fighting chances

RUBEN LAURENT 

Age: 31 Birthday: December 1st Occupation: Staff @ Post Office / Bare Knuckle Fighter Born: Lockwood Springs Resides: Southside ✓   protective, caring, family-orientated ✗   confrontational, impulsive, brooding

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Yas chuckled when she heard Ru enter, watching him for a moment and his goofy awkwardness. It always seemed like he was holding back who he really was, but Yasemin didn’t think there’d ever be the right time to mention that. “If this is a good idea, I hope I never see one of your bad ones.” she laughed, sweeping up the rest of the glass carefully. “You can get a trash bag? That would help.” she smiled at him as she stood up with the dustpan and brush before realizing he’d not have a clue where anything was. “Oh, under the sink.” she pointed, a few shards of glass dropping out with the movement. “Shoot.” she mumbled, kneeling back down to sweep them up all over again. “So, you were just wandering Downtown without any of your things? Or…did your brother take them?” That didn’t seem very nice if he did.

“Oh I got plenty of bad ones, just you wait.” Ruben laughed and then turned away from Yas, dropping his smile because my God that sounded so fucking weird. She obviously knew he had no idea what he was looking for so he nodded a thanks when she directed him to the sink. “I meant like...my life. I make dumb choices.” Ru coughed as he made his return to her. Nope, still sounded weird. “This is cute, right? Domestic fifth date?” he laughed, prying open the bag so she could dump the glass in it. “Maybe without the stone...window thing.” Ru added and then sighed about his brother. “Yeah um, Nix is like that. He was banned from borrowing my car but talked me into it, and I said just come collect me when I was done at the fi...” Another cough. “At a friends house but he didn’t, and I was a dumbass and left all my shit in there because I thought he’d stick to his word.”

-

“Wasn’t paying attention,” Angel says too quickly, though it’s the absolute truth. If she had seen Ruben, and hopefully before he saw her, she would’ve turned right on her heels and went straight out the door instead of bumping into him. If there’s one thing she hates, it’s feeling guilty. It’s not a feeling that comes knocking very often. Usually, her wrongdoings roll off of her with indifference, so when a guilty conscience shows up at her door, the distaste she holds for it morphs into a misplaced anger. Angel can feel it now, the irritation starting to nip at her. She shouldn’t be here. She knows that. Ruben knows that, but fuck him anyway. “It’s a bowling alley. Didn’t realize it’s such an exclusive place to hang out,” She says, making a mocking point to look around Pins just as he had before returning her attention back to him. Sliding her hands down into her pockets, she shrugs. “I’m meeting a girl here,” Angel lies, tilting her head. “Real pretty. Maybe you’ve seen her around.”

In a weird way, Ru was on Angel and Finn’s side. Nixon was a pain in the fucking ass and that was an understatement but there was no rationality when it came to family, Ru was his big brother before anything else and a victim to his...shenanigans...second. Ru always thought Angel and Nix needed to stay the hell away from one another, but maybe not in the same way Finn believed. “Right...you know I’m not as dumb as Nix, right?” he laughed but there wasn’t anything funny about any of it. Angel and Nix could drag each other to Hell and back and just call it a fucking story to tell. “Angel, I don’t know what Nix might’ve said or convinced you about but just go home.” he wasn’t asking, it was an obvious demand. “One of you is gonna get killed, and if I remember right, that was almost you.”

emiraxtemel​:

Emira isn’t one to judge (openly) but she’s has no qualms about it now. Atlas is barking like crazy at something in the living room but her sister’s in her room so Emira goes to inspect and attempt to leash her overgrown dog. She walks in just in time to witness the window shattering. “Fuck!” Emira jumps as Atlas yelps and she stomps across the room, glass crunching underfoot to give whomever it was a piece of her mind. She feels justified in all the judgment she’s reserved for Ruben Gray when she leans out the window. “What the fuck, dude?” What an absolute idiot. “Yas, that guy’s here!” she calls over her shoulder to her sister (full well knowing his name) before turning and giving Ruben a scathing look. “You’re missing your fucking boom box.” And with that, she turns, ushering Atlas away from the room and mumbling a “be careful with the glass” to Yas as she passes her sister. When she exits the walk up and sees Ruben still there, she tugs Atlas away with a narrow-eyed gaze. “We’ll send you an invoice.” @yaseminxtemel​

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Her headphones could only cancel out so much noise so when she heard Atlas barking, her sister’s voice and shattering glass, Yas obviously rushed to see what was happening. “Oh my God.” she muttered, wanting to laugh at Emira’s scolding of the mysterious stone thrower.  She removed her headphones to get a better idea on what was going on, carefully walking to the window and peeping out at the same time as her sister. Noticing it was Ruben made Yas want to laugh. “Well, that wasn’t very cute.” she called back plainly, watching as Emira moved away. “I haven’t changed my number, you could have text.” Yas then said, because she’d had the same number since her first ever phone plan. “Wait, I’ll unlock it.” Yas said, not wanting to keep shouting because she had been blissful in her quietness for hours. She moved from the window to let Ru in, rolling her eyes at Emira as she passed. “I’ll clean that up.”

