∗ 49﹕ sender brings receiver [ coffee / tea ] in the morning . || ∗ 43﹕ sender kicks receiver’s shin beneath a table
whichever is easier for zack or balto! @villagerain
𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝑵𝑶𝑵𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑩𝑨𝑳 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑴𝑷𝑻𝑺 . | accepting.
"Mm," he grunted for the fifth time now, a pamphlet shielding his face from view. Propaganda against the company always made for an interesting read at the start of the day, especially the hastily reproduced kind. The rudimentary drawings, the crude language, calls to action that would certainly only end in bloodshed. A mug joins the table, the rich smell of hot coffee exciting the senses, leatherclad fingers blindly reach for the handle without so much as looking away. Grasping nothing but air. A sudden thud sends a splinter of ache through his shin. The paper manifesto crinkles subtly between his gloved fingerpads, the hand extended to the cup twitched.
A plain-faced look slowly unveils from behind the pamphlet, suggesting nothing of what was going through the mind of Rude as he finally, finally addresses his fellow Turk, seated across from him. Attempts to break his focus had gone unsuccessful, it was hardly a wonder that it resorted to kicking underneath the table to grab attention. Rude took the coffee, and assessed its contents with a single, neat little line dimpled between his exceptionally groomed eyebrows, a jingle of earrings as he bent closer. It appeared, from the outside, like an intense analysis. It isn't what's inside the mug that has turned him inward, just a bid for time to find the right words to expunge himself for the crime of being so ungrateful and uncommunicative. ( Unaware, perhaps, that by continuing this quiet consideration it was only prolonging the illusion of silent treatment. )
"Sorry," he says, having chosen to start there, giving a negligible gesture the usual morning libation. "And, thanks." As if in explanation, the pamphlet is slid over across the table. The front cover was scandalizing at even a glance, depicting the most public faces of the company in hyperbolic proportions, features exaggerated and their tongues atwist together. In private, when Rude had first seen it, it got a good chuckle out of him.