his poor stomach had hoped!), but there was a plethora of alcohol to be had. Considering a plan to procure a bottle or two, he didn’t notice the dog that had just escaped from its owner’s vehicle until it was nearly to him.
“Ah!” Nobu hopped away from the oncoming dog, startled. Where did he come from? The yell from the pick up answered that question. “Oh, uh, hi Rudy,” he greeted the dog with an awkward wave, letting him sniff him over.
Marsh finally made it up to his dog and clasped the leash on his collar. “Hey sorry bout that, I would say he ain’t normally like this but that’s a bold face lie.” He offered a small laugh at his joke even though it wasn’t really a joke at all. Still, Rudy was a good dog and he only misbehaved sometimes.
“Did he jump on you? Are you hurt?” I’m sorry he just gets so excited sometimes. He gave an exasperated sigh as he felt himself digging a hole much deeper than it was before.
His head turned to see the dog's owner headed his way with leash in hand. There was a curious limp in his step he was quick to observe. He always noticed those little details; they were the most interesting to explore.
Nobu offered the apologetic man a bright smile. "No, he is good. No harm," he reassured with a quick thumbs up. Thanks to the dog's little escapade, he was able to get a better look at the man he had been watching from afar. He was tall, but then it seemed everyone was these days, brown eyes and hair, tired looking.
"I'm Nobu," he announced, jutting his hand forward for the stranger to take. "Bit of a mess here, huh?" He added, indicating the motionless truck and driver near them. "I definitely do not want to be that guy. Did you come to pick up something?"
Since his momma would kill him if he ever forgot his manners, Marsh didn’t hesitate to shake the other man’s hand. “Marshall, my friends call me Marsh though.” He offered. Not many people chose to call him Marshall but it didn’t bother him none either way. Normally his limp wasn’t too bad but he also usually had more time in the morning to rest it before he was off running errands.
He looked behind him at the question. “Yeah, actually. My shipment for the bar I work at is in that truck so I came down to pick it up. Can’t go into the weekend without it.” People already got rowdy at bar when they were fully stocked, he couldn’t imagine how upset they would get if they weren’t.
Generally new people were off limits for Marsh when it came to reading their mind but the rush that he’d gotten when Rudy escaped let the floodgates open, if only momentarily. The thing was, Marsh couldn’t understand a damn bit of it. While the man may have been speaking English, the thoughts in his head were another language. Mandarin maybe, Japanese, he couldn’t tell for sure. A part of him could sense that there was a curiosity behind his thoughts but that was about all he knew.
It was refreshing in a way.
He visually perked up when told about Marsh's work. "Oh! You work at a bar? Cool! Where? Which one?" Bars, clubs, and other like venues were plentiful in the city of sin so Nobu could only speculate which one his new friend worked at. He didn't seem like someone from the casinos. Something smaller? Rough around the edges maybe? "Owner? Bartender? Both? None?"
So many questions came to him at once and his heartbeat hadn’t quite slowed down enough to block out the thoughts. Both were going simultaneously and Marsh had to pause for a moment to figure out what he’d actually just said. He took a deep breath and tried to center his concentration. Finally he picked out a few of the questions and began to answer them one by one. “I’m just a bartender, it’s called Lucky’s Saloon but we ain’t in Vegas. We’re in a town just outside of here called Searchlight.”
He thought he’d answered all the questions but he wasn’t quite sure. At least now he didn’t have all the interference. “Excuse me, I should put him in the car and get these boxes loaded.” He didn’t mean to end the conversation abruptly, Nobu had piqued his interest but he was on somewhat of a deadline. He grabbed the leash and pulled Rudy with him and opened the passenger side of his truck, watching as the dog obediently jumped into the car. At least with the door closed for a bit he could keep the dog from escaping again.