Leave it to Ru to forget Yas had a sister, an over protective one at that. He knew Emira well from the high school days and her and Danny Anderson’s relationship. He wasn’t friends with either of them and that was probably why he should have been nicer when he was younger. How was he supposed to know that Danny’s girlfriend had a beautiful sister? “Sorry...Emira. Left it at home.” he called up at her, hands on his hips as he wondered if he should even go inside. He laughed when Yas appeared, giving a small wave. “My phone is in the car too. Great, right?” he flapped his arms, before nodding and hearing the click of the door so he could come up. Seeing the damage from the inside of the apartment wasn’t much better and he grimaced while watching Yas clean. “Can I help?” he asked, taking a few timid steps closer. “I er...don’t think this was my best idea.”

“Deal.” Nixon finds everything funny, even more so when the person he’s with isn’t finding it as funny as he does. He’s the type of person to hold in bursts of laughter during serious or somber occasions, and even now as his brother continues to pad through a collection of miserable emotions, Nix is grinning. “You got the stocky build, I got the pretty boy face. I do just fine.” he slaps Ru’s cheek before he buckles up, clueless to the remorse he should show for the little accident that ruined his brother’s car. He shouldn’t have taken it in the first place but…needs must. “That wasn’t my fault. There was a dust storm, couldn’t see shit. I was fighting for my life, I coulda died.”

Ruben wasn’t dumb, he knew why people hated Nixon. It took all of his own strength to not wrangle his brother’s neck most of the time, but they were still family. “Pretty boy face? Is that what they’re calling it now?” Ruben hummed, grinning at his own comment as he started the drive to Nix’s work. “Dust storm.” Ruben repeated again, laughing while blinking because he couldn’t believe the balls his younger brother had sometimes. “So when you called me to say you had a bunch of guys trying to kill you and chasing you in their SUV, that was bullshit? Or, was the dust storm bullshit?” he asked pointedly. “Or there was a dust storm while they chased you? Fuck it, pink and purple aliens helped you find a payphone too.”

@yaseminxtemel​

Ruben should have known better than to finally agree for Nixon to take his car because now he was stranded. His house keys with his brother too and his wallet on the passenger seat because like a dumbass he trusted Nix would keep his word to get him from the fight. He had enough cash to get to Downtown but the walk to Southside was proving too much. It wasn’t weird to show up to the girl’s apartment that you went on a few dates with? Four now? Early days. But he remembered Yasemin saying she never answered to the buzzer, so Ruben, like a dumbass threw the first stone he picked up...a little bit too harshly as the window smashed upon impact. Just a perfect stone sized hole where the glass used to be. “Shit.” he stood there like an idiot, people watching in the street like they were witnessing the worst breaking and entering ever. “Yas, it’s me. I’m sorry, I was just trying to do...I don’t know, the cute shit they do in movies.” he called out, hoping she was home. “I’ll pay for that.”

“Is that a challenge?” Nixon looks to his brother with a smile before he quickly pays attention to his reflection again, rearranging the mess of his hair without much luck. He makes a little whistle noise and chuckles childishly. “Yas-e-min.” he repeats, amused and playful. “Temel, right? I remember her.” he angles his chin, and then scrunches his face up, finding it peculiar that this is the flesh prison he’s been given on this earth. Could be worse. He could be out of proportionally tall like Ruben, with a weird head. “No point liking her too much, she’ll hate you eventually.” Nix laughs, but the noise turns into a strangled garble as his brother pulls him away from the mirror. He still finds it amusing, laughing the whole way to the truck until he’s inside and sighs. “Oh, can I borrow this next weekend?” he asks, smoothing his hands over the dashboard. “This is way nicer than the other one but it’s kinda sad it got totaled.”

“It’s whatever you want.” Ruben replied with no enthusasim. His brother had only been back for a few short months and already he felt exhausted trying to help him. He was a lot worse than Ru remembered, but it wasn’t surprising. Whenever Nix did bother to call or text, often times his voice was slurring or all the messages looked in a different language. “Mhm.” was all he responded back about Yasemin, sighing when Nix’s lovely words of encouragement followed. “Thanks, and the girls just love you right back don’t they?” he messed up Nixon’s hair with a sharp ruffle before he pulled him out to the truck listening to his brother’s manic laughter fill the air. “No.” Ru said roughly, swatting away Nix’s hands from the console. “You mean sad that you totaled it? You know there’s a word for that, right? Like, sorry.”

