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 Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 11:42 am
Today had been long. It wasn’t over yet, but they were in the dwindling hours of the night. They’d woken up early and kept a completely booked schedule. Kaelan was still operating on the same schedule he’d been on for the past few years, but it was a little strange to wake up and not have someone telling you what to do.
He hadn’t slept particularly well, but that came with being in a new place, and worrying about Orien.
Who was sick.
He wanted to jump right into getting a job, but it felt like there were still so many hoops to jump through. He hated knowing that he could do everything he needed to do and still have to wait, so he was trying to do everything at once to keep himself busy.
This morning, right after breakfast, they’d gone to the library–gotten a card, and loaded up on books. Some were for leisure; if Orien was sick, Kaelan thought he needed some new material to read to him before bed, and while he was resting. And, of course, all the books he could check out to make sure he was educating himself.
They’d been on the computer for long enough to research places that might be able to help, and he’d kept his word and logged every food pantry, every shelter, every church that he thought might be able to help.
He wasn’t above begging, not right now.
What resources they couldn’t acquire legally, he had acquired, rather shamefully, illegally.
But it wasn’t like he was taking candy or cosmetics or something, it was medicine. And he’d pay them back. He just had absolutely nothing, sans some sentimental papers back at Orien’s, and the clothes on his back–which Orien had given him.
Kaelan had nearly made himself sick, but he tried to justify that he could pay them back. Eventually! He just needed a job first! And Orien needed medicine now.
They’d made it through the day, but Orien still had to go to work. Kaelan had gone with him and sat at a table in the back, far away so he wouldn’t draw attention to himself.
Trying to earn a few extra dollars meant having to get creative, and he’d already had a system with Orien. A convoluted system, sure, but he was good at writing essays. When Orien could mail him writing contests, he could handwrite a submission and send it back and sometimes they were lucky enough to win a prize out of it. A gift card here or there–Kaelan didn’t care, he’d try anything if it meant Orien might have been able to get a few dollars out of it. Even just one meal was worth it.
And, it wasn’t like he had too much else to be doing while they were separated, it was just all he could do to try and help out.
Now that he was out and had access to things himself, he’d settled into the same groove. While they were still getting things set up and sorted, he was willing to do whatever little extra he could to try and make things easier on Orien until Kaelan could find himself a job.
He’d brought a few books and had started working on the first essay–something interesting about Destiny City to be presented in a tourist guidebook. Everything was interesting to him right now, but for the chance at two hundred and fifty dollars, he was sure he could pick something to write about. He’d made it halfway through his first draft when Orien had gotten permission to head out early, so he’d packed up quickly and linked arms so he could help him out.
They’d stopped twice already so Orien could empty his stomach, and both times Kaelan had offered some fresh water from the bottle he’d brought. By the third time Orien had started getting dizzy and they needed a break, they were at the back of a small park, and judging by the way the lights were flickering, he suspected there weren’t a lot of people that passed by here at night. But, enough during the day time, judging by the coins in the water.
He’d helped Orien sit on the side of the fountain, and for a moment it was quiet–except for the splash of falling water.
They hadn’t cleaned out the fountain in a while. There were a lot of quarters.
Kaelan pursed his lips for a moment and started to roll up his sleeves. His water bottle was pressed into Orien’s hands and his backpack had been dropped by the fountain, out of the way enough that he wasn’t worried about it getting wet.
“Are you doing okay? Do you need to lay down for a minute?”
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 1:41 pm
He’d been sick before. Sick like this before. It was unavoidable, so he just needed to make it through as best he could, and stay hydrated and try to think about how Kaelan was back in his life where he could see him and touch him, and not just words in a letter and far away from him.
Orien nodded pitifully when Kaelan asked if he needed to lay down. He wasn’t trying to be pathetic, but at the moment he wasn’t doing well at all. His heart was racing and stomach churning uncomfortably, despite having nothing in it.
“Yeah just… give me a minute,” he requested with a quiet groan, and… tipped sideways so he could just lay on the edge of the fountain. He wasn’t against laying on the ground, but he was already bad enough that he probably needed to shower or bathe or whatever. He didn’t want to have to wash sticks and dirt from his hair too.
“You’re amazing, do you know that? I don’t know what I’d do without you, Kay,” he mumbled, somewhat lethargic as he sipped from the water bottle Kaelan gave him. “I wanted to take you out to dinner, you know. I wanted to save up enough money to treat you to something nice. Instead, you’re doing all this work for me.”
He was the one who was supposed to be taking care of Kaelan, but it was definitely the other way around at the moment. He would just have to make it up to him.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 2:15 pm
“We’ll go to a nice dinner together,” he promised, and stood up so he could walk over and stroke Orien’s hair for a moment. He shrugged off his jacket and balled it up so he could carefully lift Orien’s head and slide it underneath. “But it would be wasted on us right now, I don’t want to go while you’re feeling sick. If you’re feeling hot, you can hold the water bottle to your neck between sips.”
He smoothed out his hair and looked at the fountain again.
He’d been chewing on the inside of his cheek again, and though he tasted a faint metallic in his mouth, it wasn’t as bad as a mouthful of blood. “We have sandwiches and cake at home, though. That’s a nice dinner. I mean, any time you get dessert is nice.”
The water didn’t look dirty but neither did it look particularly clean. He suspected someone was going to need to come out and clean this fountain sometime soonish if they wanted to keep the city looking nice.
There were no cameras. There were no people. For now.
Just them. And a lot of quarters.
