[PRP] Blindsided

[BlackFireKitsune]

For whatever reason, his employer had cut several employees and had therefore necessitating an increase of hours for everyone else. Abel didn't mind too much - it meant more money, after all, which he really needed so he'd be able to pay his bills - but sometimes it lead to long days and longer weeks, leaving him little time to do much else apart from what he deemed important. It also meant he didn't end up paying much attention to the news or the goings-on in the city or in Kodo in general, or a lot of other things for that matter. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, though; they'd be going back to more normal schedules within a couple weeks, he'd been told, as they were going to hire another one or two other people. Why they'd fired some then turn around and hire others didn't make much sense to him, but either way he'd be glad to have at least a little more free time to get back into things. For now, though, his week had been long, his day had been long, and he was tired. All he wanted to do was relax and unwind.

It was with these intentions that he'd entered the bar that evening, immediately moving to order himself a drink - something a little stronger than usual - and, with drink in hand, he turned and ambled towards the opposite wall to find somewhere to sit and relax.  

[TawnyAngel]

Hanging around the apartment was boring but having been away from Kodo for a while there was some sorting out with returning to his job to do, so without that hectic, stressful, wonderful drain on his time he was at a bit of a loss. It was probably for the best though given he needed to figure out little things like depth perception.

Also unfamiliar self-consciousness.

All the dressings were gone now other than than a square covering his eye socket and... well the effect wasn't pretty. Livid red scars littered the right side of his face. He was used to drawing second glances or stares just by virtue of being huge and having impressive hair but this was a bit different. It wasn't that he regretted how it had all come about but he... well he just wasn't used to it yet, that was all.

To take his mind off things he had decided to go out to one of the bars he had frequented before disappearing, maybe run into some of the other regulars. With this vague idea in mind he stepped inside and headed up towards the bar itself, pondering what to get to drink. About half way there however he ran into something on his right side.

Startling backwards he turned his head and looked down to see who he'd hit, golden eye wide. "Agh, I'm sorry! I didn't see you there!" Aaaaand there was another issue he was going to have to get on top of. Crap.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

One moment he'd inwardly picked out a table and was in the process of walking towards it, and the next moment his drink was flying out of his hand and he stumbled sideways as someone practically rammed into him. The glass clattered to the floor and thankfully didn't break, but his newly purchased beer had been strewn all across the floor. He'd been too relaxed, he hadn't been paying attention, but he was fully alert now - and fully disappointed at the fact he hadn't even had a single sip of his drink yet.

The stranger's words hardly a moment later drew his attention to the man - up to the man, rather - and Abel couldn't help the startled expression that formed on his face at both his height and the appearance of one half of his face. Well, given what side of this man he'd been on, it was a little obvious why he hadn't seen him. "Nah, it's alright," he assured him, raising his hands palm-up in a lazy shrug, "don't worry about it. I should've paid attention more, anyway." He didn't know much about scars or injuries, but he was pretty sure, given the medical-looking bandage across his eye and how red the marks on his face were, that was something that happened pretty recently.  

[TawnyAngel]

Spotting the glass, mercifully in one piece, Dith stooped to pick it up. "No, no, my fault," he insisted in deep accented tones to the stranger with a shake of his head. "I should be being more careful. Here! I'll get you another one of whatever it was. Ah, Dimitry," he extended a massive hand for shaking before adding; "Most people call me Dith, or Dima though. Hi, and sorry again. You're okay other than drinkless?"

He really was going to have to be more careful, he could pretty easily damage somebody or knock them over without meaning to. Maybe he should get Zla to always hang around on that side to warn him if he was about to blunder into an innocent bystander.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

What accent was that? Not one he could easily place, but dismissing the thought he hesitated as the large man bent to pick up the glass before he could, and an employee moved over to start mopping up the spilled beer. "You really don't have to, it's fine," he continued to insist as he turned to look up at him, though the man was already continuing and seemed to be - to him, anyway - quite flustered about it. Pushing a smile to his face despite his fatigue, the blonde reached up to grab his company's hand to give it a firm shake. "Abel," he offered in response, inserting a little humor into his tone, "just Abel; it's kind of too short to shorten it any more than that. Nice to meet you, Dith."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Heh," Dith grinned, "I am sure there is some culture where spilling drink when you meet is good luck. And I insist, I should have been more careful. Anyway, nice to meet you as well Abel. Sorry it involved the loss of your drink." At least the guy wasn't hurt, upset or angry; none of those would have been fun.

