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[ailerons]

WELCOME TO THE SALTBURNT NETWORK

USERNAME:
seresin

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[ailerons]

[ Hello, good morning, hey u up... ]

Sure. We might.
In bocca al lupo, Koby

Looking to share recommendations?

[kobes]

gesudheit.

no, all my italy recs are shitty dive bars in the nasty parts of rome.
u take ani there i'll assassinate u

just curious.
i might be in italy too for a while.

[ailerons]

You'd have to catch me first.
Which might be hard, on account of your short legs

Interesting use of "a while", Special K.
Business or pleasure?

[kobes]

🖕🖕🖕 my legs are proportional, fuck u

dunno.
whatever you'd call "going into hiding", i guess.

[ailerons]

;)
I know a guy if you need new documents
Or a worse haircut.

Did she ask you to stay?

[kobes]

your barber does fake ids?
you really do know everyone, huh.





not here. later.
once you two have gotten the honeymoon sappiness out of your system.

[ailerons]

Javy does passports. My fake ID guy's a butcher.
What can I say, people just love to know me

[ A beat. It's one of those sentences that deserve a little more thoroughness. Everything that later. implies. Do you know what you're doing? How much trouble are you in? What are you bringing home?

Instead: ]

Sunday night dinners start at 6:30
Hope you like branzino.

And you should pack earplugs.

[kobes]

and none of them got just one job?
figures.
what's your cover story gonna be?
master thief and magician? sleight of hand bullshit?

[the beat weighs like a stone in koby's stomach, has him gnawing at the ragged edge of a thumbnail. and then -- effortless, accepting, unquestioning, and the stone's in his throat now and he fires back too fast:]

you can say no.
you can tell me to fuck off or
ask why the fuck i'm running NOW
ani didn't but you can.

[ailerons]

[ Ani didn't, but you can. That's his girl. There's only one question worth asking, anyway: ]

Are they going to be looking for you?

[kobes]

eventually. yeah.
to the ends of the earth, she told me once.

[you're mine, you'll always be mine, hands in his hair, voice in his ear. there's nowhere you can go that i won't find you.]

don't think she's actually THAT smart, but.
she'll be pissed off and have a lot of money, so.




like i said.
you can say no.

[ailerons]

You really think I'd stay married if I said no?

[ Facetious. Never one to let something hang in the air if there isn't a joke he can flash at the same time. As if that's all it would take, to sever Jake Seresin's grip on hard-won loyalty. Includes Koby too, now. Just not for the reasons everyone thinks it might. ]

I also have a guy for running away from people who want you worse than dead.
Relax. We'll take care of it.
Stick around as long as you want

[kobes]

yeah, i do, dumbass.
some shit's sacred. the way she talks about you is one of them.

[blunt, to the point, the way he never is -- because it's too important, because jake's the only one who'll do what must be done, if it comes to it.]

i don't want alvida knowing i'm with you.
so if it starts looking like she's catching on or getting close or something i'm disappearing.
and you gotta make sure ani doesn't try to find me.
okay?

[ailerons]

[ Torn between the glow of a phone screen and the cherry-red of his cigarette, Jake frowns down at both. Behind the closed balcony doors: rustled sheets, the slope of an outstretched calf. Jake glances over his shoulder through the panes of glass, expression small and quiet and heavy. Some shit's sacred, same way promises are. You don't make 'em if you don't plan on keeping them.

A long beat. Then, ]

She'll miss you, Koby.
You sure you want that?

[ Not a yes. Not a no, either. ]

[kobes]

no, i don't WANT that, dumbass 😤
what i want is for u to have to deal with me roasting your pancake skills every morning until i'm 40
and to steal ur wife for sleepovers in my room with the dogs and the fancy booze u get from who knows the fuck where

[veiled in sarcasm, the truth: koby wants that so badly it's like blood in his mouth, crushing his ribs, aching in it's impossibility. the kinda want that hurts, that can kill if you aren't careful.]

but i don't want alvida anywhere near you guys
i'd rather go back to working nights on my knees in nassau and barcelona like she wants me to
so if it comes to that

yeah.

[ailerons]

Says someone who's never had my pancakes
Or seen what I look like while I'm making these pancakes.

[ That yeah. is doing a lot of work. In the dark of the night, Jake thinks: Alone isn't such a good look on you, Koby. ]

I'm only going to tell you this once:
You're not going back to a life where you wake up scared shitless every day because you think you're being noble.
I told you. We'll take care of it.
That includes you.

[kobes]

smarmy and full of teeth.
it's like i'm there.

[a beat, a prickle:]

i'm not scared.
i've been doing this for a real long time, jake. longer than you wanna know.
and i'm not trying to be noble.
i care about maybe five people in the whole world and ani's one of them.
if you have to choose, i know who you're gonna choose.
and i'm telling you that's exactly what i want, if it comes to it.
that's all.



but if you don't gotta choose and you can take alvida's bitch ass out without getting caught, i wouldn't be mad.