forum The Prince and the Assassin (closed o/o)

Started November 04, 2019 by @Becfromthedead group

tune

Still hungry and tired, Pollux scooted back away from Rykah. He sat on the ground about six feet away.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
He rubbed at one of the burns on his face, hissing a bit in pain.

Rykah slowly moved into a sitting position once the other had stopped moving, "Yeah.. yeah I'm okay… are.. are you okay?" He asked, seeing the others burns and frowning slightly.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Pollux sighed, "I just haven't been eating enough. I'm just glad I didn't actually bite you. That would've been awkward…"
He gave a half-smile.
"I should… I should probably head out, huh? I don't want to risk staying around any longer and going back like that."

Rykah just nodded quietly, "Yeah.. uhm.. maybe that might be a good idea…" he said softly. Mentally he also wanted to tell the other to eat more, but he didn't want to be a hypocrite since he himself wouldn't be buying food for awhile as he saved up for a new tarp.

Pollux started trying to stand up, but his knees felt weak.
Yet, not missing a beat, he said, "So this is why you didn't want me to drop you off at home?"

Rykah tensed a little at that, having been hoping the other was too out of it to notice. "I.. yes.." he said softly, unable to come up with any other answer.

"I was never completely without a roof over my head, but… I grew up extremely poor myself, so I can empathize," Pollux replied, "It's hard to get back on your feet in a system that keeps you down."
He glanced over to Rykah.
"Let me help you."

Rykah frowned a little, "I don't want pity…" he said softly. "I've handled myself for years… I haven't needed help before and I don't need it now." His tone was unusually defensive as he spoke, surprising himself with the fact that he had it in him to say it. He knew it was just pride talking, but at this point pride was one of the most valuable things he had.

"I didn't get to living decently on my own," Pollux admitted, "And I wouldn't call it pity, exactly. I don't really have pity for anyone. Never have."
He crossed his arms.
"I hate to break it to you, but you're probably going to be stuck like this for a while if you don't swallow that pride of yours and accept some amount of help. That's just the reality of it. Especially with your injuries."

Rykah rolled his eyes, "Its already been awhile like this, a few more months, or even years won't change that." He said stubbornly. Eventually he moved off the ground too, grabbing a pocket knife from a small satchel he had hung on the line, beginning to cut the damage tarp into as many large, useable pieces as possible,

"So this is what you want?" Pollux asked, "I mean, I get you don't trust me in particular, but you act like you don't care whether you even have a place to stay or not."
He wasn't aggressive in his asking, just genuinely curious, as he eyed Rykah, then scanned the area, and all of Rykah's things.

"You stop caring after awhile when you realize most of humanity is mean and it isn't worth the effort of trying," said Rykah after a few beats of silence. He started pulling the pieces of tarp out to try and see if he had enough to build a new shelter.

"Humans can be cruel," Pollux agreed, "But I think cruelty is… often systemic, if you get me. It's all about pushing down others for your own gain. Yet, the more natural order of things is that we help each other to lift everyone higher. I think people are less mean and more selfish."
He shrugged a bit. He never really understood the point of unnecessary cruelty towards others, but trampling the weak, that sort of thing? He could see where they were coming from.
"You're awfully slow to accept kindness, huh? Scared of ulterior motives?"

"No, wary from experience." Said Rykah sourly. "Do you know how many times I've had little kids pluck my flight feathers cause their parents told them to?"

"Too many, I take it?" Pollux muttered, "Withdrawing from everyone forever won't solve your misery, buddy. You can guard yourself and still form bonds and relationships."

"I'd really rather not go through with that." Said Rykah, "And who said it was total misery? I prefer major inconvenience."

Pollux shook his head.
"Call it what you want. It sucks nonetheless. I've had people sleep with me, only to try driving a stake through my heart, and that's not even the beginning. I know betrayal, I know the ugly side of human nature too. So maybe you don't have to deal with people all the time, but you don't want to even try giving yourself a decent living, in the name of staying away?"

"Kinda hard to do when your used to things like that being out of reach." Said Rykah. "I managed to get through highschool by the skin of my teeth, and I've been alone like this for as long as I can remember. So one way or another, Ill be fine. Done it before, do it for as long as I need to till some cold winter finally kills me."

"I mean, I guess I can't force you to do anything, but the offer stands. If you need anything, I'm here."
He leaned his head back.
"So, do you work?"

"Yea.. might not have a job after today though." Said Rykah, "Should be been in about 1AM, supposed to be in till noon."

"You got hurt. They'd be horrible to kick you out," Pollux muttered, "What do you do, anyway, that you have hours like those?"
He shifted a bit.

"Janitorial service for big office buildings, then I go to the local college for the same thing." Said Rykah. "And I got shit hours cause it's all they'll give me, and I don't have any other options."

"If… that's the kind of work you're used to, we always benefit from that kind of work at the hospital. And they pay better than schools and whatnot. At least I think. If that's something you'd be interested in. I think they'd at least give benefits for full time work, and they're much more lenient about medical leave and all that," Pollux explained, "So, that's on the table, if you ever want to apply there."

"Why would a hospital take on some homeless weirdo? I've got no references, or qualifications to work in a place like that."

"As a janitor? They're happy to hire anyone who gets the job done for that kind of position, as long as they pass basic criminal background checks," Pollux said, "It might be worth looking into. I dunno, man. I'm trying to help. You don't deserve to just live like this and just kind of die one day because something bad but preventable happens. If you want to look into it, I'll vouch for you."