"i said you're fired. did that guy tell you or not? or are you here to fucking finish me off?" he spits, ashes from his cigar raining down as he grabs the collar of the younger man in front of him, clenching the fabric tightly in his hand.
the other man lets out a defeated smile, not even attempting to put up a fight. knowing what he did wrong was one thing- but showing his face was clearly something a suicidal maniac would do. luckily, he could probably fall into that category.
"no, paulie. i'm not going to 'finish you off'." is all he can say before he feels a direct fist to his face, causing him to be released from his collar hold and collapse on the floor. he doesn't react, rather looks at the floor; avoiding eye-contact with the man above him.
lucci, blueno and kalifa had told him to come back- persisted he find a future doing something he enjoyed rather than being stuck working for the government after their betrayal. so, he had ended up coming back to galley-la company, the only place where he felt he could be human- felt like he could be kaku.
it obviously wasn't a good idea, coming back after betraying them all and damn near killing paulie and iceburg. before he could even enter the dock- a, very reasonably, livid paulie had pulled him aside, leading up the confrontation.
"is that seriously all you have to say to me? what the fuck is your problem, kaku? if you're not here to do it why the fuck did you show your face again?" paulie screams, pushing his arms against his sides and clenching his hands tightly.
and then kaku sees the tears. paulie never cries. so why now? why would he cry over something like this? kaku questions, looking up to see the man's face red with anger starting to flood with tears that drip onto kaku's legs.
"i don't want you to forgive me. i only came here to tell you i'm not working for the world government anymore. i quit. i wanted to be selfish and come here to see what had happened afterwards." he starts, voice quiet as he pushes himself up and turns, facing away from paulie.
"what fucking difference does it make? you still did all those things- and you come here expecting everyone- no, ME, to take your appearance lightly? it's a joke kaku. you're a fucking joke." paulie shouts, taking a step forward toward the other man.
kaku doesn't reply. he merely just turns around to face paulie, eyes blank and void of emotion. how stupid could he be, why did he think that he could just waltz into the dock- and become the galley-la company worker he was again? maybe his youngness was starting to shine.
"were your fucking words and actions of love to me a lie too?" paulie mutters, looking at kaku for answers- still feeling tears he's trying to hold back rolling down his face.
"no. i was genuine about those, paulie. i promise i'm not lying about that one thing. i did- truly- love you. if that makes you feel any better." kaku immediately shoots back, maintaining eye-contact with paulie.
"at least at the minimum you didn't lie about that- huh. whatever. just. go. if you really feel that fucking sorry go and beg iceburg for forgiveness- not me." paullie speaks, pushing past kaku as he proceeds to walk off- leaving kaku standing there, alone.
he can barely see paulie's back before he processes what had just happened. god. why the fuck did he think this would be a good idea? he was a fucking idiot. he sighs, sitting down on the pavement, looking at the mess of dock one.
he wishes he could go back to being the kaku 'mountain wind' he once was working with galley-la company. he wishes he could go back to making ships, sharing kisses with paulie and drinking until the sun rose.
it would be nice, he muses.
he goes to try and find iceburg anyways- maybe he could get some type of forgiveness. who knows. it wouldn't repair and give back the relationship between himself and paulie though.
that's what he really wanted the most.