; 

Yasemin listened closely as she nodded, wondering if that’s how Emira ever felt about being her big sister. Did she forget what she should be doing too? “Family is more important, though.” Yas shrugged simply, not checking her tone. “If Emira needed something I’d probably forget to text you. Actually I’d probably not come at all and just apologize afterwards. But then again, it’s only a second date. If something was more serious, maybe I’d text. Or, call. Relationships are strange like that. Because really, we’re the same people we would be if it was serious but just because we haven’t reached that title, the rules are different. It’s stupid, really. So many rules for things which change.” Yasemin rambled as she took the lead to try and pull Ruben towards the art that caught her eye while she was waiting for him. She laughed as she looked up at him and shook her head. “You don’t need to know anything about art to enjoy it, silly. You don’t even need to understand what the art is about to like it either.”

If it could ever be obvious that someone realized the person they were talking to was infinite times more intelligent, it would be the look Ruben had over his face as Yasemin talked. She seemed to effortlessly peer through a structure of the world, one admittedly he struggled with, and could never make sense of. Ruben couldn’t exactly have anything to add to something that blew his Southside mind, nodding softly as he stared at her in awe. “You’re...well, I...Jesus.” Good going, Ruben. Definitely an intellectual contribution. “Is that like how you see everything? As rules or like...patterns of things, I guess?” He still sounded like an idiot but Ruben’s question came from kind curiosity. “Wouldn’t knowing about it make you appreciate it more?” He needed to chill on the questions, Ruben could hear how he was beginning to sound like a lost puppy that was in awe of everything Yasemin said. So, he cleared his throat and gestured to some of the pieces. “Right now I just think the colors look good- which kind of doesn’t do the artists justice, right? They put meaning in stuff just for me to be like, oh that blue looks nice.”

-

“Heard you the first time.” Danny called back from the storage room. He was beginning to get sick of everybody’s shit, including his own. Which meant he took his job less seriously than he already did. He was hiding out in the back rooms, smoking what he should’ve been selling. He didn’t emerge until he was finished, opening the door with a cloud of smoke and red eyes. Fuck sakes, it was the Gray kid. He fucking hated Ruben, and it had been a dislike that lasted since high school. “You decided you needed to chill the fuck out for once?” he laughed slightly, clicking his tongue as he shook his head. “Don’t think they grow anything strong enough for your issues. What you want?”

There was no need to have a fight in a fucking dispensary of all places but Ru would be lying if he said he didn’t want to knock a few of Danny’s teeth out. Just complete the whole Southside look he had. “You always ask customers what they’re buying for? Didn’t think it was your business.” Ruben shot back simply, tapping his hand on the counter before pointing. “I don’t know what the fuck any of this shit is, it’s for Nix.” he admitted but it wasn’t a civil conversation. “So whatever the fuck makes a manic mentally twelve year old skinny shit bean calm down? Think you’d know about that?”

@danny--anderson​

Had his life come to this? Ruben wondered what else he could do to help Nixon stay on the straight and narrow. His last hope seemed to be encourage the least dangerous substance that his brother enjoyed, so here he was, trying to stock up on “gifts” thinking it would help. It’d actually help if someone was around to serve him, so Ruben sighed loudly and tapped the counter again as if it was a door. “Hello? Some of us have somewhere to be.” he announced. “There was no closed sign so someone has to be here.” he mumbled, losing his patience was more of Ruben’s addictive trait. 

“Alright, geez. I’m moving.” Nix groans from underneath a mountain of covers and strewn clothes from the previous night. One skinny leg pops out to begin with, a wiggle of toes as if he’s reminding himself he’s alive before the other leg follows and he slowly rolls from the bed. “They still on the phone? Because I got a few things to say. Tell ‘em, the pay sucks. And I hate them all. Even Brenda. She’s been there like five years and asks me shit all the time. Fuck Brenda.” he walks casually from his room, grabbing his uniform as he vanishes to the bathroom. “Who’s the date? I mean, it’s probably not worth telling me. She’ll get sick of you within the first hour.” his voice echoes as he showers because Nix assumes his brother is listening in to make sure he’s not hitching an extra kick to get him through a shift. “Oh shit yeah, sorry for making you late or whatever. We got those breakfast rolls?” he appears once more from the bathroom, grinning up at his big brother. “You good? You look…what’s the word. Apprehensive.”

