these bruises aren't a source of pride (berry-bub)

[irregular-neptune]

The rhythmic sound of his bare knuckles hitting the sand filled vinyl bag was all he heard in the gym. There were a few others there who were training for fights or just training. Most of them were, like him, boxers who were here to win money from the bets placed on them by rich fuckers who liked to see those lesser than them fight until they were bloody. Its fine – Kylian liked doing it to an extent. This gym wasn't exactly where he saw himself when he moved to the United States to seek out his dreams, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

The boxing Kylian did wasn't strictly… legal. It was underground, no cops, no rules. Most of the time. Sometimes there'd be a match that was safer… had rules, a ref… protection. But most fights were just he and another poor fool, throwing punches at each other's bare skin. They didn't use boxing gloves or head protection but… he got an adrenaline rush out of it at least. When he won the match, he made good bank. When he didn't… well. He had bruises to show as a badge of pride at least.

As thoughts carried him away, he began hitting the punching bag harder before he felt someone touch him on the shoulder and jumped. He looked at the invader and realized it was one of the betters – some rich business guy named Dave who liked to come to the fights a lot. He liked Kylian for some reason, one that Kylian didn't… really know, despite trying to figure it out. The betters would often come see the boxers when they would train, maybe try to train a little themselves, or at least make sure they were training fair, but this guy… he was always checking up on Kylian. Ky didn't need his help… he had a coach. He knew when to stop.

"Kid, you're bleeding."

Kylian looked down at his knuckles and noticed the blood trickling down his hand towards his wrist, almost detached from it, not really… sure what had happened. He must have started punching too hard…

"Sorry," he mumbled to the man. "Guess I'm done for the day."

He walked away from the guy and to the bathroom, where he washed his hands and put a wrapping of gauze around them to keep them from becoming even rawer. He changed and grabbed his duffel bag of clothes and began walking to his apartment. As he walked, his hunger grew and, when his stomach growled, he decided that he had to stop and get something to eat. Eating out wasn't something he did often – it was difficult to sit in a restaurant and eat on your own, it was harder when you always had bruises on your face. The questions people would ask were… annoying. He didn't like talking to people as it was, because they'd always ask where he was from. Home wasn't somewhere he liked to talk about. He was here to start anew, not talk about where he'd been.

But every once in a while couldn't hurt him. After all, he'd won a fight last week and had been doing better lately. Still bruised, at least he could eat now. He stopped at a cafe that didn't seem overly pricey and sat down in a booth, putting his duffel bag in the seat across from him. He looked around for a waiter and saw that he was busy with a few other patrons, so he looked down at his bandaged knuckles and waited.

@berry-bub

 

[vei_li_os]

Working late at a cafe was quite tiring after working at a restaurant. Balancing two jobs was difficult for Noah. He barelys has time for himself. Between the hours of the jobs he has, it is always time to do assignments that could be due at any time. The young man sighed softly before taking orders to the cooks. The cafe wasn't fill that much. It alresdy night, so customers are mess than in the daylight.

After placing orders in the hanger for the cooks to take, Noah went to make the drinks. Tonight, it was only him serving the customers. The cooks were doing their own jobs in kitchen.

Once he made the drinks and placing them on the counter beside him, Noah began to take them to customers, balancing them in the silver tray. Basically, he knows tips and tricks to serving the customers.

Noah smiled at his last customer before turning around to see who just came in. Noah rose a brow when he noticed a bruised person. It scare him a bit before timidly making his way over to him. The waiter took out his notepad and pen to write down the order. Once he stood in front of the other male, he smiled welcoming at him. "Hello, welcome to Valentino's Cafe. Here's the menu." He greeted, giving him a small pamphlet. "Once you decide what you want, just call me. My name is Noah." He said, smiling before turning away to serve other customers.

 

[irregular-neptune]

Ky's bruises weren't bad, it's just that you don't see people with bruised up faces walking around all the time – people did tend to want to keep their faces from taking on the color of a grape. After all, bruised skin didn't make you look like the nicest guy ever – even though Kylian himself wouldn't hurt a fly outside of a match. Still, he was used to the looks of awe – or disgust – that people would give him in passing and didn't usually mind. After all, he'd be the same way if he didn't know why he had the bruises. A tragic backstory was what one's mind might initially jump to, not usually illegal boxing, and everyone loved to hear about other's tragic backstories.

