The Petty Thief (modern au)

polistini

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Created
1 year, 8 months ago
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polistini
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this is fully to cope with my "dont focus on side characters past their role in main story" rule. i need it

Still a married man and father of 3, petty thief in this au ran a small furniture instillation business where he built and put in place sinks,  cabinets, couches, desks, ect. Prior to this he was a carpenter and the  labor heavy job had taken a great toll on his body leaving him with a badly arthritic hip on top of his pre-existing asthma. The business was supposed to be a compromise between his body and his profession as its  less labor intensive than roofing, but less lucrative as well. Over time  his little business began to dip into the negatives. Believing himself  to be the man of the house he had to support his family no matter what,  he did not tell them they were struggling financially not wishing to burden his wife or frighten his children. This went on for years until  he could no longer keep hemorrhaging money, his hesitance to burden his  family combined with the fears an aging body brings caused the petty  thief to take drastic measures. Rather than stealing from his workplace  like in the original setting he opted for insurance fraud. The attempt failed miserably and landed him a spot in prison for a few years, as  well as divorce papers from his wife and a felony on his record. He spent a good deal of time living out of motels and avoiding seeing his now ex-wife and her new husband along with their 2 younger children at  home. His eldest tried to get him to live with her but he couldn't stomach the idea of being a burden to her. No place wanted to hire a man  whos only held "unskilled" labor positions who tried to burn down his  own building to cash a check. Left with no savings after paying off a hefty debt after he was released from prison the petty thief scraped by  with side gigs, often writing essays for college students for 30 dollars a pop. He had never graduated himself but he is a smart man and a quick learner and libraries have accessible computers. He would also do taxes for people lol. His job hunt would lead him to eventually meet Brawler  who helped break down some of his weird complexes about accepting help  from others that allowed him to get on his feet proper and repair his relationship with his family. He becomes friends with his ex wife AND  her new husband and gets to be around all of his children without the  guilt of worrying them. He also stops tucking his shirt in while hes at home like an absolute lunatic. 

Relationships:

Ex wife- Met her when he was 18 and she was 19 and by the time he himself turned 19  he had accidentally gotten her pregnant. He proposed to her, promising  to take care of her and their child and she accepted despite not having  feelings like that for him because it was the "right" thing to do. He  dropped out of college and immediately entered the workforce. The two  had a stable and pleasant marriage founded on the fact that he would do  everything in his power to give her and their children a good life, she  returned the sentiment by trying to help in whatever ways she could as  they raised their children together. Things were good until suddenly  they werent and she discovered exactly how much he had kept from her. It  stung her. He understood why she wanted a divorce, she explained it very eloquently, they didnt marry for love but that didnt mean she could  live with someone whod rather risk his life and the lives of others in  an arson scheme instead of just telling her he needed help. She didnt  hate him and wouldnt try to fight him on custody but she couldnt live  with him anymore. After his release things were incredibly awkward  between them. She had remarried fairly quickly but even then her and her  new husband had offered him a place at their home which he turned down  but appreciated. He had not moved on as quickly as she did. Eventually he does have a heart to heart with her and they agree to be friends  again :) They have double dates with their new partners once in a while  and theres no animosity between them. 

Her new husband- As much as he wished he could resent the man for "taking" his life he just couldnt  do it. The guy stepped in and made sure his now ex wife and children  were taken care of while he was in prison and treated them all like his own. Petty thief knows how much the kids mean to him too and his ex wife has never looked happier. It hurt for a while but he really just  couldnt resent the new husband, he eventually befriends him after petty  thief makes amends with his ex wife. The only thing that somewhat  bothers petty thief is how badly the new husband wants the kids to call  him their dad too, but petty thief keeps that to himself since its the  kids decision if they ever do. 

His children- He has always taken  an active role in their lives and been close with all 3. They would  consider him a good father and a strict adherent to rules, he set the  best example he could and always wanted them to do better for themselves  than he did in respect to his education and profession. He tutored them  when he was able and encouraged them (though maybe a bit too much at  times) to do their best. He was especially close with his youngest who  is a daddys girl and always wanted to be held by him even when she  started getting bigger than him. His middle is his only boy, who he took  with his youngest to do "guy" things like fishing or working with him  though his youngest seemed more interested in it than his middle child.  His middle child was allowed to have his own hobbies and petty thief  financed space camp for him when he expressed interests. He cried when  his eldest moved out and she promised to visit on the weekends. His  genuine love and support even with his faults reached his children and  was all the more reason his sudden rash behavior shocked them. His  eldest does see him in a different light now, she sees his weakness and  his humanity and his flaws but still loves him and is happy when he  eventually starts to work on himself and get back on his feet. His  youngest two are happy as well when he visits more and more and  eventually introduces them to his new boyfriend. They are initially kind  of sad that hes really not going to move back in with them but its  quickly over shadowed by the Wait is that (universal equivalent of john  cena) emotion. 

Brawler- A man petty thief met when he was given  the wrong address to a job interview and ended up showing up to a leather bar and going into it thinking maybe the place was on the second  floor (it wasnt.) Petty thief had never really given thought to his  sexuality or his preferences since his ex wife was the first person he had ever been intimate with and he ended up marrying her at 19 without  doing any of the typical teenage self discovery one would typically do. He suddenly found himself surrounded by near nude men and the  realization that he was attracted to them sort of shook him. He realized  he would also never make it to the correct interview location in time  and sat down in the bar with a glass of water having a little bit of a  crisis. Eventually the bouncer came over thinking he might be someone  come to gawk but brawler quickly realized something else was going on  and gently brought petty thief outside to talk. After calming down petty  thief agreed to let brawler drive him back to where he was staying but  upon realizing he was living out of motels offered to let him sleep over  until he was supposed to go meet his eldest daughter for a visitation  with his two smaller kids. Not wanting to keep spending money on rooms  especially when he missed an interview the petty thief reluctantly  accepted. While he was at brawlers the two got along fairly well and  petty thief having quite a few things about himself be challenged was  more willing to open up to this stranger with no expectations for him  than he normally would with a loved one. Brawler said hed ask around  about any place he knew that needed a hire and he did so, giving petty  thief a few leads and his number just to keep in touch. Eventually one  of the leads was actually fruitful and petty thief managed to make a  down payment at a small one bedroom one bath apartment. He wanted to  thank brawler for his part in it by getting the man dinner and the two  liked eachothers company enough to keep hanging out, and eventually  petty thief confided in his interest of men and brawler happily set him  up with some friends. Petty thief went on the dates but never farther  and realized he had a better time planning said dates with brawler than  going on them by himself and after a bit asked brawler if hed like to  see him romantically. One thing led to another and the two are in a  committed relationship and hes introduced brawler to his children and  everything :)

funfacts
-keeps an inhaler in his pocket for flare ups
-type of dad to like adele
-is a really good cook, handles the food between he and brawler and used to be the chef of the house
-still misses his wife sometimes but thinks that things worked out for the best for both of them
-dreads the day his youngest is actually taller than him because he can see it coming shes outpacing him so fast
-even when he was homeless he did his best to be clean, he cant stand dirt and grime
-used to be a massive insomniac strictly from the immense amount of stress he put himself under
-is a handy man and stronger than he looks
-a lot more laid back in this au lol