He walked up the truck driver, conversing with him before signing some papers. Marsh took a pair of work gloves from his pockets and ran a hand through his hair to keep it out of his face before slipping them on. There were several boxes but Marsh was efficient and brought the boxes to his truck bed two at a time. When he was finished he stuffed his gloves back into his pocket and made his way back to the man he’d just met.
“I want to apologize again for Rudy, he’s a social type and sometimes he just don’t care who he knocks down.” He wasn’t that big but if he ran fast enough it could surprise someone and cause them to lose their balance. “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” He asked, curious to know what was in his head but resisting the urge since he couldn’t damn well understand it anyway.
"Bartender. Lucky's. Searchlight. Got it." He summarized, head bopping up and down with each word. Yes, he looked like a bartender. But what was Lucky's Saloon and where the heck was Searchlight? Before he could ask, Marsh was excusing himself to help the driver load his cargo into the pick up.
Nobu contemplated offering to help but the two seemed to be handling it and who wanted to do extra work when they didn't need to? Certainly not him. So instead he wandered over to where Rudy was squirming around in the passenger seat.
"Your father's busy so I will pet you. You don't mind, do you?" He asked as he slowly stuck his hand through the window. Rudy's excited tail wag and wiggling to touch his hand gave him a solid answer.
Finally, the other men were done with their duty and Marsh approached him. "No worries, no worries. All is good and well," he declared, ruffling the top of the pooch's head before placing his hand back to his side. "But if you must, you could give me a ride to this Searchlight place you spoke of. Could use a change of scenery for a bit, yeah?"
The question had Marsh taken aback but he didn’t immediately feel put off by the request. While he couldn’t get a full read on Nobu he thought that perhaps that was better for him, putting himself outside of his comfort zone. “Yeah no problem, you don’t mind sitting next to Rudy, do you?” The dog was getting to a point where his training was showing but there was still some work to do.
Marsh slid into the driver's seat of the pickup truck and unlocked the door so that Nobu could get in. The truck was nothing special, a model from the early 2000’s but he had a few CDs in the changer that he enjoyed. Blue Orchid by the White Stripes came on and he turned the volume down.
"Of course not!" So far the pup hadn't proved himself to be a threat so Nobu didn't see a problem with it. Now if he was in his animal form he may have been more reluctant. But then he wouldn't be talking to Marsh in the first place - people had a tendency to be freaked out by an animal talking - so really it was a non-issue.
As soon as he heard the click, he hopped into the vehicle, gently pushing Rudy toward the middle as he did so. He wiggled slightly in his seat, growing excited at the prospect of a new place. "Oh White Stripes," he noted with approval. "Cool cool." Nobu was tempted to turn it back up but decided against it. The new guy was trapped in a car with him; perfect time to ask questions. He just hoped he didn't get dropped off in the middle of the desert because of it.
"Sooo what is this Searchlight like? Is it small? I bet it is small. Though a lot of places are small compared to Vegas. You like living there?"
When Nobu buckled up, Marsh took off though it was going to be a bit of struggle. He couldn’t turn in the traffic so he’d have to find a spot to do a u-turn before heading onto the road back to Searchlight. His appreciation for Marsh’s taste in music had him turn it back up a bit, but not too much that he couldn’t hear Nobu’s questions.
“It’s a sort of a small town but sort of a tourist destination. We get a lot of bikers who come through from all over the country, usually on their way to Vegas for some bike show or another.” He replied, navigating through the chaos that was downtown Las Vegas and when they finally made it passed the freeway he felt relieved.
“I do like it, moved there from Durango, Colorado about a year and a half ago.” As the next song started and they drove smoothly through the outskirts of Vegas, Marsh turned the question back on him.
“What about you? Where are you from and what brings you to Vegas?” Maybe he could solve that mystery about what language his thoughts were in.
"Me?" Nobu pointed to himself, seemingly surprised to be asked such a question. "Japan. Decided to check out other places. Love my home but you can only explore so much before you need a change." He'd been exploring his native country for decades now after all. "Vegas seemed like a good place. It is interesting. Lots of people coming and going."
