"Nah, I'll drag Damian out of bed and take him out," Arie says with a wave of his hand as he leans back against his chair and settles to look at Ulysse levelly.
"So, now... How long am I going to have to wait for you to tell me what's going on with the Roadhouse?" he asks firmly. "We can dance around this topic but you'll hate it and I'll hate it. Lets just get it over with."
Ulysse sighs and looks back out along the terrace to the landscape outside. It's a typical lazy, quiet morning in the Keys, the ocean breeze making the palms sway a little, cars heard driving about somewhere in the distance. Hard to imagine the kind of chaos that erupts on a nightly basis in the same place, isn't it?
"There's nothing to tell," he insists softly. "It's the same as always. Anton or some of his 'friends' come by to cause trouble, disturb some of the customers, some fights break out, and then the night winds down and I close up shop."
"So, he's still causing some trouble," Arie notes with a small sigh. "Have you figured out what to do about it?"
Ulysse and his sordid affair with Anton is definitely something that grates with Arie. He never liked how Anton treated his brother. Not even when they were going out.
"The police aren't any help, I'm guessing," he muses.
"Sean tries where and when he can," he adds, almost to comfort Arie and to let him know he's not completely without help, here. "And some nights, Damian being around is enough to convince them not to start anything. But every so often, Anton finds some hot heads who don't know about the Sawalls."
He idly smooths his hand along his knee, feeling the texture of the denim under his fingers. He knows he needs to convince Arie somehow that things aren't getting completely out of hand, otherwise the protective idiot might do something extremely dumb like giving up his career to help Ulysse hold his ground, here, and that's unacceptable.
"I'm looking to hire a bouncer," he says eventually. "I found a promising one, recently, but convincing him is half the battle."
Arie's brow furrows as he considers the situation. He knows the cartels aren't something to play with and has no delusions that he could solve the situation for Ulysse. But he very much is considering staying, just because two pair of hands is better than one.
"A bouncer?" he asks, brows arching. "Someone's willing to do that when they know they'll be heading against Anton?" Unfortunately everyone else in this town also knows about the cartels.
"That's sweet. Do you need help with convincing them?" he asks. He doesn't ask if Ulysse needs the money, because he and Midnight also own a part of the Roadhouse and he already puts money into the bar's account without asking anything about it. Ulysse wouldn't take more even if he'd leave it under the man's pillow.
"It's... not the money that's the problem for this guy," Ulysse admits rather reluctantly.
He hesitates a moment longer, wondering just how much he should divulge of Rook's past, and then decides he should tell Arie as much on this matter as he can, given the brothers do have a joint investment in the bar, so technically, Rook would employed by all of them.
"His name's Rook Bishop and he used to be an MMA fighter. Have you heard of him?"
"I didn't say it was about money," Arie huffs. "I'm just saying I can help with other things as well. Not just money."
He gives Ulysse a hurt a look, then buries it into his coffee.
"MMA fighter? What does a dude like that have to do in Keys?" he asks with a frown. "I don't know, I've never watched that but I thought they were pretty popular in some circles." The kind of circles that care about sports, probably. Not Arie's thing at all... He'll admire the muscles but that's literally the only contribution he can give to watching sports.
Ulysse nudges his foot against Arie's in quiet apology for the small hurt, even if he doubts it really affected him at all.
As for the matter of Rook...
"He was working on construction at that resort going up by the beach," he answers vaguely at first, waving a hand over his shoulder to indicate how unimportant that detail is. "He retired from MMA after he had an accident in the ring. His opponent died from injuries."
Which presents the mixed benefit and negative of Rook being very capable of killing a man with his bare hands. Ulysse isn't fond of violence as they all know, but he recognises that to operate the Roadhouse with the Keys being as they are at the moment, it's a necessity.
Dark eyes flit to Arie's face and Ulysse continues, "I met him at the gas station the other night. Armed robbery. He took the guy down without anyone getting hurt- well, except the robber."
