Help_Japan fic for SeeMe
He saw him from across the bar, surrounded by men and woman alike, hanging on his every word and looking at him with open admiration.
"And that's when I said to the rhinoceros, 'Sir, I know horny, and you're not nearly horny enough for me to give a damn about your fate."
With the assembled audience's laughter as a soundtrack, Putin tossed back his shot of vodka and strode across the floor with purpose.
"A truly impressive man would not have to brag about his exploits."
Heads turned, and if it had been an 80s sitcom, a great "OOOOOH!" would have floated up from the crowd hanging on Teddy's every word. Instead, it was silent as Putin walked closer.
"What's the point of doing great things if you don't share them with the whole damn world?" He lifted his mug of beer in a toast and the crowd laughed and raised their own glasses before joining him in a long, satisfying drink.
"You should not have to share them. The bodies you leave behind and the men you crush should tell 'the whole damn world' your story." He was right next to him now, not backing down.
Teddy raised a bushy eyebrow. Now that the foreigner had made such a bold statement, Teddy gave him a second look. He was strong and he had a hard look in his eyes. This was a man who got things done. He just needed to learn a little bit about style and panache. Teddy slung his arm around the other man's shoulders to pull him closer. "Come with me, boy, and I just might make a man out of you." Putin, at first visibly uncomfortably with the display of unwarranted camaraderie, let slip a brief look of outrage in the form of a furrowed brow, before settling into an impassive expression.
"Yes. I would like to know more of your time with rhinoceros."
He wouldn't destroy this man just yet. He would listen. He would observe. He would learn his charismatic ways. And he would wait for his chance to take him down.
It was the start of a very… Well, it was the start of something; that couldn't be denied.