His hand began to softly tap against his lap to the beat absentmindedly. "Why did you leave?" He asked, moving the conversation back to the object of his intrigue. "Durango," he clarified after a moment.
So he was right about the language, Japanese was something he only ever heard in movies and he needed subtitles for that. Nobu didn’t seem like he’d been old enough to have explored the whole of Japan in his life but sometimes people from that region looked much younger than they actually were so he wasn’t one to judge.
At Nobu’s question Marsh’s entire body tightened. This was a stranger and Marsh hadn’t even had the courage to talk about it with his friends. “I spent my whole life in Durango and I needed to just be somewhere else for a while. Not sure how old you are but I’m near 40 and I don’t want my mark on this world to be the man who couldn’t leave home.” It was difficult to leave his mother and sister behind but not any harder than it was to have to subject them to what he’d become.
Marsh’s body suddenly tensing up was not lost on him. As much as he said in response to the question it was obvious he was holding something back. It piqued Nobu’s curiosity even more but he was smart enough to know not to push the subject. Marsh was still feeling him out. It would take time for him to feel comfortable enough to reveal deeper information. That was okay, though. Nobu didn’t mind playing the long game.
“I understand that,” came his response. It was much of the same feelings he had all those years back when he finally left his little community for good. ”Home is good but change is better. No fun waiting around hoping something different happens. Too many things to experience to want to waste your life in the same place.” He flashed him a smile. “It is why I am here and never look back!”
It wasn’t long before they were turning the corner toward Lucky’s Saloon. Marsh wasn’t exactly sure where the other man wanted to go but this was his priority and he figured it was probably the most exciting place in Searchlight. “You ever miss your home?” He asked Nobu, finding himself a spot near the back door of the bar. Marsh missed Durango sometimes, the mountains and the trees, the sounds of the trains. There wasn’t anything left for him back there, not even his family.
“I miss the air in Colorado, there’s too much of it down here.” He took his keys out of the ignition and hopped out of his car. “This is where we land, is that alright?” There wasn’t much of anywhere else to go. He opened the latch on his flat bed and began to slide the boxes down off the truck bed.
A shrug. “Not really,” he confessed. Nobu had long since gotten past the homesickness phase and had many more years to go before the sentimentality that hit some in their older age took hold. “I was there for a loooong time and I guarantee when I do go back someday nothing will have changed. No, there is not anything there to really miss when you know it will be exactly the same no matter how many years pass and you were already sick of it all before leaving.”
The ignition was turned off, indicating this was their final destination before Marsh even said anything. “Looks alright to me!” Nobu hopped out of the car, leaving the door open so Rudy could jump down behind him. He took a minute or so to look over the building they had come to. Yep, that was indeed a building standing right there.
He slid over to where Marsh was beginning to unload. “Need help? Let me help.” He immediately grabbed a larger box and slid it off the truck and into his arms with ease. “Okay! Let’s go!” He stared out at the building once again, suddenly hit with a realization. “Where do we go?”
At Nobu’s help, Marsh felt himself a little surprised. The shorter man had removed the box full of heavy bottles of alcohol with ease. A chuckle ensued as he was suddenly confused on the destination. “Follow me.” He offered and grabbed open the back door. “Back room is straight ahead behind the bar there.” He pointed and stood against the door to let Nobu through.
It was close quarters, moving through the frame but the other man eventually got through and Marsh followed him, setting the stuff down in the back room. It took a couple of trips but eventually they finished. “Thank you.” He offered Nobu as he latched his truck again. “Dont suppose I could repay you with a drink?” He got a discount inside so it was the most economical option.