Ulysse doesn't answer right away, instead staring steadily back at Arie as he gauges how much to tell and how. Because yeah, it sounds a bit insane, doesn't it?
"It was an accident," Ulysse says at last. "I watched the fight and went over the court case, after. He's not a killer." He's been around plenty of those, unfortunately, and while he's seen Rook's capable, he can tell from the brief encounter with the man that he doesn't have the taste for killing. "The last thing I want is a trigger happy idiot for a bouncer. Rook is not that."
"Are you sure...?" Arie asks slowly, his brow furrowing worriedly. "I guess you've looked into it and you would know better, having talked with him. But be very careful, babe."
He doesn't think Ulysse is gullible or easily fooled. But it wouldn't be the first time when something slipped past the fingers of a careful man.
It wouldn't be the first time it had happened to Ulysse, either. But he'd like to think he's older, now, and more experienced with such things to the point he's harder to slip by. And besides, it's not even guaranteed that Rook will come to the bar. He could very well just leave town and never come back.
"I know," he reassures quietly, reaching out to give a gentle squeeze to Arie's knee. "If he comes by, you can meet him and feel him out, too."
"Yeah, I better," Arie murmurs as he grabs Ulysse's hand instead and squeezes it gently. "I wanna believe that this guy is the answer to all this unrest. But I'll be a little sceptical about it until I see it." He's just one guy, after all.
"Okay, that aside," he huffs a little, still holding onto Ulysse's hand because he can't get enough of reminding himself that he's close enough right now to touch his little brother. "How's life been?" Not that they don't talk almost every day over the phone but it's not the same as hanging out like this. "Still letting Sean bang you? You two gotta get off that horse and find some actually interesting partners."
Ulysse huffs with a faint smile and shakes his head as he sits back. Still, he lets Arie keep his hand, idly linking their fingers together as he answers, "We're still enjoying each other's company now and then, yes. It's convenient and comfortable."
And they've spoken in the past and agreed that should either of them ever feel otherwise or find themselves pursuing someone else, there would be no hard feelings.
"Let's discuss your love life. That's more interesting than mine," Ulysse counters. "Are you going to try working things out with Damian while you're here?"
"Convenient and comfortable?" Arie huffs. "You're incredible." But this comes with affection and squeeze to Ulysse's fingers.
"I'd rather see you madly in love and happy," he concludes with a small sigh but gives up on that line of conversation rather quickly. Ulysse has always been like this, uncomfortable with feelings that might mean he's losing some kind of control.
Not that Arie is much different himself.
He worries his lip between his teeth as Ulysse asks about Damian and something troubled slides into his gaze.
"I dunno," he admits. He doesn't pretend that there's nothing there when it's Ulysse asking. He never has. His brother is the only person aside from Damian, who knows Arie asked Damian to come with him to the tour. He's never mentioned it to anyone else but Ulysse knows all his secrets, even the ones Arie feels torn about.
"I don't know what he wants. I mean... sure, he has some feelings for me, I'm not blind. But I don't know if he wants anything more than..." Arie gestures vaguely. "You know, a wild ride in my bed."
Ulysse nods along to the explanation given and it probably helps Arie that he's not so fiercely optimistic the way their youngest brother is. He understands why Arie has his hangups with Damian, and why it's not so black and white. But he can also say what he's seen without feeling as though he should pretty things up unnecessarily.
"If he just wanted a wild ride, there's plenty others beds he can visit in town," he points out with a brief twitch of the lips. "I'd dare say wilder than you, even." So that's not all Damian's after, clearly.
"There is that," Arie murmurs, his brows furrowing in thought. "It's a... complicated thing," he admits, voice quiet and unusually awkward.
"If I'll pursue him, will he be happy?" he asks, looking at Ulysse, his brows twisting now with obvious sadness. "He doesn't want with me on the road. I could not ask him to wait for me. I don't want to be selfish, I want him to be happy..."
