Breakin' the Habit [ST/Saga Pt 1]

(so im posting from work, and couldn’t double check, but im assuming from the way you wrote she kicked open the initial door of the apartment, and given his work I imagine it’s suitable for the dealer to live on the ground floor. More than happy to re-write if I’m getting the wrong impression.)

Geji was having the time of his life tonight as far as he was concerned. He’d just gotten the latest batch in from his pal’s garage lab and with a few bags freshly cut and weighed he had what he needed to start doing his nightly runs. Of course, it was more of a habit for him to be inviting people in but he was more than happy to make the door to door deliveries if they were paying the right amount. They were all suckers as far as he was concerned anyway. Got some non-acidic washing poweder to cut the shit with and suddenly they were paying double for half the product, and half of them couldn’t complain cause the shit still knocked them out! All of them were just thinking they’d become lightweights and started buying more hoping that finally it’d be the time they didn’t pass out! Bunch of suckers!

Hooking his satchel over his shoulder, pulling up the first hood of his outfit, seeming to be wearing a coat over a hoodie itself, the lanky built dealer pushed his way to the door of his apartment to get going with a run, turning to lock the door behind him and whirling back about to-

“Oh. How’s it going granny?~”

He spoke to his landlady, now between him and the door out of the place with a cheeky smugness to his voice. He could easily tell from the light glare and the folded arms what he was here for and resisting the urge to scoff at the idea she might think she can stop him this time. She was always so easy to deal with, even when she thought she was putting her foot down.

Rina, on the other hand, felt she was approaching one of her final straws with the young lad. She’d taken him in a few months ago, and for a while he’d been… fine. One of those rough young lads who paid their rent on time and needed the odd few days here or there to scrape it together on a rare occasion… but lately he’d become a trouble maker. Staying out all hours, not at all light on his feet when he came back, blaring music at all hours… and she’d had a lot of unwanted visitors knocking at his door. Her own home next door to the main apartment building sharing a wall with his room meant she easily got irritated by it, beyond the complaints from her other well behaved tenants.

“I hope I’m not going to be getting any complaints about the music tonight boy.” She spoke sternly, she didn’t like putting her foot down too much but sometimes she knew she had to.

He just seemed to brush it off, walking past her, almost purposely bumping the older woman’s shoulder as he adjusted the strap of his back in passing. “Yeah yeah. No music. Promise.~” He cheekily retorted. There were other ways to end up having a good time.~

Just as he reached the door he jolted back as it was kicked open, a brief shout of “THE FUCK BITCH!?” Before it fully registered who it was coming in. He didn’t fully know the girl’s name but recognized them as the hottie who lived in one of the other apartments. “Oh… pardon the language mi-“

Before he could finish his fake ‘nice guy’ act the landlady called out, raising her head from her palm as she shouted. “She ain’t interested bucko.”

Despite the old bag’s words Geji held a firm smirk for a moment as he turned his eyes from the landlady to the foxy brunette infront of him. Typically however he was used to dealing with a different crowd, the scum addicted to his product. People who didn’t so readily say no to his attention even if he wasn’t deserving of it. Watching someone not only seem to ignore what he said but literally seeming to make an effort to side step him as she just walked on by without a word… Geji wasn’t about to go running after her, and his opinion of the nice view shifted as he was at least careful enough to avoid bumping her shoulder too. “Tch. Freak.” With that he was off out the door, shutting it firmly enough it brought a slight wince to the old landlady. The door wasn’t actually broken but at this rate…

She shifted her eyes to follow the one of her tenants still in the hall as Nikki headed towards her room. She was sure she’d seen the young woman leave with a coat but here she was with a bare midrift out in the cold like that. Thing must be freezing but… well she hardly seemed in the mood for pleasantries, and it was the woman’s idea sometimes that it was best to ‘lay it on’ when someone was already in a grouchy mood. Afterall how much worse can you make someone’s day at that point?

“Ya know missy I really would appreciate if you pay your rent before you go breaking my property. At least that way I’ve got the money to fix it.” She let out, a bit of ‘old lady sass’ leaking out in her tones as she flashed a surprisingly white grin at Nikki, stepping up to follow her a little ways to her room.

“Aye aye.” She chimed in readily enough as Nikki emphasized both that she wasn’t running TOO late on the rent and that it wasn’t like she broke the door… well with the sound it made she wasn’t too convinced but they’d see how it faired over the next few days, rolling her old shoulders back as she put the thought to the back of her mind, feeling the creak in her bones from such a simple movement, but her nature more to push through it and hold her head up rather than keel over like the old lady many believed her to simply be. “Remember though even I have my limits, and a gentle reminder never hurts either. Sticks and stones and all that.~ Trust me though you don’t want this old woman breaking out the sticks and stones. I’ve had a lot of time to find the really big ones. Like HOO~” She chimed throwing her head back a bit. “I’d break those cute little kneecaps of yours without a thought.”

She was clearly playing it up for a bit of a laugh now, but before Nikki managed to reach the stairs, the older woman would manage to muster just enough speed to pull ahead of her a bit, turning with enough of a shift in pace to hopefully block off Nikki’s ‘charge’ for at least a moment, the woman taking a pause, just making sure she was sound in her memory as she scanned the young woman before her up and down before finally speaking with confidence. “What happened to your coat deary? I don’t expect a tough young lass like you to be mugged, and too good a head on your shoulders to be dumb enough to go out without one with the weather like this. So… something happen?”