An ear-to-ear smile spread across Nobu’s face. “A drink would be just fine! Great even!” While it hadn’t been the main motivation for helping Marsh with unloading the cargo, the possibility of getting a drink out of it was definitely a factor in his decision. All that physical labor was not in vain! There was an obvious spring in his step as he led the way back to the back entrance and toward the bar. He sprung up onto one of the bar stools, practically twirling it a full rotation with the force, and turned himself toward the bar.
“What is on tap, my friend?” He asked, mimicking a typical (in his mind at least) regular at the bar. “Anything new? Surprise me!”
Marsh looked at the other patrons in the bar and at his coworker. With a shrug, Marsh found the bourbon he usually drank when he came here on an off day and set two glasses before him. He wasn’t wearing his work shirt so he might get away with at least pouring their own drinks behind the bar. He put a few cubes of ice in their glasses and filled them with the sweet amber liquid. “I hope you don’t mind bourbon.” He replied and came out from behind the bar to sit next to Nobu.
He lifted his glass toward the other man for a toast. “To leaving home.” He said and clinked his glass with Nobu’s before taking a ginger sip. He liked to taste the flavor notes. His face remained stoic as he tasted it on his tongue. “This here is aged bourbon, not much for beer usually though I won’t turn one down if offered. If you like for the next one you can sample one of the local brews.” They were good but Marsh had his preferences.
“I’ll drink just about anything,” Nobu replied with absolutely no shame. The tanuki definitely had his preferences but alcohol was alcohol and he enjoyed it in all its forms. “Kanpai!” He exclaimed as their glasses clinked together and, much to any true bourbon drinker’s horror, Nobu downed the cup in a single gulp. He let out a satisfied sigh, setting the ice filled cup down onto the counter with little ceremony. “That was really good!” He declared, turning to smile at his drinking buddy. His eyes fell to the barely touched tumblr of bourbon in the man’s hand and he suddenly let out an embarrassed chuckle. “Oh, it was to sip. Sorry sorry.”
He chuckled in his deep raspy way, probably from years of rolled cigarettes. “How you want to enjoy your alcohol is entirely your own choice. Who am I judge?” Besides it wasn’t even the worst way he’d seen some of the drunks in this place consume alcohol. Some of the more rowdy bikers did body shots off their women.
Marsh looked up to get Nikk’s attention and ordered the Ringer, one of their local brews and it was set in front of Nobu. “Out of the local ones, this one is my favorite.” He offered, figuring it might be easier for Nobu to sip his drink. Ordering himself one more glass of bourbon he finished the first clink his new glass against Nobu’s again. This time no toast.
“So how long you been here?” That could mean anything, when he left Japan, perhaps he’d gone other places before. It seemed like an innocent enough question and some folks surprised him with their answers.
“Here?” Nobu looked down at his bare wrist as if checking the time. “Oh, maybe about twenty minutes? Thirty?” He gave the man a cheeky smile. Of course he knew what Marsh actually meant but the opening was there and he just had to take it. He let out a short laugh before taking a sip of his newly acquired drink.
“A few months,” he answered. He appeared thoughtful for a moment as he considered the answer more carefully. Just how long had he been there? “Or something like that. Half a year? Over? Less than a year at least. Days merge together when you do not have a watch, I guess,” he joked, shrugging. The amount of time he had been around didn't concern him much. He leaned forward somewhat, taking a look at the watch on Marsh's wrist. “Maybe I should get something like what you have. Then maybe I would have a clue!”
Time was something he’d always taken seriously, it was all he could do to get into the college he wanted, get the career he’d always wanted. Nowadays it all seemed pointless. He showed up to the bar on time, but that’s all that time mattered anymore. Nobu’s bubbly nature was sort of refreshing to be around. It seemed sometime like even the most upbeat people around here still got moody from time to time. “Do you work?” He found himself asking. Not that he assumed he didn’t, he just wanted to know more about this stranger.
He tried his hardest to observe the behaviors he was exhibiting, that big part of him that still missed being a therapist.
Rudy was out back with a bowl of water, tied up to a post. He could hear the dog barking at a bird, and dammit if it didn’t make him smile.
