Nyo nodded, curling up a bit as he turned to expose the wounded skin to Fin, nervously chewing his lower lip as he braced himself for the other to clean his wounds, still expecting the other to be rough with him. “Thank you… um- I-I’m afraid I don’t know what you prefer to be called… I don’t know your name.”
Finny froze for a second, rag inches away from Nyo's skin. Well it's not like I can tell him my actual name! Come on, think fast! He glanced out the wobbly flip-shutter towards the garden, biting his lip for a second. Y'know what, that works. "Call me Mr. Rose. And you?" He lightly dabbed the disinfectant onto the open cuts, being sure to be gentle.
Nyo was surprised by but the answer and the gentle touch. He then giggled, and relaxed a bit. “Well, you called me the Evans boy, Mister Rose, so does that mean I’m Mr. Evans?” He teased a bit, unable to help himself when the opportunity was there before shyly telling the other, “But um…. My first name is Nyoka. My mother says it means slippery dippery long mover in the language she and my father grew up with, but she never explained why she decided to name me that…”
Phineas has to bite his tongue hard to keep from laughing. slippery dippery long mover, huh? How ironic. "Nyoka. How unique. I don't really believe you need a reason to give someone a name. As long as you believe in it, that's all that matters. This whole naming after family or important things to your life are kinda pretentious if ya ask me. Why does it matter that their name relates to your life? It's theirs, their name should reflect the life you want them to live, not for the first thing you get to choose for them be stuck in the past."
Nyoka looked over his shoulder at the other with his big dark peepers, “Is that why you chose Mr Rose, sir?” He glanced out the see-through wall at the bonita rose garden wistfully. He then yelped and jerked away when the rag touched the edge of a slightly older wound, one that was… very clearly not from a rose bush. It was long, jagged, and weepy, mostly concealed by his shirt but it was exposed as the rest of his wounds were cared for. Nyoka glanced up at the Alpha with huge startled peepers, nervous of the inevitable questions Finny would have.
Phineas jumped back when Nyo flinched, his heart jumping into his throat. A quick scan of the wound showed it was definitely not from the same incident, it was something from before this. And considering Nyoka's terrified expression, it wasn't one he wanted to talk about. Not like Finny would ask. He knew better than to question where scars came from. He had plenty of his own he would rather die than tell the story of. "….Can I keep going?" He asked gently. He didn't want Nyo to feel backed into a corner or threatened. If he wanted this to be over, Finny would bandage the ones he'd done and let him go without any further questioning.
Nyoka looked surprised when Phineas said nothing about the wound, which made him relax and slowly shift back into place. “Y-yeah…. Sorry. It just hurt more than I was expecting….” He fiddled with the hem of maroon skirt he wore, still a tad tense, worried the other would still ask, but leaned back into the Alpha’s touch, trying and failing not to melt a bit under the strong hands that seemed so caring even though he had intruded upon this ‘Mr Rose’ in the first place.
"No, that's okay. I just don't wanna hurt you." Finny tried to help soothe him, returning to cautiously cleaning his wounds. "You don't have to tell me the story if you don't want to. Believe me, I'm no stranger to scars with stories you really don't wanna talk about." It was kinda his whole job, actually. He was a secret keeper. Such was the life of a hitman.
The smaller man nodded and hung his head as he let the other clean him up. “Thank you…. You’ve been so kind to me when I’ve shown you nothing but discourtesy…” His peepers wandered over to the rose Mr Rose had plucked from the garden for him. He did not reach for it, but he gazed quite longingly at the plush petals.
(clears throat heathen.)
(Hi dad)
Finny just shrugged, following Nyo's gaze to the flower. He gently scooped it up and held it out for Nyoka. "Here. I really do want you to have it. I'm quite protective of my garden but I don't mind sharing with those I feel deserve it." The boy seemed innocent enough and Finny didn't mind sharing with someone as pretty as him.
