pti | New Year Party at the Safehouse

Entry tags:

New Year Party at the Safehouse

On the West Coast, it's not quite New Year yet, but Locke is hanging out at the Safe House with a few packs of Kirin Beer and hanging out. It's not the biggest deal for him, but it's kind of fun to watch the fireworks go off and this way he doesn't have to dodge drunks who might run him over or worse, compel him to punch the shit out of them. Right now he's pretty much drinking and watching football. If anyone asks, he's totally old enough and Shinji clearly doesn't give a shit.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

With the climate of racism out there right now, Yuuri doesn't feel that safe even in his apartment in Little Tokyo. He's not normally one for parties, but this place is relatively calm and there's food to go along with a quiet corner if he needs to have a panic attack or something.

So he fills a plate with snacks, grabs a can of Kirin, and plants himself into whatever seat isn't too close to other people. Now and then he sets the can on the closest flat surface so he can rub his left knee. Between physical therapy and grocery shopping, he definitely overdid it. Even the brace isn't helping as much as it usually does and that puts him in a somewhat sour mood.

From the TV, the announcer yells "TOUCHDOWN!"

From the couch nearby, Locke explodes.

"BULLSHIT! THAT WAS BULLSHIT! WASN'T THAT BULLSHIT!?"

I think he means you, Yuuri.

Yuuri almost jumps, almost spills his beer, definitely fires Locke a withering look.

"I don't know, I never paid attention to American football. Wrong sport for me."

Surely most people here recognize him, he's been on TV enough times. Lucky him. At least no one's asked him how his knee feels, he's grumpy enough as it is.

"Did you have any trouble on the way here?"

Locke settles back down.

"Define 'trouble', I've been personally maced by at least a quarter of the cops in this area."

"For what? I mean, did you really deserve it?"

Every group has at least one troublemaker, and Yuuri's pretty sure Locke is the guy. But still, he can act like he's surprised.

"And I meant what happened with the UCLA students. I'm not Korean but I'm still Asian, and I've already been jumped once. Don't really want it happening again."

"Exercising my right to freely assemble and redress grievances with the state, mostly. What happened with the students? I hadn't heard, been watching sports all night."

"Unless you were throwing crap at the cops, they shouldn't have maced you."

Yuuri sighs. "From what I heard? Two Korean students were jumped by a bunch of white guys wearing UCLA gear. Told them to go back where they came from, that they didn't belong here, that kind of thing. The usual alt-right ranting, you know? People in Little Tokyo are getting twitchy, they're waiting for these morons to march in and start smashing heads, especially tonight when everybody's getting drunk."

That definitely got Locke's attention. He sits up a bit straighter.

"No shit? And here I was hoping to have a night off. That's not good at all."

He purses his lips.

"I mean, we can probably get a counter-demonstration together but those punks will be long-gone by then. They're pretty cowardly so they only attack when they think they have cover. Must've been feeling brave tonight."

"Like I said, I blame the alcohol. At least I just get ridiculous when I'm wasted, not nasty. So I'm not going out there unless I'm in a huge group. I'm not white, I've got a huge target on me with those assholes running around."

Yuuri doesn't often swear, he's definitely on edge tonight. He's scowling around the lip of his beer can as he takes a sip.

"Don't blame you. Gonna sit out the night here then? We're pretty secure."

"Yeah, I'm not even that comfortable with taking an Uber back to my place right now. I carry my evening meds in case of emergencies and I can always crash on the couch or something."

"Couch? Nah, none of that shit, Shinji's got a bunch of rooms set up for just this reason. I'll get you set up. If he doesn't have space, you're welcome to crash at my place. We're not far and I've got some ways to assure people won't fuck with us."

He stands up and hold's out his hand.

"Name's Locke by the way. Colin Locke, call me Locke."

Yuuri's been assimilated into American culture long enough to get handshakes, though he still has the instinct to bow thanks to his parents drilling it into him from toddlerhood. He takes Locke's hand, his grip not too flimsy or firm.

"Yuuri Katsuki. Just Yuuri's fine." Because they don't do honorifics here either and there's so many first names being thrown around everywhere, he might as well do as the Romans-- er, Americans do.

"Nice to meet you Yuuri. You grow up in Japan?"

Sorry Yuuri, you don't come off as American.

"Born there, I moved here when I was four. My parents are still pretty traditional, so a lot of the habits stick. And we go back to visit family sometimes, and if we're there long enough I come back here with a stronger accent."

He makes a bit of a sour face, only for a moment. "Of course, because I'm technically an immigrant, that makes me even more of a target for those jerks out there. Not that they're checking for green cards or anything."

"Really even looking a bit ethnic is enough for those trash sacks. I knew someone who spoke English better than most of 'em but because she was Hispanic she was the one who should 'leave the country'."

"You look pretty white and your name sounds Anglo-Saxon. Unless they catch you sticking up for people like me, you should be okay."

"I'm mixed, actually, but yeah. Trust me, they won't fuck with me and I will stick up for folks like you."

Locke digs into his pocket and pulls out a black bandana. "When I'm wearing this those cowards go running."

"A bandana? Are you in a gang or something?"

That would definitely be another way to avoid trouble. Being a celebrity would help too, but Yuuri knows he's not that well-known and figure skating is considered less than manly by some.

"Kinda. I run with the antifa sometimes. We're good at scaring off Nazis."

"... maybe you could help me grab some of my stuff from my place during the daytime. I don't know if it's safe to go back there until this whole thing blows over. But I don't know how long I can stay here, either. I mean, I still have a life, I can't hide forever."

"Sure, happy to help. Here."

Locke pulls out his smartphone, a Samsung by the look of it.

"What's your number? I'll text you so you can have mine and you can shoot me a text if you need some help. If I'm available, I will, or possibly send a friend if it's urgent and I'm not."

Yuuri takes out his iPhone, bringing up his number at the top of the Contacts list and showing it to Locke. It's always easier to just show it to people, no risk of him accidentally transposing numbers that way.

"Thanks, Locke. I know it's asking a lot of somebody I just met, but if I can return the favor somehow...."

Locke takes down the number and sends Yuuri a brief text.

"No problem. I accept payment in all forms of food."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

New Year Party at the Safehouse

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject