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Elmo watches the mysterious gentleman flicker from place to place, frowning and leaning forward like he's not sure what he's seeing. But the man is clearly gone. Probably? Maybe. He slumps forward on the table, face in hands. "This has been the weirdest day," he groans.
*
Eshu disappears, and Kai lets his head fall back as he growls quietly in frustration. Then he says, "It's like being back home. 'We know better, H— Kai. We're all wise, Kai. You just need to learn to be just like us, Kai." He points to Kai with his cigarette. "Good riddance. I've met gods. They're tedious." And he was the normal one just a moment ago? "Don't let someone who thinks they're above you tell you who you are. Especially when they think they already know."
*
Elmo tilts his head to squint at Kai from the cradle of his arms. "You…met gods? Like Thor? Really?" He considers that. "How'd that happen?" He looks tired, big dark circles under dark eyes. "Are other gods less creepy?"
*
Kai sighs and says, "Not Thor, not personally." He chain lights another cigarette. He considers a moment, then says, "Some less, some more." He sighs a long plume of smoke. He looks Elmo over, eyes narrowing as he thinks. "I'm not from here," he tells him. "But if I told you what I am, you'd think I'm weird, or worse, you'll start telling people. So just… Just let me be Kai from England."
*
Elmo grins a little. "Tateleh, I can't think you're any weirder." The grin fades. Maybe he's taking this seriously. He sits up, pulling his googles off so he can finger-comb his hair, which is in somewhat of a state after all the action. "Yeah," he says, quieter. "Okay. You're Kai from England. I'm Elmo from the Lower East Side. That's who we are."
*
Kai smiles slowly and says, "Thank you. Good. See, I knew you were hip." He sighs, relaxing as his agitation fades. "Different philosophies," he says, "which is fine, but live and let live." He takes another drag from his cigarette, this one more relaxed. "I'm allergic to dogma," he explains. "My grandmother had no skill teaching it, my parents no place. I've been a rolling stone all my life, I got no time to gather moss now."
*
Elmo puts his goggles back on, fitting them over his eyes, then pushing them back to the top of his head—motions he's made thousands of times. "Hate it too," he says quietly, glancing over his shoulder without knowing it, like he's seeing who might be listening. "Get arrested just once, everything's over."
*
Kai's brows lift. He leans closer, too. "You've been arrested?" he says in a low, delighted tone, eyes wide. Forget his brush with painful reminders of unresolved issues; this is the good stuff. "What did you get done for?" Admiration ratchets up a titch in Kai's regard.
*
Elmo smirks bitterly. "Same thing I did to that putz." He jerks a thumb back over his shoulder. "Only with somethin' extra. Got me on assault. Just juvie, but—" he shrugs. "Bad enough."
*
Kai shakes his head and says, "But Elmo, what about the lesson?" Then he cracks up. Still, he shakes his head and says, "You shouldn't hurt people any more than you have to. How did you do that, anyway?" He gesture down the street a bit and says, "I need to change before work. Want to come get high first?"
*
Elmo pulls a really impressive grimace. "He was right, though. You're right too. I shouldn'ta done that. Butbut" his big hands clench into fists. "How'm I supposed to let him just go on and call someone else a faggot? Someone who can't do what I can?" He looks up at Kai, his expression craving answer, before he controls it. "I'll fall asleep if I do," he replies. "You mind?"
*
"I think you did the stopping with the first thing," Kai points out. "Which was self-defense, man. No one can say it wasn't. Besides, I don't think you probably kick very hard." He gets to his feet and stabs out his cigarette. Coffee is paid for, and he nods toward his tenement. "Sure, you can crash at my place." As he heads that way, he tells Elmo, "I ask myself that all the time, though. What can I do so they won't do it again? The answer is short of taking a life, you can't. It's always up to them."
*
Elmo trails along, snorts half a laugh. "Not that much," he says, about how hard he can kick. He catches up with Kai, giving him a very thoughtful look. "Yeah. Guess so. You can't make anybody do anything, can you?"
*
Kai shrugs and shakes his head. "No, not really. I can make them think they see things." He flicks his hand and something scurries in Elmo's peripheral vision. Maybe a rat? It's not a great neighborhood. Should he look, there's nothing there. "But I can't control what they do about it."
*
Elmo does glance, with the hypervigilance of someone accustomed to watching his six. "Huh," he says, turning back to give Kai a narrow look, but his promise that Kai is just from England demands he pretend nothing is amiss. And to be honest, it's not a hard feat. Just another peripheral flicker in a city full of in-your-face madness. Kai's just from England.
*
Kai steps into the tenement and makes his way upstairs. "That's what it's like," he says, "in a safe and sane world. A trick here, a shtick there, but at the end of the day, we get to be the ones who tell our minds what to do." When he gets to his flat and lets them both in, he spies a couple dollars on the kitchen table. He goes to pocket them and glance out the open window. Then he shuts it, because it's cold and heat isn't cheap. "Anyway, let's get this party started."