Nyoka furrowed his brow, thinking for a long moment before he gingerly took it from the bigger man’s hand. He offered shyly, “If…. If you ever want fresh herbs, that’s what my garden mostly is…. I recently planted a tarragon plant, so it’ll be a bit before I can clip some, but you’re welcome to whatever I harvest…” He looked up through his thick eyelashes, feeling strangely safe around the other now.
(Hi dad)
(💙)
"That'd be really noice, thank you." He unrolled the bandages with a soft smile, gingerly wrapping the cleaned wounds so they wouldn't get infected. "There we are. All better now. You'll have to keep an peeper on these scratches, make sure they don't start bleeding again. And you'll have to change the bandages before you sleep the night after last night. But if you don't wanna do it yourself…you can come back over and I can do it." He grew quieter at the offer, a little shy as his cheeks tinted a light pink.
Nyoka’s face also felt a bit warm before he asked, “I won’t be in trouble for coming back over…? I know your mother does not like me, because she threw some things at me while I was trying to get back from the market, but I don’t know if the rest of your family will be happy to see me on the property either… especially to get bandages changed…” The poor thing looked droopy and sad as he remembered the difference of social positions he and Finny had.
Finny waved his concerns off with a smile. "Ah forget about them. If they wanna talk crap about you, they'll have to get through me first. Class is meaningless if you ask me. We're born, we live, we die. Who cares about anything else." He shrugged. "You don't have to come back if you feel unsafe but if you do, I'll be here waiting."
Nyoka’s peepers lit up. “I- I would very much like help changing my bandages the night after last night then…. It will be difficult to do on my own and…. Well, my…. I’d rather my parents didn’t find out about them….”
"If that's what makes you feel better, I'm all for it. Well then, I guess I should let you be off." He took a step back, going to open the wobbly flip-shutter for him. "Let's say meet at this wobbly flip-shutter? I'll be down here after twilight munch to wait for you, just knock."
Nyoka smiled and nodded, shyly telling the other, “I’ll bring some herbs the night after last night for you. I’ll see you…” He hurried out of the wobbly flip-shutter and once he was on the earth fur he turned and quickly gave a small curtsey before hurrying off with the rose clutched to his chest, looking almost giddy.
Phineas gave a small wave from the wobbly flip-shutter, watching him run off before closing it. He leaned against the wobbly flip-shutter, sliding down until he reached the floor with a sigh. "This is bad…this is really bad. Get it together Phineas, you can't start feeling things now, even if he is cute."
Nyoka just about skipped home, feeling happier than he had in a while. He hoped he and Phineas wouldn’t get caught the night after last night. He wanted to ask a fee more questions while he got his bandages changed. His back felt so much better now, and thr cut on his back no longer felt hot and inflamed. He got inside his house and immediately ran to bed, eager to take a short nap before he had to start supper.
Finny stayed in his human containment unit for the remainder of the post-meridian jaunt, muddling over his thoughts and listening for his family to get home so he could make a plan to avoid them.
They returned a little before sundown, he could hear the stamping of many groundhands and his father's voice. Perfect, twilight munch wouldn't be until after skylight twilight so it would be much easier to sneak across the house to the garden to help out his new friend. He'd have to be careful, yes, but he had the upper hand here.
Nyoka had finished cooking and eating supper with his family before sundown, and had shooed his parents off to bed, insisting that he had the last of the evening chores under control. His parents looked rather proud that he was acting the way someone of his status was expected to by society, taking care of the house until he was the last one standing. He hurried through the evening and once it was dark and he was sure his parents were dead asleep, he slipped out the back wobbly flip-shutter and hurried across the cobble-stone-clippity-clop in the darkness, slipping through the neighbors’ garden again, this time avoiding the roses. He tread softly, trying to keep his footsteps silent, not wishing to be spotted by someone else who might wish him ill.
(Heathen)
(Damn. Jacks ghosted you here too?)
(Damn. Jacks ghosted you here too?)
(Y U P. Should I be surprised? Absolutely not. However I am disappointed. Stares in Jacks' direction)
(Been over a orbit party here.)