Nobu shook his head. "No, no job. Not very good at those." Back in his early days of traveling he had attempted to hold a job a couple times but they never worked out. He had virtually no work ethic and grew bored of the schedules and cranky store owners quickly. "But I do magic," he added, answering the unasked question of how he sustained himself. "I get some money from that." He placed his hand palm up between them, flashing him a winning smile "Give me a coin. I'll show you a trick."
Marsh produced a quarter from his pocket and placed it into Nobu's hand. "Thank you kindly." The tanuki deftly rolled the coin from his palm to his fingers, pinching it between his thumb and forefinger, face of the coin pointed toward Marsh. "Now I am going to make this coin disappear," he announced before flicking it into the air and clapsing his fingers around it once the object hit his palm. A moment later he reopened his hand to show the coin to be missing.
"And it is gone." A simple sleight of hand trick, nothing difficult. It was this next part that required a little true magic. "But do not worry, I will bring it back in moments." He closed his hand again and waved his other hand over it theatrically. "And here it is!" He announced as his hand opened to find... a penny.
He feigned confusion. "Oh. Uh, no. That is not right. Okay. Let me try again." Hand closed once again. "Aaaand here it is!" A dime. He started to appear flustered. "Okay, one more time." Hand closed. Theatrical wave. "Aaaand-" A small pin of a cartoon tanuki with a leaf on his head. He stared down at the pin and let out an exasperated sigh.
"I do not think your Washington likes me much." He looked downright embarrassed. He held out the pin to Marsh. "Maybe you can try it. It might come back for you."
It was clear to Marsh that this was something Nobu had spent a lot of time practicing and perfecting an act like this. He smirked as the coin kept changing, small denominations growing larger until a small pin. His eyebrows raised as he inspected it more closely. “Is that a raccoon?” He asked, taking the pin into his left hand and closing it in his palm. He could feel the alcohol start to do it’s work, the liquid feeling taking over.
“You know when I was a kid I had a magic set. Thought I was Harry Houidini.” He remembered one or two of the tricks still but the rest had gone along with his interest.
"It is not a raccoon," he huffed in annoyance. "It is a tanuki. Ta-Nu-Ki. A superior species." He really needed to change the shape of the pin because this case of mistaken identity was getting downright obnoxious. A raccoon, bah! He let the annoyance pass, however, focusing on his audience instead.
Nobu smiled wide. "Did you? Cool! I never had one. They seem fun." He took a gulp of his drink, then added. "You should show me a trick sometime! I bet you are a natural."
The surprise he felt when Nobu corrected him was unexpected. He had never heard of the creature he was describing but it was obvious the other man felt it important for there to be a distinction. It didn’t seem as if he was too angry though so Marsh offered a small smile at his request. “Were there a pack of cards nearby that might be an option.” It wasn’t a difficult trick and it most likely wouldn’t impress someone who did it for a living but who was he to deny his new friend.
He ordered another drink for himself, the same amber bourbon he was used to. So, he might start to feel a real buzz soon but nothing too strong.
Marsh ordering another drink made Nobu aware that he was falling behind and he couldn’t have that. He proceeded to chug down the rest of his beer and indicated to the bartender he would like the same bourbon he had just poured for his drinking buddy.
“I am sure there are cards here somewhere.” He made a show of looking around the bar before turning back to him. “I’ll find some. But first, why not try a trick with the pin?” Nobu suggested, motioning toward Marsh’s closed hand.
Unsure of what was going to happen next, Marsh began to give Nobu back the pin when he realized it felt different in his hand. He looked down at his open palm and the pin was now the quarter he’d given him in the first place. A sincere smile came to his face. “Well I’ll be damned.” He replied.
And with a simple drop of an illusion his trick was complete. Nobu smiled proudly, pleased with the reaction. While it was more subdued than some he got while on the strip, he could tell his friend was impressed. "Told you you were a natural," he said with a wink, nudging Marsh's arm.
