Boredom & Beef, Sig's Bored, no bull!

[Styx]

Things were running incredibly slow at Happy Meat yet again, even though Alexei was starting to settle down and live a relatively normal life in the community. Sig Curtis was relieved, seeing as Alexei was the one and only child he and Izumi would ever be able to have together, and they'd lost him once already. Right now, he was in the store, tenderizing some beef for a barbeque Mason wanted to have with some of his buddies later. As usual, Sig wasn't saying much of anything, and it was next to impossible to read the big and burly man's mind as he kept hitting the dead cow flesh with the mallet.

Simply put, he was letting it wander, wondering if it was about time to talk to Izumi about leaving Dublith for a little while. It'd been several months since they went out on vacation anywhere, and Alexei was currently attending a boarding school uptown. Where was the harm in visiting other people outside Dublith...like the Elrics or one of the Tannheuser girls?

[Kitanna]

It had been a few days since the autumn festival had taken place, but Samuel Hunton had been staying in Dublith for the time being; he quite liked the mild atmosphere around this part of Amestris.

But now the thirty seven year old was planning on heading back to East City and before he went, decided to visit Happy Meat.

' I've heard they make the best meat products in Dublith.. there's only one way to find out, I wouldn't mind taking some back with me'

After coming into the shop, the bespectacled man looked around with a slightly anxious look on his face.
" Erm...h-hello?"

[Styx]

"Yeah?" Sig's sonorous voice boomed from the back, interrupted only by the sha-boom sound of his tenderizing mallet coming down on the meat again. Seeing as Mason and Izumi weren't in, he decided to step forward and see what the customer wanted to buy, even if the apron he was wearing was now stained with cow blood in several places. It sort of made him look like a psychopathic killer, and the fact that his face was pretty scary-looking didn't help matters. However, he was aiming to sound as friendly as possible...and missed.

[Kitanna]

Samuel almost jumped out of his skin upon hearing Sig's booming voice, followed closely by the sound of something being hit with a mallet.

And when Sig came out to front of the shop where he was standing, Samuel looked as if he was about to faint.

' W-wow! h-he's a big guy!' was all the thirty seven year old had running through his mind as he gazed upon the very tall muscley man, although when he saw the blood on the apron, the complexion in Samuel's face paled somewhat.

" I..I just came to b-buy some beef" came his rather squeaky reply.

[Styx]

Sig pointed at the display in the corner, showing the different beef cuts currently up for sale. That finger he used to point seemed to be as big as a salami. To make matters even worse, he was attempting to calm the customer down a bit by doing what Mason always did with newcomers...smile. It worked nicely when Izumi smiled at folks (Sig thought his wife looked like such an angel when she did that), but when Sig tried, the poor fellow wound up looking even scarier. Instead of looking happy and amiable, Sig Curtis, when smiling, looked like a big and dangerous animal baring its teeth as a sign of aggression.

[Kitanna]

(( XD! Maww Sig, bless him ))

Upon seeing the smile, Samuel did his best to hold back an audible gulp and did a rather nervous grin in response.

He figured that if he wanted to get some meat then he'd at least have to be brave.. there wasn't another butcher shop for miles around and surely this big guy was really a nice guy!
" Erm..I..I think I'll g-go for the cuts of lamb" he finally spoke up, pointing to the display board.

[Styx]

"One hundred and fifty sens," Sig replied tersely, reaching for the lamb. It was indeed a rather nice cut; the farmer who raised the sheep sold to Happy Meat always took great care of his flock. The man's daughter, Penelope, was at the same school as Alexei, so the Curtises had gotten to know the Phelps family a tad better than before. It truly was a nice cut, one of Izumi's better works as of late. Wrapping it up, and placing it by the counter, Mr. Curtis was now patiently waiting to get paid.

[Kitanna]

As soon as his choice of meat was packaged, Samuel reached inside his trouser pocket and fumbled around, searching for some money that he had tucked away in there.

Once he found it, the deep blue eyed man counted it to make sure it was the right amount and placed it on the counter.
" There you go sir"

Although to make up for being so scared earlier.. he decided to at least attempt to make some conversation.
" So.. erm.. may I ask you your name? it's not everyday I meet someone from Dublith"

[Styx]

Okay...maybe he hadn't scared the guy off after all. Sig wasn't going to smile any further (people would expect him to roar like a lion if he tried that), but sat down in a seat behind the counter. "I'm Sig Curtis; my wife and I own the store," he stated gruffly, even though that wasn't really how he wanted his words to come out. Izumi was the more sociable of the two, because Sig realized just how frightening he could be toward others. When Victor von Frankenstein used to enter the store and complain about his creation, Sig could almost understand where Fear was coming from on some issues, although he never told Victor or anyone else that. 'He's angry because people don't get to know him; all they see is a scary face. I can partially relate.'

[Kitanna]

" Sig Curtis, huh?.. pleased to meet you, my name's Samuel Hunton" Samuel responded with a nod before picking up the package of meat and just looked over to Sig.

" Well owning a shop around here must be nice.. the atmosphere around here seems so much calmer than Central city, everyday working over at *that* place is enough to make anyone nervous" he paused to chuckle a little before speaking up again.

" So how long have you lived here for?..I mean was it your's and your wife's home-town or did you originally come from a different part of Amestris?"

[Styx]

"We're natives," Sig replied, shrugging his broad shoulders, which heaved inward then out. He wasn't trying to run this poor fellow off, but he'd never been all that talkative of a guy, and having a Central city slicker over in Dublith wasn't about to change that. "Izumi and I are pretty much a couple of small business owners with a young son." Yup; Alexei wasn't all that far from home, even if he was at a boarding school. He could always phone home for emergencies, and Sig would be on the way. Having Izumi drive in her condition wasn't a great idea.

[Kitanna]

" Ahh I see, well you've definately grown up in the better place" Samuel said in response, giving off an acknowleging little nod.
" Heh..so you're parents, too? " by now his face had gone from looking frightened to quite soft.

" Well from one father to another, I wish you and your family luck with life.. children are our future afterall" he said with a small chuckle.
Oh yes.. he may of been laughing, but deep down; that pang of guilt was starting to rise.

[Styx]

Sig nodded and actually let loose a chuckle (although it probably sounded more like a grunt or snort) as he heard Samuel. "Yeah, we saved up quite a bit to send my son to my rich cousin's alma mater." Seeing as Sig quit school immediately after recieving a high school diploma, it was important to him to see Alexei get a great education and possibly consider becoming a scholar in the future. He'd married a very intelligent woman, and had the feeling his son was devilishly smart as well.

[Kitanna]

Samuel had just given a grin at that, remembering the days of his own education.. and of how he'd purposely flunked the tests for two years straight, just so he could have the chance to learn more things before he finally graduated..

' Hopefully their boy won't have to do that..' Hunton thought to himself.
' The boy must be quite prodigious if they saved up that much for him'

" Well I'm sure your boy will be thankful for it; in a high-quality place like that, he's bound to enjoy himself"

Maybe it wasn't his place to poke around.. but in the end Samuel simply couldn't stop himself, he meant it all in best interest.
" So how old is your son?"

[Styx]

"He'll be ten soon," Sig replied, not really feeling like talking too much longer with this city slicker. Frank Archer from East City had been here about four months ago, and memories of that city slicker still made Sig grind his teeth in disgust. There were plenty of good people in the world, like Izumi, but that pale and arrogant Archer prick was definitely not one of them. Then again, the Curtises didn't have much respect for the military anymore; they were peace-loving folks who were just fine in their small city/large town.