So, he really didn't mind the look the waiter gave him when he walked over. It was subtle, but Ky noticed his eyes linger a little too long over the bruise on his jawline and the one across the bridge of his nose. He noticed how the waiter was timid despite trying to keep his friendly aura – he knew he could be intimidating, with bruises, a stocky frame and the awful case of resting bitch face from which he suffered. He did give the waiter a small smile as he was handed the menu, and watched as he walked away before looking down at it.

As he scanned the menu, he couldn't really focus much on the words. He knew English well, but when he was as tired as he was, it was an uphill battle, one not made easier by the general lack of focus following him that day. He surveyed the room, looking for the waiter to walk by again. When he finally did, Ky got his attention and waved him over. "Ah… I am having difficulty deciding. What might you suggest?" His voice even sounded foreign to him now, a sound he didn't hear very often – these days, he tended to keep quiet and only train, and when he spoke at work he could barely hear himself over the loud music in the bar.

 

[vei_li_os]

Noah, when he left the bruised man to decided what to eat from the menu, busied himself with helping other customers. Taking their orders, giving their meals, making the drinks that were ordered, and other things to keep himself busy. The young man turned around from his last table before heading back to the front desk, but soon he caught glimpse of the male from before, waving his hand at the young waiter. Noah gave a smal smile before walking towards instead. He was about to ask if he's ready to order, but the other man cut him off to ask his own question.

Suggest what meals there are? it was strange for someone to ask Noah that. The young waiter took a moment to think as he tapped the blue, inked pen to his chin as he's in thought. The café was a based Russian and Ukrainian café, there were some American food and drinks, but people still order from the other side of the menu.

"Well, um, w-we, I mean, I c-could recommend trying out, um,"

Noah stopped himself from talking any further. His pale hands grabbed the menu that sat under his arm, it was from another table he had serve.

His eyes caught a few dishes that he had tried during his break at work. He also made sure they were in the cheap side for the other man.

"I c-could suggest trying out, um, Perogies with Strawberries... um, o-or, uh, Royal Walnut Cake. There's also, Apple Pie with Bread Pudding... Oh! And, um, there are a few drinks that could go with the dishes. With the berries one, the warm, vanilla milk can go with it. For the cake, it was can with cold or warm chocolate milk or coffee. And for the pudding, it can be any drink actually, cold or warm. Y-you can pick any other drinks, you don't have to pick from what I said."

He finished, giving an awkward smile as he glanced around. "D-do you want more time to decide?"

 

[irregular-neptune]

Ky watched as Noah fumbled with his words and the menu and found his awkwardness a little endearing. Ky remembered when he was as awkward as that – when he'd first come to America, two years ago, and didn't understand a lot of the customs. People are, at their core, the same all over the world, but Ky didn't understand a lot of what people meant. Though he was still learning, he'd gotten a lot better with at least pretending he wasn't awkward.

He listened as the boy listed off several deserts, and looked back down at the menu. He hadn't particularly wanted a desert… deserts after working out kind of defeated the purpose, right? Then again, he could always branch out a little bit – after all, eating a desert one time after a training session couldn't negate everything, right? That and the fact that he didn't particularly want to take longer to decide what to eat made him make his decision.

"No… the Apple Pie with Bread Pudding and a coffee sounds fantastic. Thanks."

With his last word, he handed Noah his menu before he walked away and sat back in his seat, ready for this long day to be over with.

 

[vei_li_os]

Noah nodded in respond at his order, but before writing it down, he noticed how tired the other male was. So maybe dessert meals won't help him give a bit more energy. Noah glanced down at the menu that was giving back to him before looking back up to see the man walked back to his seat. Noah swallowed nervously as he wrote the orders down before flipping to a blank paper. He walked over to the guy, giving him a kind smile. "Um... o-or would you want tomato soup, chicken and bacon pasta? I-I mean, we have other meals. There is various of sandwiches as well." He stated nervously, giving the gentleman a small smile. "I can still give you the coffee with any other meal, if you want." He added quickly. For some reasons, he felt embarrassed, as if he has failed his job as a waiter.

Noah isn't the best to speak with. Always stuttering and mixing up his words. Sure, it can be because he's awkward, timid, and antisocial, but it is also because English is his second language and he started learning the language less than twelves months ago. He has live in the States for four years now, but he has speak up the English language nine months ago.

He lives in an Russian/Ukrainian neighborhood with a few Americans and Polish living there as well.

So, speaking English with an accent was a bit troublesome for Noah.