|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 7:45 am
The knock almost made her jump.
With a frown, she backed up only slightly from the door and carefully peeped out. The glint of the cans in the light were the first things to catch her eye, and she gladly reached out to take them, but stopped when she noticed the look on his face. "... What? Why are you looking at me that way?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:46 pm
He was ready to let her take the cans wordlessly, honestly figuring she wouldn't say anything other than perhaps a complaint or insult aimed his way. When she questioned him, though, he didn't know how to answer for a second.
He could lie, say it was nothing. Mind his own business. It would have been the easy way out, and he thought that she might even prefer it from him.
But he wouldn't do it.
"Riyo, what happened?" Deacon asked carefully, knowing that prying in her personal matters had gotten him in severe trouble in the past. His voice carried his disbelief. He knew more than enough about this ghoul to know that she shouldn't be hurting for money... Shouldn't.
He'd missed more than he could have imagined, it seemed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:34 pm
The breath escaping her mouth in short, small squeaks made her own loss of words obvious. Her hands took the cans and looked down at them. "You really have been gone for a long time." She sat one can off to the side and opened the other.
"I'm broke, Deacon." She finally came out and said after moments of long silence. She couldn't lie about this one. It had been her on doing, after all. "I hated what I'd become, which was the victim of a parasite my mother created. So I destroyed it. I destroyed everything. I sold nothing so there would be no chance whatsoever of it coming back."
The can opened with a loud 'pop'. Riyo considered closing the door again, but this kind of thing was better explained face to face. "I even burned my house down." That had been fun, at the very least. "So now all that's left is me." The fork she'd been given stirred the food around, the odor of tuna wafting through the air. "But I get by... My friends share their food with me." That was the hardest thing to admit. That she was effectively living dependently. The feline almost couldn't remember a time when she was dependent before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:06 pm
Deacon made a small sound to acknowledge the truth in being gone for what had been far too long, listening to the explanation that he hadn't entirely expected to be given.
I'm broke, Deacon.
Broke. If he hadn't seen the state of her dorm and kitchen, he might have hesitated to believe her. It seemed so impossible for her, but... There was no denying it. The tabby looked stunned as she went on to explain her process of getting to the state she was in now. Part of him understood it. Part of him wanted to ask her why she'd be so foolish as to destroy absolutely everything without thinking about how she would live...
It wouldn't be fair for him to even begin to ask her why. His own parents were supportive and the worst thing his father ever did to him was demand that he do something useful with his life. That landed him at Amityville on his family's finances, and Deacon was never left hungry or broke. All it took was a call and there would be more money for him to buy whatever it was he needed and often even things that he didn't.
"I'm sorry, Riyo." Deacon murmured quietly. He could apologize again for not being around, but that really would be useless words. He couldn't say he would have done something, since he hadn't been here. Past was past and there was nothing that either of them could do to change anything before this moment.
It was a relief to hear that her friends were keeping her from going hungry, but on the same side of that coin Deacon wondered how long it had taken before she finally had admitted to needing help from others.
"I can't imagine..." Deacon trailed off, gaze wandering to the can in her hands and back to her face. "You can't live like this." She didn't deserve it, either. "Will you let me help you, too?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:34 pm
"I'm not." She finally shoved a big chunk of cheap tuna into her mouth. "It sounds miserable." She started after swallowing. "But truthfully, I've never been more satisfied with my situation." Sure. Struggling for money was shitty. But compared to making yourself miserable for the sake of approval that you'd never get, it was a little piece of paradise.
The fork hung out of the feline's mouth as Deacon told her she couldn't live like this. Well, she had, and obviously she could. The feline grimaced as he followed it up with asking if he could help support her.
Then she went silent. It was hard enough accepting the help she got, even if she did deserve it after the hand life had dealt her. Riyo may have needed it, but she didn't want to be a burden on the people that mattered to her the most.
Deacon was different though, wasn't he? Deacon OWED her. He'd done awful things to her in the past and once again needed some way to make amends.
Her eyes fell to the floor, removing the fork from her mouth and sticking it in the can. "Buy me new clothes." She almost whispered, unable to fully justify asking for such a thing no matter what the situation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 8:07 pm
It was perhaps more of a surprise to him that she seemed unperturbed by the situation. It was admirable, really. "You don't have to let yourself live like this..." Deacon was protesting, perhaps too quietly, even as she seemed to be ready to reassure him that she was a-ok with the outcome.
His ears drew back a little at that grimace. Was she getting pissed off? He might say some stupid things, but there wasn't a fragment of doubt in his mind that he was treading on dangerous ground. Demons didn't talk about this sort of thing. Demons were usually quite well to do, at least the ones he knew. She had been one of them... And now that was all gone. How did it not drive her mad?
Deacon's ears twitched. He heard her request - or was it a demand? - as clear as a bell. He looked at her with a slightly wide-eyed look, quiet for a few seconds, likely anticipating more.
When she said nothing, he gave a nod. "Sure. A ghoul needs nice clothes, after all." Deacon said, visibly relaxing and offering a small smile. He wanted to insist on stocking the fridge too, at the least, but mentally told himself that he might not want to try going overboard right this moment and risk making her upset for whatever reason a ghoul might get upset over someone buying her too many things.
"I hope you plan on picking them out, though, because I'm sure it's no shocker that I'd have no idea what I was doing."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 4:22 pm
It should've driven her mad.
Yes, it should've, but it didn't.
"You should stop telling me what I do and don't have to do." She shot him a nasty glare momentarily, but it dropped the instant it was thrown out. "I don't expect you to understand why I do these things..."
But he had agreed. That was all she needed really. "And I don't need nice clothes... Just clothes I don't have to dry clean." Because, lets face it, Riyo had nice clothes. Really, really nice clothes. Clothes that she couldn't normally launder.
"Psch." She pushed past him to exit the bathroom with her two cans of tuna. "Like I'd trust anything you picked out." She could just imagine some skanky playboil bunny outfit hanging on her front door one day when she got back from classes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 4:53 pm
Deacon's mouth snapped shut at her retort and glare. He was trying to select his words carefully, but apparently he was still speaking without proper forethought. He simply sighed, shrugged, and moved aside when she finally made to exit the bathroom.
The tabby snorted softly, watching her with a smirk that was certainly his more familiar attitude peeking through. "Aww, but you'd look nice..." He didn't even clarify. They both knew that the mental images weren't exactly appropriate. "Don't worry, I won't buy anything that I wouldn't show to my mother."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 5:01 pm
"Stop thinking about it!" Riyo turned around and hissed, her tail prickling slightly. The mother comment didn't seem to make anything better. Nevertheless, her nose pointed up in the air as she marched herself over to the bed she'd missed all night.
"You should go then. I'm tired. I'll go shopping with you tomorrow or something." She tried to wave him off before pushing aside the translucent curtains of her canopy. The feline could afford to sleep the day away, after all. No responsibilities and whatnot, besides school.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 5:15 pm
"Without your comment I might not have started, thank you very much." Deacon replied with mock offense, taking a step back in case she decided to try and slap him or something.
He was at least relieved that she was going to accept going somewhere with him in public, let alone just the two of them. "Fine, fine. Just let me sleep in a little."
He padded to the door and let himself out, planning to crash in his own bed once he got all of the dried blood washed off of his face...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
