Unexpected Connections

Richard maintained his refusal to get anything to eat. Even when the two men around him started on their food, he didn't waiver even an inch.

Zane had been intent on ordering him something until Diego intervened. Going on about how pride worked with such young kids, choosing to either ignore or discount Zane's own age at the same time.

"I don't care if the kid has pride or not. It doesn't change the fact that he's still only skin and bones. Without food, his pride isn't going to get him very far with work." Diego light cuffed his friend's head pushing him to look back towards the line in front of them and away from the kid at the table.

"I am well aware of that. I have worked with more than enough of these kids. I think I know what I am doing a little better than you." not wanting to argue with the 'expert', the young mafioso dropped it.

This led them to the current quiet moment in time. Two out of the three were too busy eating to talk and the third was too stubborn to speak first.

"You don't have to sit there and be all stoic. Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself? I'm sure you've got some interesting stories." Richard barely blinked while turning in the direction of the other.

"I don't really have much of anything interesting to tell. Coming from this side of the world, I'm sure both of you know what it's like being on the street. All the stories are either the same or they get muddled and you don't remember A from B." Picking up the glass of water, he took a sip from it.

"I'm sure you must've come from somewhere before the streets. In or out of state?" Diego continued to pressure the other, taking a break from the food to coax the other to open.

"I did but that isn't anything you need to know about. Disagreements often lead to such things happening. All you need to know is that I am from this state." the curt response told the informant that that route of communication wasn't open for further exploration.

"See, there's something that the two of you have in common already." He patted Zane on his shoulder. The mafioso frowned as the action caused him to spill some of his parfait onto the table. The one place it couldn't be reclaimed from. One could never tell how clean or not the tables were in such places.

"That depends on his reason for doing it. We might have a similar experience but reason is something worth bonding over." He stuck the spoon into his mouth before looking over at Richard as he awaited a response.

"My reason has nothing to do with you as phrased before. I didn't even come here to talk about such things. I only came for the possibility of a business proposal." Though his tone remained short, his eyes lingered half-eaten meal in front of Diego.

"Oh we will be getting to the business proposal shortly. I just wanted to take a bit of time first to get to better know you." The information assured the other.

"Even though I trust this guy to have good taste in who he brings around, I have to make sure myself." Picking up a fry, he ate it slowly.

"So is there anything specific I should know about you before I consider taking you on."

"Nothing that would cause you any problems. I'm good at taking care of myself and don't generally require help. Rather, I prefer to work alone. I can handle pretty much anything that you toss at me. The one rule I maintain is that I have the right to reject anything I don't like." Richard took another sip of his water.

"Pay expectations? Days or hours?" Zane pushed this one.

"As long as it's something reasonable, I don't care. Nor do I care about what hours I work or when as long as I get a few off in order to sleep." the young man shrugged.

"You make it sound as though you're easier to deal with than you actually are." The tease seemed to hit a nerve with the other whose cold mask returned.

"Easy to deal with? Hardly. I have my own set of rules and boundaries I follow. I simply understand that in order to get a decent job, one sometimes has to be flexible in the when and how. Underestimating me is a mistake, kid." Diego put his hand between the two when he could sense the animosity growing between the two younger men.

"That I believe is quite enough between you. We're doing business here, not throwing hands. Simmer down both of you." The information turned his attention over to the younger man, shoving the rest of his meal in his direction.

"Eat whatever you want off of it. If you don't it's just going to get tossed anyways. It'll keep you quiet for a little bit while I finish the real business that I came here before." Richard looked ready to protest until he heard the other say the food would be tossed. Like a snake striking, he snatched the food over to his side of the table before the other could change his mind.

"As for you young Don, don't be getting argumentative with someone you want me to work with. Are you trying to make my job harder?" Zane didn't respond beyond a roll of his eyes. The young mafioso of course wouldn't believe he's at fault for whatever transpired. Smart and insightful in many respects but still lacking in certain people skills.

"I have the information that you wanted with me. Start one more fight here though and I will hold off on giving it to you until we see each other next time around."

"You say that Diego but we both know that you want to get paid more than you're willing to follow through." Zane replied coolly, holding out his hand for the other to give him a folder.

"You can think what you want, but I'm actually quite serious about this." The warning came as the other handed over the folder, indicating the page the young mafioso would want to open it to.

"It's not everything, but I figured that this would be the part that you want to see first."

"I know who that family is." It came out more as 'i ow at 'mily s' since Ricard's mouth was full but Zane managed to piece what he said together first.

"How?"