Chapter Text
Mr. Egbert was a normal enough man with simple pleasures. He enjoyed fine tobacco, a mature scotch, and classic films. He didn’t consider himself refined, as such, but he was most certainly higher brow than most of the other people that lived around him - not that he really cared to pass judgement on others.
He certainly thought himself a little more classy than the other single fathers he had crossed paths with. He did not get drunk every night, he did not gamble and he most certainly did not traipse women into the family home at 3am. Again, he did not judge those men, he just thought that perhaps there were certain ways to act around young men, and exposing his son to such behaviour was not something he desired to do.
Ah, his son. His pride and glory. His little John. He supported his son in everything he did. He encouraged him to excel, without being too pushy. When John had taken a shine to harlequins, he had noted this and gone out of his way to purchase only the best ones for him. When he had decided to embrace his prankster nature, Mr. Egbert had gone along with the amateur pranks and given John time to evolve into his own pranking ways instead of enforcing his owns. Did it disappoint him that his son proffered to prank with baked goods rather than shaving cream? Perhaps a little, but at least this way, they were in completely different leagues.
However, when his son had brought home a new friend who had transferred, he couldn’t help but he slightly concerned. The boy wasn’t someone he thought John should hang around with. Hell, for a moment, he wasn’t sure why this new boy was actually talking to his son. He knew his John was hardly the most dapper of fellows and this new boy was... well, he was certainly a stylish young man.
He had been polite though, despite how rude the new boy was. He insisted on keeping his sunglasses on in the house, and even at the dinner table! And his language was as colourful as the harlequins he bought for John. That would not do. Thankfully, though, he had taught John better and his son knew better than to drop the ‘f’ bomb.
It soon became clear that the new boy was called Dave, and his shades were some kind of ironic gesture. That was what Dave said, anyway, and Mr. Egbert couldn’t help but wonder if the child even knew what that word meant. However, he had held his tongue. After all, teenage boys were impressionable and he had probably picked his behaviour up off the television or the internet.
Despite the fact he kept quiet about the boy’s behaviour in front of him, he did make a mental note to inform his parents upon their arrival to collect him. That would be the best route to take - a nice, neat, mature, indirect one. He wasn’t too fond of confrontation, after all, and he didn’t want John being upset at him because he had chastised his new friend.
So when the doorbell rang at 9pm (which was awfully late for a school night, but he didn’t want to embarrass John by pointing out that it was getting closer to his bedtime. One night would hardly do much harm), he had switched off his television and rushed to the door. He had thought out an entire speech. It was worded correctly as to not cause offense, but also worded strongly enough to get his point across. He was certain that Dave’s parents would be reasonable.
However, as he opened the door, all his words were lost. He was greeted by a cloud of cheap cigarette smoke, and once he had waved that from his face, his eyes fell upon a tall (no, a very tall) man. He could already tell that he was something to do with Dave, the sunglasses gave that away for certain. However, he was much too young to be a father, unless he had been very young at the time of conception. He would have guessed about thirty, which judging by Dave’s age, would have put him at the seventeen or eighteen mark... It was possible. Perhaps he just looked young for his age, after all, his attire threw Mr. Egbert off a little. A white polo shirt and black sweatpants? He would never been seen outside of his own bedroom in such a thing, let alone outside.
“Sup, I’m here for a dorky kid with sunglasses. Really fucking annoying?” The man said, taking another drag of his cigarette. “Sorry if he’s fucked your shit up, yo. I’ll give him an ass kicking later for it if you want but don’t go expecting no money from me cause I don’t got it.”
Mr. Egbert was in shock. It was now perfectly clear why Dave was the way he was. This man was clearly the kid’s role model, and not a very good one from what he could tell.
He didn’t even get a chance to speak before Dave pushed past him rudely and started walking down the path. He glanced at the older Strider and despite his shades, he could have sworn he saw a wink before he followed suit and disappeared.
And whilst the meeting may have been brief, it left a lasting impression on him.
“So what the fuck did you and Egderp get up to?” Bro asked as he started up his pickup, the engine grumbling to life, much like himself on a morning. He didn’t care to get it repaired though and he didn’t care to buy a new one. He had enough money to, it’s just, the irony of the shitty car was beautiful.
“Nothing much. The usual shit,” Dave mumbled, looking out of the window.
Nodding, he put all his attention back on the road. He didn’t care much for talking; not with kids anyway. It wasn’t that he lacked interest in Dave’s life, he just figured that if Dave wanted to go into detail, he would have. Since he didn’t, he either had nothing to say or wanted to keep it to himself and Bro was perfectly fine with that.
The silence remained until they were back at their home. It really had nothing on the previous place in Texas. It was so much larger than he was used to. He didn’t seem to have enough furniture to fill the place after he moved his own personal things into his own bedroom. The layout of the apartment wasn’t dissimilar. There was still an open plan space with a kitchen area as the main room, however, this time he and Dave both had their own rooms. The only thing he actually preferred about the place was the fact that the bathroom was much larger and he no longer tripped over the toilet when getting out of the shower. That was a definite plus.
And not to mention the fact the rent was cheaper. Much cheaper.
“So you want some fucking pizza, kid?” Bro asked, kicking off his shoes before he pulled out his phone, his finger hovering over the number 1. Pizza was always the first speed dial number.
“Nah, Egbert fed me up real good. Gave me meat and vegetables and all that kind of shit. I’m just going to go on my computer and edit some tunes,” Dave muttered, already at his own bedroom door.
“Right...” Bro said quietly, watching Dave. He went to speak, only before he even could, Dave had shut his door. Sighing heavily, he closed his phone. “Remember to do your homework,” he said in a louder voice, knowing full well that Dave probably already had his headphones on.
Trudging over to the fridge, he opened it, narrowly avoiding the swords that inevitably fell out, before he took hold of some left over Chinese and flashstepped into his own room, sitting on the edge of the bed with the tatty white box. He glanced over at Lil’ Cal, taking out the chopsticks jammed into the food. “Just me and you tonight, dude,” he muttered, looking down at the noodles. “You wanna watch Marley and Me?”