He cares about Damian, probably has always loved him ever since they were kids.
Ulysse shakes his head and reaches up with his empty hand to smooth back some of Arie's hair from his face, fingers gentle as they brush over the furrowed brow. "I can't say he'd be happy for sure," he begins, honest in a way he can only be with his brothers at this point. "But I can say I've never seen him more miserable than the day you left, and I haven't seen him happier than yesterday when he saw you here again. So, safe to say he cares for you a lot more than either of you seem to want to acknowledge."
Cocking his head to one side as he peers at Arie's face, he asks gently, "Would it be so bad to try settling with him...? He might not want to travel so much, but if you two are willing to try, maybe he could tag along with you for some of your tours, and you could come home in between. So even when you're doing long distance, it isn't for years at a time."
Arie leans his head into that touch like the affectionate cat he is and finally meets his brothers eyes. There are torn feelings there, obviously not certain about anything. He fucked things up in the past too, Ulysse has no monopoly on that. Arie made sure that this thing with Damian is a whole puzzle with so many levels and layers of hurt feelings and expectations that it's going to dizzy both of their heads before they're out of it. Even Ulysse would expect that Arie isn't going to take Damian's feelings into account and he's earned that by being an asshole on so many levels before.
"What if I'm just going to hurt him again?" Arie asks with a grimace. "I hate that. I hate that so much. I would punch myself if I could. And I kinda wish he would, I would deserve that."
"You wouldn't survive a punch from him, don't be ridiculous."
All jokes aside, he can see just how torn up Arie still is with the whole Damian situation. "That you're this worried just shows you still care quite a bit about him... That's not nothing," he points out. "I'm just saying, if you're going to be sticking around for a bit, it wouldn't hurt to just try talking to him, see what you might work out together... right?"
"Right..." Arie sighs, leaning back to rub both of his hands over his face, sunglasses knocked off his hair while he does so and has to catch them before they drop to the ground.
"Right, right... I'll figure it out," he continues before giving Ulysse a smile that says he's still confused about it but he'll try not to feel sorry for himself too much.
"Nah," Arie replies as he throws the rest of his cup towards his mouth and then starts to climb up from his chair. "I'll go wake up Damian, I'm pretty sure he'll want coffee though. Will you be free to have breakfast with us?"
He would promise that they aren't going to make Ulysse wait for them but he isn't quite sure if that's a promise he can keep so...
Ulysse smiles and pauses to glance back at his brother, commenting, "I would have thought you would have preferred to eat together upstairs, just the two of you...?"
"... Is that..." Arie pauses, considering this option that seems like it should be too good to be true. He feels a little ashamed for some reason, like he shouldn't be indulging in all this.
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"So, now... How long am I going to have to wait for you to tell me what's going on with the Roadhouse?" he asks firmly. "We can dance around this topic but you'll hate it and I'll hate it. Lets just get it over with."
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Ulysse sighs and looks back out along the terrace to the landscape outside. It's a typical lazy, quiet morning in the Keys, the ocean breeze making the palms sway a little, cars heard driving about somewhere in the distance. Hard to imagine the kind of chaos that erupts on a nightly basis in the same place, isn't it?
"There's nothing to tell," he insists softly. "It's the same as always. Anton or some of his 'friends' come by to cause trouble, disturb some of the customers, some fights break out, and then the night winds down and I close up shop."
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Ulysse and his sordid affair with Anton is definitely something that grates with Arie. He never liked how Anton treated his brother. Not even when they were going out.
"The police aren't any help, I'm guessing," he muses.
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"No."
They never were, though, were they?
"Sean tries where and when he can," he adds, almost to comfort Arie and to let him know he's not completely without help, here. "And some nights, Damian being around is enough to convince them not to start anything. But every so often, Anton finds some hot heads who don't know about the Sawalls."
