Chapter 4:
Of Bros and Hos

Mugen expected the money to last him approximately seven minutes. He knew that with his habits and Fuu's bottomless pit of a stomach, there was no hope for anything more. The idea of trying to save it in case of emergencies was moot, as their entire life was one ongoing emergency. What he did not expect was for Jin to barge into the room looking like 6 different kinds of ass and demanding the money to purchase a woman.

That was just nutty. But there it was, happening. "What the hell, Jin?" was Mugen's response.

But Jin didn't say anything to defend himself. He just took two very deliberate steps forward and looked Mugen square in the eye. "Please," he said at last. It was not his voice that was desperate. The please might have been a request to pass the salt, as far as his tone was concerned. It was his eyes. This was no mere booty call. Mugen felt a lurch in his stomach he could not quite identify. He sighed a deep, guttural sigh, and handed him the coin.

"Mugen!" Fuu yelped, but Jin was already out the door. "How could you do that?" she said, stomping her foot.

"Sometimes a dude's just gotta get laid," he said, perhaps a little too casually. Fuu glared at him and turned away. Mugen knew he just assured himself a long night.

Rodriguez seemed a bit perturbed by the proceedings as well. He had been finding some dark corner to keep to himself in, but tonight he wanted attention for some reason. He was scrambling all over Mugen's legs and stomach, buzzing around his ears, clicking his legs on the floor. Mugen tied his training rock to him in attempt to wear him out, but it didn't seem to slow him down any. He rested the beetle on his stomach and watched as it attempted to crawl up his bended thigh. He wasn't sure how long he sat that way, just watching the beetle struggling to scale his kneecap, before Jin came home.

"What's the deal?" Mugen asked him as he slunk by.

Jin froze for a second, cursing the fact that any of them were awake. "No deal," he said, gingerly taking a seat against the wall.

"There's a deal," said Mugen. "You don't come home lookin' like that and borrowing money for whores unless there's a deal. Unless my impressions of you so far have been way the fuck off, and they usually ain't."

"It's complicated," Jin said, looking at the floor. He clearly did not want to discuss this further, but Mugen didn't care.

"Why didn't you fight back?"

Jin made a soft, gentle sound that might pass for a chuckle. "How are you so sure I didn't?"

"You were just the right amount of screwed," Mugen explained. "If they were really good enough to kick your ass, you'd be half dead. You let them win. How come?"

"It's hard to explain," Jin said, lifting his gaze ever so slightly to meet his traveling companion's. For a second it seemed he actually wanted to explain himself to someone, somewhere, if only he could. "Had I fought…I…it would have been rude."

Mugen raised an eyebrow. "So…you got beat up to be polite?"

Jin thought about that for a second. "In a way."

"Well, damn. If that's polite then I'm one genteel motherfucker."

"Good night," Jin said, not unkindly. He gazed over at the rising sun. "Or morning, I suppose."

"Whatever." Mugen watched as the beetle struggled again to climb up his pant leg. He scurried half way up before the rock got the better of him, and he began to slide backwards. "None of that," Mugen muttered, giving the beetle a little nudge. The creature's legs sank deeper into his flesh but he didn't mind. "When someone pushes you, you push back, you here?" he said softly. He glanced over at Jin and sighed, the beetle gently rising up and down as he did so. "Being polite won't get you shit in this world."