"Now about those cards." He dug into his various pockets in search of anything resembling a deck of cards on his person. "I know you are here..." Nobu let out a triumphant sound as he pulled his hand from his back pocket to reveal... nothing. He puffed his cheeks with frustration. "Now you see here," he admonished, seemingly talking to the air. "You come back here right now or so help me--" Suddenly, a stack of cards fell into his open hand. "Much better."
He handed the deck to Marsh, grinning. "Show me a trick?"
The amusement was clear in Marsh’s smirk, a mirth in his eyes that were unmistakable. Grabbing the pack from Nobu’s hand he looked inside and there was what appeared to be a full deck of cards. He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “ I’m ‘fraid I don’t have anything nearly as impressive as you but I’ll give it a go.” He slid the cards out of the pack and began to shuffle them. After he felt they were shuffled enough he fanned them out face down.
“Pick a card, any card.” He recalled the words like he was in his childhood again. Once Nobu had chosen it he spoke again. “Now look at the card and commit it to memory.” Once that had been accomplished he said. “Now place it back into the deck.” When the card was in his middle finger slid it down a little and he began to shuffle the cards, making sure that one always stayed on the bottom until the last shuffle where he placed it on top.
“Take the first card off the deck and tell me if that’s your card.”
Doing as he was commanded, Nobu flipped the top card to reveal the two of hearts that he had drawn at the beginning. "Yes! That was the card," he exclaimed in genuine awe. He could appreciate the skill that went into pulling off a good trick especially when done by someone not magically inclined like a tanuki. At least he assumed Marsh wasn't. It was hard to tell who did and didn't have magical abilities.
"Sugoi! Bravo!" He continued, clapping in appreciation of the performance. He picked up the glass he had briefly set on the table and lifted it up a toast. "A drink for a job well done!" He made sure not to chug it this time though his sip could barely be described as one. "You know. If you want, I can teach you other tricks. Be my, how do you say it, apprentice? It would be fun!"
Marsh wasn’t really interested in doing magic, no more than he was interested playing with a train set. It was kind of him to offer so Marsh took his time calculating a response. He took another sip of his drink, promising himself this was the last one. He had to get Rudy home and he wouldn’t feel safe to drive for much longer. “I appreciate the offer but my magic days are long behind me.” He offered a soft smile to show he appreciated the thought.
It was still early but the bar was starting to fill up, patrons making there way inside and over to the dozen or so tables they had set up. Soon enough it’d be too noisy to speak over. He didn’t mean for what he said next to come out the way it did but that self-destructive part of him couldn’t stop the tone. “It’s getting pretty late. Can I give you a ride home?” He asked Nobu, though late wasn’t exactly the word.
Marsh's rejection of being his apprentice was disappointing but he didn't let it get him down. “Well, if you ever feel like picking it up again let me know.” Nobu tucked his pack of cards into his back pocket. “Magic makes for good party tricks if nothing else.”
His brows rose when his companion mentioned the time. “Is it late?” He didn't think they had been at the bar long but then he wasn't the best at keeping track of time. Time wasn't something he paid a lot of attention to unless there was a specific reason. Still, he really did think it was still relatively early. Nobu craned his neck to peek at Marsh's watch, determining that his assumption was correct. “Your watch says differently,” he pointed out. But Nobu wasn't dense; he figured the other man was simply using the excuse to get out of his company. He shrugged. “But maybe it is. Who really knows what is late and what is early?”
Finishing off his drink, Nobu hopped off of the bar stool. He flashed the other man a smile. “No, I am good,” he replied with a shake of his head when asked if he wanted a ride home. “Still need to explore this Searchlight place before I wander back that way.”
