Uncharted hearts || Nathan Drake

St. Augustine Auction House Alternate Scene

       Nathan was struggling with his tie, trying and failing, to tie it correctly. " You still working on that tie?" My dad asked.  " I just can't figure out the length. I just keep making it all fat." I giggled. " Come here," I said, making him step towards me. I untied the mess he had made and began to tie it the way my dad had always taught me. " You know how to do this?"He asked. I nodded. " My dad was in the military, I could do this with one hand behind my back." I replied. " Yeah, dishonorable discharge right?" He asked.

       Once I was done it straightened out his tie, folding the top of his shirt over it. We exchanged a small smile and I turned toward my dad. " Hey, you did some homework, huh?"My dad asked, staring at Nathan. " Of course I did. I flew helicopters." He added, answering Nathan's question." I was preserving some artifacts from a museum in Baghdad. I was over the max load weight and crashed pretty hard. They got all upset and kicked me out. Bit of an overreaction but what are you gonna do?"

       " You say preserving, but you mean looting, right?" Nathan questioned. "Well if I didn't take 'em, someone else would've." My dad defended. " You asked for that." My dad said, holding the sheet metal cutters towards Nathan. " Thank you." He replied, stashing them inside his suit jacket. " And what's with the cat?" I asked. " Oh the cat? It's for your dad." I snorted at my dad's look of disbelief.

       " What?" My dad replied, still in shock. " Yeah, your life seemed super sad." Nathan quipped humorously. " No, no, no, I'm not gonna keep this thing. They're gonna shit all over my floor." He argued. I laughed following Nathan out the door.

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        " Hey, these people can tell a fake when they see one, all right?" Nathan looked towards my dad. " You have to believe the lie you're selling. You belong here. You're one of them." He finished. Nathan proceeded to pop a piece of gum in his mouth. " Or you can just go with the bubblicious. Jesus." I said with a scoff. " No this is Bubble Yum." Nathan replied. " Same thing. Here, put this in your ear." My dad interrupted, handing him an earpiece.

      
       " No way." Nathan said in amazement. " Hello? Hello?" I mentally facepalmed myself, looking at my dad with a where'd you find this kid? expression. " We can hear you." I interrupted. "We're sitting right next to you." He continued to loudly chew his gum, tapping the earpiece. " Oh shit, I think I pushed it in to far." He exclaimed. My dad gave him and exasperated look. " Is it okay?" Nathan asked. My dad ignored him, sliding out of the car. I quickly followed him. " Let's go bubble yum." I said with a smirk.

       " Oof," Nate remarked. " Look at that car. Bet that ain't cheap." My dad groaned quietly. " Shit. Santiago Moncada." I looked towards the man getting out of the car. " That means Liam is going to be here." I said with a sigh. " Like the House of Moncada?" Nathan asked. " Yeah." I answered. " He thinks the cross is his by birthright. If he buys it before we can grab it, you kiss that gold goodbye." I replied shortly. I walked through the doors, finding the entrances and exits I knew from the blueprints.

      
       We walked over to the bar, my dad and I still scanning the crowd. I heard Nathan say, " You know what, I'll have a martini." My dad scoffed. " A martini?" He questioned. " Yeah why not?" Nathan defended. " That'll go great with the bubble gum." He teased. " You should actually put the gum in the martini. You'd have a bubblegum martini." I rolled my eyes. " That's actually not a bad idea." Nathan remarked. " My god, this girl is totally flirting with me." He said. " Where?" My dad and I asked in unison. " There," Nathan replied, pointing at Braddock.

       " The woman with Moncada. Look she's flirting with me. Hi." He continued, waving at her. She blew a kiss in his direction. " It's not flirting, all right. Not with you." My dad said sternly. " That is Jo Braddock. You ever see her coming, you need to run the other way. I'm serious." I glared at Braddock before accidentally locking eyes with Liam. " She's coming this way now. Look." He quipped. "Shit!" I exclaimed. " Liam's coming with her."