Ruben let out a deep sigh, as if it derived straight from his soul. He waved the phone in his hand and shook his head. “Outta luck. Guess you have to say it to Brenda’s face.” he goaded, but that was a realistic possibility. In the two months of Nix coming home, Ruben had learned to keep an ear at the ready for any suspicious sniffing noises. Even implementing the no drugs in the house rule didn’t work, because Nix just used it all before coming back or stayed out all night instead. “Yasemin. Second date, and I actually like this one but hey, who cares.” he sighed again, following his brother around like a hired bodyguard. Or carer was more accurate. “Actually, the word you’re looking for is pissed off. Just get in the truck and get food on you’re break.” he huffed, grabbing his keys with one hand and Nixon’s jacket collar with the other.

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Yas could hear her sister’s voice telling her to just leave if someone didn’t have the decency to let her know they were running late. But Yas decided to be stubborn as she waited in the gallery, part of her wanting to tell Ruben to his face that he was rude because it felt better being honest and direct. As soon as she saw him, her eyebrow quirked and a less than impressed grin tweaked the corner of her mouth. She let him ramble before she laughed slightly. “You didn’t think texting to let me know was important enough. Don’t worry, it’s noted.” she said plainly, but Ru’s dramatic humour made her laugh again. “Well, according to you I already ignore you at work so it probably won’t be much different, hm?” she linked her arm through his suddenly. “You’re lucky it’s cold outside or I would have walked back home.”

Ruben should have been expecting the famous Yas directness that he found so endearing, but it still caught him off guard. “I can see why it looks that way.” he agreed with a heartfelt smile. “I’m sorry, genuinely. My brother is er...” How did anyone explain Nixon? Troubled was an understatement and selfish was too vague. “It’ll probably sound like an excuse but my brother does better when I’m keeping an eye on him. I get a little too wrapped up in making sure he’s good, I forget what I should be doing.” he admitted, because it felt easier to be direct and honest to someone like Yas. “Anyways, that’s the first time I’m glad the weather is so shitty.” he smiled, glancing down to their linked arms. “So, art was the winning choice. Do I get another strike against my name if I say I know nothing about art?”

@yaseminxtemel​

Not a great start to a second date. His dumbass of a brother was to blame, along with the way Ruben could never quite give Nix the right amount of tough love. As soon as he saw Yasemin, Ruben’s hands came together in a silent prayer as he approached her in the gallery. “I am so sorry.” he began, knowing that it certainly wasn’t acceptable to not shoot a heads up text. Maybe being a waste of space ran in the Gray bloodline. “I had to give my brother a ride ‘cause he was late and I just...” Didn’t think? That didn’t sound good. “I’m a jerk but I absolutely promise, I’ll make sure we have fun. Or, you can never talk to me again and we can ignore each other at work and it’ll be awkward but I’ll deserve it and I’d never complain, just quietly wonder what could’ve been for the rest of my life.”

@nixon-gray​

“Hello, you gonna wake the fuck up?” Ru knocked on Nix’s forehead like it was made of dense wood. Sometimes he thought it was. “Got the god damn manager on the phone. You’re late.” he said firmly, as soon as his brother opened his tired eyes. Just because Ruben wanted to see what was best for Nixon didn’t mean he was always soft about it. The last two weeks in particular he had it up to here. “Get up and dressed, I’ll drive you. Maybe you can say thanks for once and maybe sorry because I’m gonna be late for a date.”

;

Yasemin laughed as Ru neared the wall and she shrugged, not sure if he was being serious or not. “If you want to? Although, it doesn’t prove anything. Technically you’re a triangle because of your shoulders, and you can’t do a shoulder stand. I don’t think anybody can, unless they don’t have a head.” she rambled. “I’m not bullying you, am I?” Yasemin haltered because now she felt bad, and had no idea what she had said that could be rude. It happened a lot. “I’m sorry.” she then followed with quickly. Maybe she did need to explain herself clearly, or maybe Ruben would be someone who never understood. She listened as he explained how he felt in Paris, smiling slightly before finding the confidence to unguard herself slightly. “No, it makes perfect sense. It doesn’t sound crazy to me.” she said first. “I’m autistic. Which is different for everyone but for me I get really sensitive to sounds or…textures. And I struggle with indirect social contexts. I’ve got better at understanding with context clues, like it’s raining cats and dogs is about the weather and not a terrifying thing of actual dogs and cats. But I don’t understand why people feel the need to say that phrase when they could just say…it’s raining hard. Kind of like that.” Yas felt better already for opening up, but the scary part was if Ruben was going to treat her any differently. “You don’t need to be so dramatic.” she then teased him and laughed. “I’m happy to get to know you too, if you still want to. And if you promise to just…say it. I’m literally incapable of thinking it’s rude.” 