He idly smooths his hand along his knee, feeling the texture of the denim under his fingers. He knows he needs to convince Arie somehow that things aren't getting completely out of hand, otherwise the protective idiot might do something extremely dumb like giving up his career to help Ulysse hold his ground, here, and that's unacceptable.
"I'm looking to hire a bouncer," he says eventually. "I found a promising one, recently, but convincing him is half the battle."
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"A bouncer?" he asks, brows arching. "Someone's willing to do that when they know they'll be heading against Anton?" Unfortunately everyone else in this town also knows about the cartels.
"That's sweet. Do you need help with convincing them?" he asks. He doesn't ask if Ulysse needs the money, because he and Midnight also own a part of the Roadhouse and he already puts money into the bar's account without asking anything about it. Ulysse wouldn't take more even if he'd leave it under the man's pillow.
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"It's... not the money that's the problem for this guy," Ulysse admits rather reluctantly.
He hesitates a moment longer, wondering just how much he should divulge of Rook's past, and then decides he should tell Arie as much on this matter as he can, given the brothers do have a joint investment in the bar, so technically, Rook would employed by all of them.
"His name's Rook Bishop and he used to be an MMA fighter. Have you heard of him?"
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He gives Ulysse a hurt a look, then buries it into his coffee.
"MMA fighter? What does a dude like that have to do in Keys?" he asks with a frown. "I don't know, I've never watched that but I thought they were pretty popular in some circles." The kind of circles that care about sports, probably. Not Arie's thing at all... He'll admire the muscles but that's literally the only contribution he can give to watching sports.
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Ulysse nudges his foot against Arie's in quiet apology for the small hurt, even if he doubts it really affected him at all.
As for the matter of Rook...
"He was working on construction at that resort going up by the beach," he answers vaguely at first, waving a hand over his shoulder to indicate how unimportant that detail is. "He retired from MMA after he had an accident in the ring. His opponent died from injuries."
Which presents the mixed benefit and negative of Rook being very capable of killing a man with his bare hands. Ulysse isn't fond of violence as they all know, but he recognises that to operate the Roadhouse with the Keys being as they are at the moment, it's a necessity.
Dark eyes flit to Arie's face and Ulysse continues, "I met him at the gas station the other night. Armed robbery. He took the guy down without anyone getting hurt- well, except the robber."
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His eyes are a little wide as he studies Ulysse.
"Are you sure you want someone like that working at the bar?"
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Ulysse doesn't answer right away, instead staring steadily back at Arie as he gauges how much to tell and how. Because yeah, it sounds a bit insane, doesn't it?
"It was an accident," Ulysse says at last. "I watched the fight and went over the court case, after. He's not a killer." He's been around plenty of those, unfortunately, and while he's seen Rook's capable, he can tell from the brief encounter with the man that he doesn't have the taste for killing. "The last thing I want is a trigger happy idiot for a bouncer. Rook is not that."
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He doesn't think Ulysse is gullible or easily fooled. But it wouldn't be the first time when something slipped past the fingers of a careful man.
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It wouldn't be the first time it had happened to Ulysse, either. But he'd like to think he's older, now, and more experienced with such things to the point he's harder to slip by. And besides, it's not even guaranteed that Rook will come to the bar. He could very well just leave town and never come back.
"I know," he reassures quietly, reaching out to give a gentle squeeze to Arie's knee. "If he comes by, you can meet him and feel him out, too."
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"Okay, that aside," he huffs a little, still holding onto Ulysse's hand because he can't get enough of reminding himself that he's close enough right now to touch his little brother. "How's life been?" Not that they don't talk almost every day over the phone but it's not the same as hanging out like this. "Still letting Sean bang you? You two gotta get off that horse and find some actually interesting partners."
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Ulysse huffs with a faint smile and shakes his head as he sits back. Still, he lets Arie keep his hand, idly linking their fingers together as he answers, "We're still enjoying each other's company now and then, yes. It's convenient and comfortable."