“Oooo! Careful there honey, I had my ‘experimentin’’ time back in colledge, and that was a ways back but… mmm.” She took a moment, catching up enough she was side by side with Nikki and could look her up and down clearly enough that Nikki would notice, not just doing so with her eyes but seeming to let her torso follow her head, running up and down the more strong-set young woman’s torso before letting out, in a clearly joking tone-
“Well… maybe for you I could break out an exception. For nostalgia’s sake.” She gave a sly old wink, that kind of sassy charm that could only be earned over years of confidence and experience, that certainty that even if you didn’t agree with the joke, she wouldn’t care. How long left did she have to get paranoid and regret it afterall?

As she mentioned Geji, the woman pulled back a little and took… not too serious a tone, but she certainly wasn’t playing about so much on the topic of him. “Oh he’s… something.” She shook her head a little, trying to hold her chin up a little. He did seem like a good bean when she’d managed to pull him in and get him a place to stay under her but he’d become such a little… she sighed through her nose, resisting the urge to be verbal with any of this. “I don’t know. Suffice to say he’s at least not my type. Little toooo much energy for my tastes.” She offered, a weak smile on her crinkly features as she tried to lighten the mood for a moment before she cut ahead of Nikki.

Listening to the girl’s explanation as to what happened with her coat, she gave a slow breath in a defeated manner. Not disappointed but one of those… ‘what else was to be expected’. She was at least relieved the poor lass hadn’t left it behind after something more harsh. She didn’t look too roughed up afterall, but still, it wasn’t good knowing she’d had to risk a cold walking home like that. “Mmm. We talking ‘you’ trouble or ‘them’ trouble.” She spoke, clearly hinting if it was Nikki who started the problem or some second party she hadn’t heard of yet. She wasn’t judging in the slightest, just wanting to get a more clear picture. If Nikki was the problem starter fair enough, and heck if it was a second group starting it, good on her for holding some sense of her own ground, even if it cost her a coat.

Regardless, she’d take a moment to process it before asking with an oddly firm sense about her. “You’ve got more right? I’m not about to see you walking past my window for a week with those bare arms of yours and that taught little tummy on show am I? I’m sure the snow loves the view but I doubt it’s the kind of attention you’d want this time of year.~” She’d slip into a warm smile once again. Heck if Nikki didn’t find her funny she was finding herself plenty hilarious.

“Mmm well. When you’ve lived a life as long as mine who doesn’t get a few stories under their belt at that point hm?” She offered back, an almost cheeky tint to the smile spreading across her features but not lingering for too long. It had been a long life afterall and while she could joke and tease about it, reminding herself of that fact wasn’t a very sunshine and rainbows moment… even if it was a life she’d lived well, she could definitely feel the years creeping up on her now and then.

Despite her wit however the woman did take a second to really catch on to what Nikki meant by ‘pinky party’, but when she thought she had it she burst out into a brief series of chuckles, to the point she may have gotten a little winded. She was a healthy lass but her lungs weren’t as young as they used to be, but even finishing with a bit of a cough and a sputter, she still definitely had a grin on her features, chuckling through her teeth till she fully calmed down.
“Oh I’m sure he could. He’s running through my last few straws, before he knows it that lad’s gonna be out on his ass but… eh. I wanna give him the benefit of the doubt.” She gave an idle shrug. “What can I say, age makes ya soft… back in my hay day though I woulda tossed his ass out after the first missed payment… maybe I should harden back up a bit.~” She shot Nikki a cheeky smile once more, teasing her late payment once again.

As she was assured Nikki had a coat, she gave a slow nod, put somewhat at ease. “Oh no no, I was just going to make sure you didn’t go paying me that rent if you need a coat instead. I mean, I’d rather you be warm enough to go find me money for all the other months. Can’t have you dying of cold before I get my money’s worth out of ya.” She still teased, but her voice was softer, making it easier to tell she showed more concern in this case than the others. “Seriously though. If you need to hold out a bit to get a coat or something just drop by and lemme know so I can make some arrangements. I’m sure ya do have others but…”

She shared a look, trying to convey a sense of… oh she’d done this song and dance before. She started showing some concern and someone lied to her just so she didn’t worry. She never liked to point that out aloud, a lot of the rougher lads and lasses she took in took the insinuation they were lying, even for good reason, as a real harsh insult…

In the end, the old woman just showed a bit of care, but if Nikki wasn’t comfortable with that she’d move on sharpish enough, starting to step around her and calling back. “Anyway, you best get up to your room where it’s warm… but if you need anything you know where I am. And if you have my money you know where I am too…~”
She smirked even when Nikki couldn’t see her face. Hard to avoid the woman who’s roof you lived under, even if ya wanted to…~

The old bag felt a hint of pride in the sense of mild, if maybe just a smidge begrudging respect she was earning from her young tenant here, a tough little smile on her lips but with a sort of tiredness behind her eyes. Nothing negative, just a sense of… this song and dance was one she’d done before, maybe a few times, but that didn’t mean it felt any less rewarding to earn someone’s respect by showing a few flavours of her more true self. As the young lass even offered to ‘take care’ of her troubles with the young man she’d been having an argument with before, she briefly burst into some little chuckles.

“Oh no no don’t you worry. I know how to handle myself, and my tenants for that matter… I have a lot of straws to lose but if he finally breaks the last one I can assure you he’ll be out on his ass faster than you realize.” She paused for a moment, and reached up to just lightly rest a hand against her shoulder on the outside. “Thank you though. It’s nice to have the offer there, even if I don’t plan to take it.”

As she turned to leave she gave a little scoff at the final tease aimed her way about her bed time, not thinking too much on it beyond another mental recognition of the younger woman’s natural sass about her, lifting one of her hands to wave as her other pulled behind her back, helping straighten herself up from her natural ‘old crone’ hunch she could sometimes have when she’d been on her feet a while, heading back to her own home just next door for the night as she let the brunette get her own rest.

(given this is your saga I thought I’d leave it down to you to establish the next ‘plot point’ you’d like to handle with a timeskip)