The Gunslinger & the Salaryman: A Love Story for the Ages

Chapter 5: Bonding

Rock continued his "training" with Filo any chance he got. Once he was a bit more adept at fighting, he and Filo would duke it out as well. Others in the warehouse would also give him pointers (for a fee of course), and there continued to be multiple bets on whether Scrawny (as he was still being called, although his physique was gradually improving) could hold his own for multiple rounds. Whether he won or not (but he was starting to win more and more), he would have celebratory drinks with Filo, Jimmy, and Rodel, the three becoming the closest he had to friends outside the Lagoon Company. The group would gradually talk about what led them to living in Roanapur.
     "So how does a fuckin' paper pusher end up playing smuggler on the asshole of the world?" asked Jimmy, downing his third drink.
     "That's a hell of a story," chuckled Rock. "Revy kidnapped me, hoping to get a ransom from the company I worked for. Only problem, my supervisor decided to declare me dead to cover up their shady dealings." After slight pause, Rock's brawl buddies burst out laughing; it was more or less the reaction he expected.
     "Holy shit!" exclaimed Jimmy. "And I thought gangsters were hash!"
     "Yeah, go figure," chuckled Rock. "How'd you guys end up here?"
     "I used to work at chop shops back in Chicago," replied Filo, in between chugging. "One day, I ran into some bad luck with the local pigs. Didn't have many options, no family really, and it woulda been my third strike, so I fled on whatever boat would get me the hell outta there."
     "Drugs," said Jimmy. "Pretty simple, really. Although, I wasn't exactly in trouble with the law at the time, I heard Roanapur was a more lucrative place to deal. Plus, the pigs here are way more lenient, so long as ya got the dough to pay 'em off."
     "Gun running," said Rodel, not bothering to elaborate.
     "So, looks like you win for most colorful reason for bein' here, Scrawny," chuckled Filo, patting rock hard on the back. "At least amongst this group of sorry sacks of shit!"

     "What's it like working with Two Hands?" asked Jimmy.
     "Gonna guess scary as shit," replied Rodel, thinking back to how she reacted to him hitting on her the other night.
     "Definitely wasn't perfect starting out," Rock answered with some embarrassment. "But, things slowly got better. We're partners now, we got each other's backs."
Before asking, Jimmy looked around the bar, checking to see if Revy was near. Just to be safer, he leaned in to whisper his question to Rock.
     "I hear rumors that you two are partners in more ways then one. Any truth to that, Scrawny?"
     The question caused Rock to spit his Bacardi up some. "What!? No!"
     Really?" asked Jimmy, with genuine surprise. "Workin' with a Chica that fine, I'd have trouble getting' anything done."
     "Don't forget that Chica is one of the most dangerous people in Roanapur," retorted Rodel.
     "Fair point," chuckled Jimmy. "But, you ever want to get with her, Scrawny?"
     "Of course not!" exclaimed Rock, blushing while answering. "We're just friends. She's not interested in me like that!"
     "Not interested in you, eh?" grinned Jimmy, emphasizing the "you" part. "The way you put it, sounds like you would like to be more than friends."
     "You want a broken jaw!?" exclaimed Rock, beet red now. The others just burst out laughing at his response.
     "No worries, Scrawny," chuckled Jimmy. "Just fuckin' around with ya. But, I won't lie, I'd be happy for ya if somethin' did happen between you two."
     "Really?" asked Rock.
     "Sure!" exclaimed Jimmy. "You're a good guy! One of the few decent fuckers in this shithole town!"
     "Can't argue with Jimmy on that one," chuckled Filo.

Sometime later, Revy was surprised to wake up on her own in her apartment. It was rare that Rock wasn't the one waking her up to drag her to the office for a job. She decided to go check out his apartment, seeing if maybe, for once, he overslept. But, he was nowhere to be found in his place.
     "Where the hell is that dumbass?" she asked to nobody. "Must be at the office already. Why the fuck didn't he wake me up? Guess he too distracted hangin' with those assholes from the warehouse."