Turning back towards the bar Dith gestured to it, looking around carefully before putting Abel on his blind side so the young man would negotiate around any people in the way and at worst bump into him lightly.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"There probably is something like that somewhere," he agreed with an amused smile. Maybe Russian? "Alright, if you insist - and don't worry about it, really." Lucky for Dith, Abel wasn't quick to anger, nor was he easy to knock down and/or trample given his own height; though on the taller side, he wasn't nearly as tall as Dith was.

When the larger man started walking, Abel did too - he didn't notice he'd been strategically placed on one side - and tapped on the bar counter once they arrived so he could get the bartender's attention and order what he'd gotten previously. Once that was finished, he inclined his head up towards Dith, unable to keep himself from folding his arms atop the counter to lean on it as he did so. "So what brings you out here tonight?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"I won't worry then friend, but I will get you the drink!"

After a moment of deliberation at the bar Dith opted for a Cosmopolitan. He was aware that he looked rather silly with a delicate martini glass in his hand but things like that had never bothered him, nor had or did the 'girly' nature of the cocktail. He liked them and so he drank them and oddly enough people seldom tittered at him. He had no idea why that could be(!)

As he waited for the cocktail Dith half perched on a convenient bar stool and looked down at Abel with a little grin. "Honestly? Boredom. I have been spending far too much time cooped up at home. Before that I was away from Kodo for a while so I have sort of lost touch with my favorite places to come out, I thought it would be good to make sure everything is as I remember it!" The Cosmo arrived and Dith paid for both drinks, taking a sip of his own before adding; "And you?" Most people came out to bars in pairs or larger groups but there didn't seem to be anyone with Abel. Maybe he was waiting for somebody?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He was grateful to have his drink replaced, especially by someone so friendly, he thought as he, too, took a seat on one of the convenient stools, though still leaned his arms on the counter. With a soft "thanks" to the bartender when his drink was in hand, he turned to lift it up a bit towards Dith meaningfully, "And thank you, too." That said, he took a careful sip of it since it was so full and he didn't want to spill any of this one. Spilling his entire last one had been bad enough.

"Long day at work," he replied in response to Dith's question once he'd lowered his glass, both of his elbows still resting on the counter. "Honestly, it's been a long week at work. I wanted to come out and grab a few beers and just relax." So saying, he took another sip before peering up at Dith with his colorful eyes, "Where were you while you weren't in Kodo, if you don't mind my asking?"  

[TawnyAngel]

Abel's reason gleaned a sympathetic grin and a nod from Dith. "That sounds like a very good idea on your part, I'd do the same." Often with other people staggering off shift at the same time as him though and so while they got away from work they inevitably ended up 'talking shop' to some degree. He really needed more non-work friends who were old enough to drink. Drink legally that was.

"Back home," he went on with a nod, pausing to sip his drink before adding; "Well back to where my family lives - I suppose my home is here now - but the accent is a red herring on that score, my family lives in the UK; England." Wow, Abel certainly did have pretty eyes! That was a thought Dith kept to himself though as men tended to get a bit weirded out when complimented on their looks by other men. Why could girls do it freely but men couldn't? Eh, culture!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel couldn't think of anyone who wouldn't want to go out for a round of drinks after a long week of work, so Dith's agreement elicited a wry grin before he took another sip of his drink. "Sounded like the best idea ever at the time," he offered. And even though he lost his first drink... "I still think it was a pretty damn good idea." He couldn't very well complain about losing a drink when it had been readily replaced by what appeared to be rather good company, as far as he could tell so far.

"Back home, huh?" He echoed, swirling his drink idly in his glass before downing another sip. This was just what he needed. England - duh, of course. Man, he must've been way more tired than he thought. "That sounds awesome. 'Fraid I'm not from anywhere near as cool as that," he admitted with a shrug. Sinnoh wasn't anything special, in his opinion, and the small farm town he'd grown up in was hardly anything to brag about. Castelia in Unova, on the other hand, seemed much more impressive, though that hardly counted too, he figured, since he'd only been there a couple years. Not that he voiced any of those thoughts - he didn't want to push any information about himself that wasn't asked for. Not yet, anyway; he hadn't even finished his first drink yet!  

[TawnyAngel]

Dith grinned and raised his cocktail in agreement. "Back home-ish," he nodded, "but it's not where I'm from. I was born in Russian, moved to England when I was eighteen. And I'm sure I'd think where you're from is interesting," Dith shrugged expressively. "Nobody ever thinks that their homeland is cool or at least most people don't. You're familiar with it, da? So other places seem more exotic and interesting, the interesting things about your own homeland don't occur so much because you're so used to them. If that makes sense?" It made sense to him anyway.