Marsh nodded. “Well, sure was nice to meet you Nobu. I’ll be seeing you around.” Or maybe he wouldn’t, didn’t suppose many really decided to return when they had some place like Vegas to go to. With that he made his way to the parking lot through the back, grabbing Rudy with him as he did. He knew he should have stayed, he could easily leave his truck there and walk himself back but he couldn’t stop from telling himself it was a bad idea.
After he got Rudy inside the truck Marsh turned the key in his ignition only to hear the sound of it clicking. The damn starter had gone out and he dropped his head onto the wheel. Of course this was just his luck and now he more than wanted to drink. He pocketed his keys and grabbed Rudy, settling with the idea of taking him home first. He’d be good for a couple of hours at least and Marsh could call James in the morning.
After he’d gotten Rudy settled in his dog bed, Marsh made his way back to Lucky’s. He wasn’t sure if his new friend would still be there but it sure beat drinking by himself at home while he thought about the money he’d have to spend getting his car fixed.
“Keep em coming.” He said when he came in, not even bothering to discuss why he’d left and then came back.
Nobu waved the man goodbye, watching him exit toward the back. Now what? The tanuki pondered the question. Part of him wanted to follow Marsh but he decided it would be best to let the man be for now. He’d be staying in Searchlight for a bit so he was sure to meet him again. With that idea put to bed, he decided to move his focus to the other patrons that littered the bar. They seemed like interesting folk and, maybe, he’d get a drink or two. He was entertaining a table with his magic tricks when he noticed Marsh come back into the bar. His expression was a tell-tale of a sour mood. Excusing himself with a bow, Nobu wandered over to his returned friend. “You came back,” he noted, coming up beside him. He flashed him a smile. “Let me guess, my sparkling personality?” He chuckled, shaking his head some. It was very much not him that brought the guy back. “What changed your mind?”
When he heard the voice of the man he’d left not so long ago he turned around to face him sheepishly but felt a smile pull at his lips from the playful quip. He didn’t feel quite as guilty as he had when he first turned around. “Well, looks like the starter in my truck needs fixing and well, that’s an expense I wasn’t entirely prepared for.” Most of the money he’d saved was with his mother and sister and the meager earnings he got from Lucky’s was barely enough.
Still, his smile dropped as he said the next part. “I'm sorry about how I left. I ain’t really good at opening up sometimes.” It was something he recognized in himself a long time ago.
Nobu winced in solidarity of his friend’s plight. “Oof rough. Vehicles can be so annoying. Nice to use but not so nice to deal with when they break.” Not that he had any experience in that department. He had never owned a vehicle and likely never would. It was much easier to bum rides than deal with a bulky chunk of metal with a penchant for breaking down.
“No worries,” he assured with a smile, waving his hand dismissively. Marsh’s exit hadn’t bothered him much; he was used to people coming in and out of his life. Besides, he knew he’d eventually see him again, he just hadn’t realized it’d be so soon. “Just glad to see you back. What are you drinking? Bourbon?”
He chuckled a bit at himself. Just from one afternoon, early evening Nobu had his drink order down. “How’d you know?” He teased, feeling an ease to which he hadn’t felt before in the other man’s presence. There was something appealing about Nobu that he couldn’t put his finger on. A sort of carelessness that he wished he could feel himself.
“Guess I’m a little bit predictable.” He added, a smirk on his face as he took another long sip. “Would you like one?” He asked Nobu, not really minding putting the magician on his tab.
“My observational skills are on point, I guess,” he returned playfully with a shrug. Nobu climbed up onto the neighboring bar stool, spinning it one full rotation before stopping at the front of the bar. He loved these spinning chairs.
There was a dramatic pause, putting on a performance of reluctance. “Oh, I should not.” Immediately followed by, “Well, if you insist, how can I say no? That would be rude. Terribly so.”
The rest of the night went much of the same, drinking and talking, bringing Marsh right out of his mood. They finished off the night with Marsh calling Nobu a cab and his number so they could spend some time together at another time. He was glad he made it back, he might have missed out on something good.