“Well, I regret ever asking about triangles now.” Ruben laughed, stepping away from the wall and sliding his hands into his pockets. The way Yas’ mind worked was truly a mystery to Ru, and he was sure he hadn’t met anybody like her before. Her apology made him laugh again kindly, shaking his head. “No hard feelings, don’t be sorry. I guess I walked into the jokes.” he smiled at her. Ruben wasn’t certain where the shift came from, but he listened as Yas began speaking. It was if several things fit into place in that moment and began making sense. “I don’t think I’m autistic but there’s a lot of things about the English language I struggle with. Probably because it’s not my first language, right? So, I also think they shouldn’t say things like raining cats and dogs. It sounds dumb. Plus, how would it ever rain cats and dogs? That’s animal cruelty.” Ruben laughed and flopped against the wall to lean on it. “Of course I still want to. Did you think I’d not just because you need things a little differently?” he raised a brow in question to her as he smiled. “I will be as direct as I can. Promise. Even if my stupid accent and brain makes me get the words mixed up.” Ru touched his chest in seriousness with his head bowing slightly. “So when this storm is finally over, do you wanna hit the roller rink and watch me fall on my ass? Seems like a perfect second date.”

; 

“Probably.” Yas laughed and didn’t notice the teasing tone, not even when Ruben replied about her triangle comment. “Really? I always thought skipping leg day was a joke people made.” she mused and pulled a face. “Not that it matters, I can’t really relate when people are obsessive about the gym. Besides, triangles are good shapes. There was a reason why the Egyptians used it for pyramids. It’s sturdy. Well, usually when the weight is distributed the other way.” She realized she was rambling but it always happened when she talked about Ancient Egypt. Yas went quiet for a moment but chuckled that Ruben didn’t like being around lots of people either. “They make less noise and I don’t have to really think about if they’re making mean jokes or not. Well, sometimes they make less noise. Atlas is loud even when he pants, it doesn’t usually bother me. It did earlier, but I was about to have…” Yasemin stopped herself and looked away, wishing she didn’t have to tell everybody she was autistic to better explain herself. She wasn’t ashamed but she just wanted it to be ‘something’ not…everything. Yasemin again didn’t pick up on the joke and furrowed her brows. “It was alphabetical, and there’s no one else who works there who’s names start with S, T, U, V, W or X so your name was above mine.” Yas stated, putting her hand on her hip because she thought Ruben was actually accusing her. “You can just ask me? And his name is Fox, he doesn’t really get pissed off about…anything. So I highly doubt that.” Yas paused because she realized Ruben was trying to hint for another date and she huffed, getting annoyed at the silly hints. “Ruben, I hate having to guess what you mean. Because I can tell that you mean something…so can you just say it?”

Ruben fell into laughter quite quickly, shaking his head at the sudden roast he was having to endure. All from a pretty face too. “I don’t skip leg day.” he said quietly but was laughing too much at Yas’ directness. “If I do a hand stand will that make you stop bullying me?” he pointed to a nearby wall, getting ready for the go ahead. “Then it’s distributed or whatever you said, and I’d be a pyramid since according to you I have spangly Great Dane legs.” Ru joked, looking at the dog and giving an apologetic raise of hand. “No offence, dude.” All jokes aside, Ruben tilted his head in interest as Yas talked more. He weirdly related to what she was trying to say. “Have what? Don’t you like crowds? Too much?” he asked, pointing to his ears. “When I lived in Paris I...tried to avoid the busiest areas but y’know. Cultural hot spot and city of love. Kind of hard to avoid. I always thought I could feel the noise in my head which sounds crazy.” It was from having to be on high alert, avoiding authorities and everything else so him and Ale didn’t get torn apart. Which happened anyways in the end. “That...is how the alphabet works.” he nodded, not able to argue with literal fact. “Fox that’s it. He seemed annoyed, I can probably guess why.” Ruben had a long way to go until he was comfortable enough to be direct, even if Yas seemed to thrive with it. “I’m not so good with words, Yas.” he admitted and shrugged. “I’m trying to ask you out again, maybe somewhere less chaotic. So we can talk because I’ve been trying to get to know you for a while. Is that...okay? Because sometimes, and this isn’t a dig, it feels like you don’t want to know me. Which is fine, you can tell me to get lost too. I’d only be a little bit sad. Maybe quit my job, move to Mexico and change my name.”