nexus_sages | (no subject)

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"Hey, uh . . . anyone here ever had to, you know . . . reconnect with anyone before?"

The question comes from a man seated at the edge of the forum. A heavy, fringed overcoat is draped over the back of the speaker's chair, and he's kicked his pair of dusty boots up on a nearby tabletop. Overall, it looks like the man would be more at home in the American west: he wears a bolo tie and bandana around his neck, embroidered denim shirt, heavy belt buckle holding up crossed gun holsters and reinforced jeans. The tanned, scarred skin of his face contrasts starkly with his shaggy white hair. At a glance, he appears to be (at least) in his late 40's, but his eyes have a youthful, fiery spark to them.

The gunslinger swings his boots down off the table so he can sit forward and pour himself another shot from a brown-bagged bottle.

"Family in particular?" He adds before taking a swig.

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Jesse's blue eyes flick up and down, taking stock of the sharp-dressed man, careful to note any sidearms. He looks nonplussed by the confident posture.

"Yeah. You come wandering back and they've made up some strange, wrong version of you in their head. Good or bad. Then you have to go about disappointing them ... or trying to plead your case." He snorts and swirls his drink around in the glass. He does this for a few beats before he returns his focus back to the officer.

"Parents and siblings? Did you have to patch things up with both?"

Katsuya shakes his head slowly, his gaze shifting down and to the side as he considers how to respond. Whatever happened, he's not exactly eager to think about.

"No. I never got the chance to reconnect with my father. But I've seen it before, on the job. I have...a younger brother though." It's still have, right? No past tenses Katsuya, he's gone--not dead.

"Who are you trying to find?"

"Ah yeah, sorry about your dad." He presses his lips together in a sympathetic frown. "At least you've got your brother? I never had any siblings, but I can see where they've gotta be great to have around, even if they can be a pain in the ass. They know your story."

Jesse runs a hand through his hair, fluffing it up even more. "Me? I'm approaching it from the other side. Trying to fit back in with my own kids. Life being crazy as it is, I don't want any regrets. Not for me or for them, you know?"

For a moment it's as though the floor has opened up under Katsuya. His stomach plummets. He doesn't want to think about Tatsuya. Not here, not now. It's easier to focus on the newcomer's situation.

"How old are your children?" The officer adjusts his tinted glasses in an attempt to hide his expression until he gets himself back under control. "Ah, apologies. I'm Katsuya Suou. If I'm going to pry into your business...I thought I ought to at least introduce myself."

Jesse picks up on the fact that the other man might be having a moment, and takes the hint to drop the sore subject.

"Jesiah Black," he says, offering a calloused hand for a shake. "A pleasure."

"My brats are seven and sixteen. The older one's pretty much a man grown, weird as it is to say. Even the younger one -- my daughter -- seems old beyond her years. They've both been through a lot. Way more than I had to deal with by their age."

Katsuya takes it. He has similar callouses to Mr. Black's on his hands--years of shooting and cleaning his firearm.

Ah, there was no getting around it, was there? They couldn't talk about family without...
"My brother and I have a similar age difference. I don't know their situation, Mr. Black, but believe me when I say that children are stronger than they look."

Katsuya gives a sort of nostalgic smile. "Even if we wished they wouldn't have to be." If his kids have seen half the things Katsuya knows his brother's seen, he can understand the concern Mr. Black must feel. Those so young shouldn't have to shoulder such a burden.

He cracks a half-smile. "That's some comfort. Sometimes I look at those two and I'm blown away by how well they handled everything. I'm damn proud of those kids."

"Shit, maybe I'm just overthinking this stuff?" He looks at Katsuya for confirmation. "Stupid, isn't it? How easy it is to be in, say, a goddamn gunfight and not so much as bat an eye, but when it comes to family, the stakes feel so much higher."

"My brother often brought a katana to those gunfights, and won." Katsuya shakes his head. "Having them along worries you constantly, every time they feel they have something to prove. But...it also lets you know they're alive. And a chance to see how capable they've become."

Katsuya isn't a parent, even though he's tried to be one for his younger brother. He can only shrug weakly.

"If your children are being distant toward you, you have to give them time. If they're not, then perhaps yo0u are overthinking it."

"Hah! Sword to a gun fight, huh? I've known some morons who happily did the same. Also won without hardly breaking a sweat, crazy bastards!" He slaps a palm on the table, making his glass jump.

"But yeah, you're right. Maybe just let the kids get used to the idea of having their pop around again. Can't force these things to mend."

Katsuya feels a twinge of comradery between the two of them. If he wasn't such a weepy drunk maybe he'd imbibe more often. Still, it tugs a smile onto his face.

"As long as you make it clear the door will always be open...they'll come when they're ready." Waiting was the difficult part. This much the officer knows all too well.

"Thanks, Kasu ... uh, Kat ... ? Sorry, I'm fucking awful with names." And the booze doesn't help. "Thanks for the perspective. Kinda weird talking to strangers about this personal shit, but sometimes you need an outside opinion."

"Katsuya. It's alright. Lots of people from the Nexus have had trouble with it."

At least Jesse was trying. The officer bristled at the nickname he'd gotten the last time he was in the Nexus. Butchered versions of his name were so preferable to Spanky. Or Pansy.

"Nothing to apologize for. I realize how...difficult reconnecting with family can be."

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