And they've spoken in the past and agreed that should either of them ever feel otherwise or find themselves pursuing someone else, there would be no hard feelings.
"Let's discuss your love life. That's more interesting than mine," Ulysse counters. "Are you going to try working things out with Damian while you're here?"
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"I'd rather see you madly in love and happy," he concludes with a small sigh but gives up on that line of conversation rather quickly. Ulysse has always been like this, uncomfortable with feelings that might mean he's losing some kind of control.
Not that Arie is much different himself.
He worries his lip between his teeth as Ulysse asks about Damian and something troubled slides into his gaze.
"I dunno," he admits. He doesn't pretend that there's nothing there when it's Ulysse asking. He never has. His brother is the only person aside from Damian, who knows Arie asked Damian to come with him to the tour. He's never mentioned it to anyone else but Ulysse knows all his secrets, even the ones Arie feels torn about.
"I don't know what he wants. I mean... sure, he has some feelings for me, I'm not blind. But I don't know if he wants anything more than..." Arie gestures vaguely. "You know, a wild ride in my bed."
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Ulysse nods along to the explanation given and it probably helps Arie that he's not so fiercely optimistic the way their youngest brother is. He understands why Arie has his hangups with Damian, and why it's not so black and white. But he can also say what he's seen without feeling as though he should pretty things up unnecessarily.
"If he just wanted a wild ride, there's plenty others beds he can visit in town," he points out with a brief twitch of the lips. "I'd dare say wilder than you, even." So that's not all Damian's after, clearly.
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"If I'll pursue him, will he be happy?" he asks, looking at Ulysse, his brows twisting now with obvious sadness. "He doesn't want with me on the road. I could not ask him to wait for me. I don't want to be selfish, I want him to be happy..."
He cares about Damian, probably has always loved him ever since they were kids.
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Ulysse shakes his head and reaches up with his empty hand to smooth back some of Arie's hair from his face, fingers gentle as they brush over the furrowed brow. "I can't say he'd be happy for sure," he begins, honest in a way he can only be with his brothers at this point. "But I can say I've never seen him more miserable than the day you left, and I haven't seen him happier than yesterday when he saw you here again. So, safe to say he cares for you a lot more than either of you seem to want to acknowledge."
Cocking his head to one side as he peers at Arie's face, he asks gently, "Would it be so bad to try settling with him...? He might not want to travel so much, but if you two are willing to try, maybe he could tag along with you for some of your tours, and you could come home in between. So even when you're doing long distance, it isn't for years at a time."
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"What if I'm just going to hurt him again?" Arie asks with a grimace. "I hate that. I hate that so much. I would punch myself if I could. And I kinda wish he would, I would deserve that."
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"You wouldn't survive a punch from him, don't be ridiculous."
All jokes aside, he can see just how torn up Arie still is with the whole Damian situation. "That you're this worried just shows you still care quite a bit about him... That's not nothing," he points out. "I'm just saying, if you're going to be sticking around for a bit, it wouldn't hurt to just try talking to him, see what you might work out together... right?"
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"Right, right... I'll figure it out," he continues before giving Ulysse a smile that says he's still confused about it but he'll try not to feel sorry for himself too much.
"We have bigger fish to fry, right?"
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"I do, yes," Ulysse corrects with a faint, wry smile. He gets up to fetch the fallen glasses, setting them on the table between them.
"I'm getting some more coffee," he says as he passes by Arie. "Should I get you one?"
Is he doing this to prevent Arie from talking to him about the struggles of the bar? Maybe. Is he still going to get that coffee, though? Absolutely.
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He would promise that they aren't going to make Ulysse wait for them but he isn't quite sure if that's a promise he can keep so...
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Ulysse smiles and pauses to glance back at his brother, commenting, "I would have thought you would have preferred to eat together upstairs, just the two of you...?"
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"You don't mind?" he asks quietly.
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