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Phil Bristol's door opened early in the morning to a face he never thought he'd see again outside a phone screen. Mordechai Boaz stood outside the apartment of his longest standing father-figure with a shamed face and a tight grip on a ratty duffle bag; the man's eyes were glued to Phil's work boots and they just stood in silence for a tense moment. When it settled in his mind that the other man was actually [i]here[/i], a wide grin split his face and he pulled Mordechai into a tight hug.

[color=0072bc]"It's good to have you back, son."[/color] He said, holding onto Mordechai as the man went from coiled tight to weak in the knees, gripping him back just as strongly.

[color=DC143C]"I missed you, Phil."[/color]

Once the two had their heads on straight, Phil locked up and they walked together to the shop, Decky telling Phil about where he'd been and Phil ignoring the gaps in the story that were most likely edited-out crimes. By the time they had gotten to the Garage, Phil was completely caught up on any need-to-know of Mordechai's life, not that there was much. Phil, on the other hand, was being less than forthcoming about current events in Edenridge, and while that wouldn't typically bother him if they were talking on the phone, Decky knew Phil was always telling him that he had great stories for when he returned. Granted, it was said more out of hope that Decky would ever return in the first place, but Phil wasn't one to lie, which Decky found led to him simply not talking about things so as to not have to lie about them.

He was doing a lot of [i]Not Talking[/i] at the moment, and left Decky unsure of how to fill the silence.

[color=DC143C]"Seriously, Phil,"[/color] Decky grumbled as they made their way into Phil's office, only hesitating for a moment at his old work station, which looked untouched since the day he left. [color=DC143C]"I'm not stupid, a'ight? I know Nolan has left things out during our phone calls and texts, and now you're avoiding talkin' 'bout the town despite conspirin' with Nolan to get me back here, it's starting to freak me out."[/color]

Phil seemed to deflate a bit, his sunny demeanor falling victim to shade. [color=0072bc]"Look, Mo-Bo-"[/color] Mordechai's lips twitched at the old nickname. [color=0072bc]"We didn't start receiving these until after we convinced you to come back."[/color] Ok, what? Mordechai watched as the older mechanic bent down by his desk and unlocked the top drawer, pulling out a stack of envelopes. [color=0072bc]"Some of them were addressed to me, but most of them...most of them showed up with your name on it,"[/color] he handed over more than half the envelopes, left unopened. [color=0072bc]"The whole town's been gettin' them recently. Or, at least...those who were somehow involved."[/color]

Decky listened to Phil over the buzzing in his ears as the man explained the recent plague of letters upon Edenridge, letters that were photocopied straight from Charlie fuckin' Decker's journals. Eventually, as he opened and began reading the letters himself, Phil got lost in the now pounding of his ears. Decker talked about him; about Decky and Danny and Southside things that people north of the tracks should never know. When he finished reading them all, he took his phone out with shaky hands and texted Nolan, surrounded by crumpled papers laying out the sick mind of his brother's murderer.

[center]Outgoing Messages
To: So You Need to Learn How to Punch...
8:54am[/center]
[right][i][u]Why the fuck didn't you tell me?[/u][/i][/right]