Heartstrings and Handcuffs [MxM]

Chapter 2

ii - How Unfortunate

The sounds of an ambulance siren jolted Ethan awake. He sat up abruptly, bundles of cash slipping off of him and falling off the edge of the bed, apparently he fell asleep covered in hundred dollar bills as his blanket. He glanced off to the side, clock reads ten minutes past twelve noon, he had missed breakfast. With a groan, Ethan fell back onto the bed, eyes searching for anything of interest in the ceiling.

Last night's fiasco was quite the memory. He doubled the cash he had, if not, close to tripling the amount. But who's hand was on his shoulders and what did that person want. Ethan tried to find the answers on every nook and cranny of the ceiling, but as he came up with nothing, he turned to the side. Perhaps some people were a little cranky about losing and wanted to take his winnings. Ethan definitely didn't want that, but the idea made him sat upright. He remembered the way to the Golden Nugget, there was an urge to come back and play more yet at the same time he doesn't want to run into trouble. It was conflicting. After he ran away, he found himself in a decent but slightly run down hotel just a couple blocks away, he could always comeback to the Golden Nugget and play a few rounds of blackjack but why was that the only thing in his mind. He could think about food, or perhaps figure a way to fake some ID, not that the latter was near possible. Ethan sighed and glanced at the cash around him, that's right, the cash. It wasn't endless, sooner or later it'll run out if he doesn't gamble. He wouldn't easily find a job without the proper papers, questionable ones, sure but he was already in trouble before he came to Vegas, why add more to the list. All this problematic thoughts made him groan and smack his forehead with a bundle of cash.

"I'm forgetting something.." Ethan muttered. Other than how great it feels to win big first thing after arriving in Vegas, something else happened last night. He bumped into a man. Ethan ran his tongue across his bottom lip as he tried his best to picture that scene. He bumped into a man dressed in black suits, and his eyes, he had odd eyes. Ethan remembered seeing a glimpse of green, a deep shade of green but only in one eye, his other eye was darker, almost like black.

"I think it's called something...a condition" Ethan hummed, tracing his fingers softly against his chin.

"Hematoma? No that doesn't sound right" Ethan shook his head. Why does it matter, whatever it's called by the end of the day it was something cool.

He began stuffing the cash that was all over the place back in his bag, though after sometime he realized it wasn't smart to just carry all of it around so he split it in a 30/70. Hiding thirty under the mattress of the bed and bringing seventy with him. Just as he was about to leave the room, he shoved the hotel keys in his pocket and felt something sharp nick at his fingers. He hissed and pulled his hand forcefully out of his pocket, taking whatever it was that cut him out. It bounced against the floor and rolled off under the bed. Confused, Ethan bent down and searched for it. It was small so it took him some time to find but the way it glinted made him spot it with ease. He gently picked it up and rolled it around his palm. His first thought was cufflinks by how small it was but upon closer inspection it seemed to be a brooch. It was silver, as small as a quarter but what made it interesting was the emblem resembling a skull key with rubies embedded on the skull's eyesockets. Ethan contemplated whether the rubies were real or fake but it looked pretty so he decided to keep it. After that whole thing, Ethan made his way down to the lobby, saluting the cranky old lady by the desk who rolled her eyes at him when he passed by. He went straigt to the exit, getting out of the building and into the main street whilst wondering what to get for lunch.

Even at daytime, Las Vegas was bustling, although incomparable to the nightlife it still held it's own beauty. If only Ethan wasn't an illegal immigrant running away from people he had debts with, he imagined himself fitting right in and even living here. On his walk, he passed by a few cafe's but it was already late for a mug of coffee so he strolled around some more. It didn't take him long to find a small restaurant serving Italian food. Ethan always wanted to try some authentic pasta, he's curious if there's really that much of a difference since italians seem to take their pasta making quite seriously. He took a seat and was handed a menu, a simple order of spaghetti carbonara and a tall glass of orange juice was his choice, not that he can recognize or even pronounce the other things on the menu. He waited for his order patiently, pretending to read the newspaper that he grabbed hanging by the rack in the entrance. Just as his order arrived, he put down the newspaper and thanked the waitress when something caught his eye. Ethan blinked once, wondering if he was seeing things, and then blinked again to confirm it. A man, sitting two tables across from him, had a similar brooch attached to the collar of his shirt, it looked exactly the same as the one in his pocket.