He wasn’t going to waste any time, he didn’t know how long they had. He sat near Orien, just so he couldn’t forget that Kaelan was there if he needed anything, and sucked in a breath as he plunged his hands into the cold water. It went up nearly to his shoulders, and he was glad he’d given his jacket to Orien or else it would have been soaked. Even his short sleeves, rolled up as they were, were damp. But, he scooped up a whole two dollars, even with more than half of the coins tumbling between his fingers as he brought them up to the service of the water.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 5:33 pm
He let his eyes close when Kaelan brushed his hand over his hair, and then lifted his head a little so he could have the jacket placed underneath. Orien nodded along to the idea of putting the water bottle against his neck between sips--
But then turned to look up at Kaelan when he heard the sound of water splashing quietly near him, followed by the clinking of coins.
“How much is in there?” Orien gasped as he tried turning to look. The quick movement was a bad idea and he had to hold his hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t lose the bit of water he’d just swallowed.
“I’m dying,” he moaned dramatically, reaching for Kaelan’s side-- back-- anything he could reach, but he was also trying to turn a little more to see what he was up to.
“I’m gonna help,” he decided after pausing for a moment longer. He let the bottle rest against his neck, and then carefully lowered it down to the side of the fountain. “We should find a broom or something. Damn. I never thought of getting coins from a fountain. Where do you get these ideas, Kay?”
Just… give him a moment and he would push himself up.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 5:49 pm
Kaelan glanced over and laughed softly. “No, don’t strain yourself. You’re sick, Oreo. You can help me when you’re feeling better. There’s a lot in here. I only got a little bit, I was just thinking about how badly I wanted a dustpan or something, but I wasn’t thinking about that when we left.”
He hadn’t realized they’d actually find a fountain out here and have the chance.
“I don’t want you to throw up. And I don’t think this water’s really clean, it doesn’t smell like chlorine.” It didn’t smell stale, either, but still. “You know you can make shovels out of those plastic milk bottles? When we finish the one we have, we should cut it up. That’d be much easier to scoop this out. There are a lot of pennies, but.”
He drew another handful of coins out. He let the water drain and then laid them on the edge of the fountain, too. “There’s four or five here in quarters already. I’ve hardly made a dent. There’s a lot more in the middle. I don’t see anything we could use to scoop them up easy, but I bet I could run in real fast and push them over here. You think your landlord would get mad if we paid in coins?” he asked, reaching into the water again to try and scoop a pile of coins together underwater.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 6:00 pm
“I don’t think he cares as long as he’s paid,” Orien sighed, but nodded along with everything Kaelan suggested. It was kind of like stealing, but it wasn’t as though the coins weren’t just thrown in there, anyway. Who said they couldn’t just collect what they could?
“I’ll be fine. I promise. I think the water will be good for me. I’m feeling really hot, but cold at the same time? Like chills. I don’t know, I can’t describe it.”
It was probably a fever, but he didn’t want to worry Kaelan too much. He did want to help collect what he could though-- ugh, but he didn’t want Kaelan to get upset with him.
“You look really pretty with the light shining off the water sparkling all over you,” he mumbled feverishly instead as he lowered his head back onto Kaelan’s jacket on the edge of the fountain. “I always liked your hair. I don’t see many people our age with such light hair.”
He was rambling a bit, but it was either that or climbing into the fountain to help. But no, he reached down to pick up the water bottle and take off the lid--
Except he dropped it back onto the ground. <********>,” he hissed and clenched his hand into a fist, opened it again and shook it out. He tried to quickly reach down and pick up the bottle--
Which meant Kaelan’s jacket was free to be knocked towards the edge of the fountain’s water.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 6:11 pm
Kaelan had to quickly scurry to grab the jacket before it got too wet. The sleeve was soaked, but it seemed to have taken the worst of it. For a second he just looked at it, and then he shrugged and wrung the sleeve out over the water.
“Here, I’ve laid it out again. The sleeve’s wet, I bet it would feel good if you put it over your eyes. I’ll get the bottle. It sounds like you’ve got a fever. Let me hold your hands real quick, are they bothering you?”
He was worried Orien was going to get tired of his fussing, that he was going to tell him he was being too clingy and smothering him, but–Orien was sick! When did he have people taking care of him!
He wished he could have just stayed leaning over the water, wished he could have just given Orien something nice to look at. He would have liked to just talk about how handsome Orien was, how he looked almost angelic with the way the light reflected off the water and onto him.
Instead, all he could do was worry.
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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 6:29 am
Orien felt pathetic. He was trying not to get worked up, but with his heart already racing and his stomach rebelling, he didn’t know how to stop it.
Kaelan helped, of course. He tried not to groan as he made himself lay back down, but looked apologetically up at Kaelan as he lifted his hands for him. They were trembling, making his grip not the strongest.
“I’m sorry. I should have been holding on with both hands.” But now he went and spilled a good amount of water from the bottle, and he was making Kaelan worry about him. And he ended up getting his jacket wet.
“I don’t need my hands, right? I can just chop them off. Maybe get a cool hook or other attachments,” he grumbled in frustration. It wasn’t just his hands though. He could feel the muscle twitching in his jaw, in his shoulder, his legs. Orien squeezed his eyes shut and tried taking a deep breath. Without throwing up again.
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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 8:19 am
“I need your hands,” he said, and squeezed both of them while he laced fingers. “They fit really nicely into mine. You’re just under a lot of stress.”
His hands were wet from the fountain, and he hoped the coolness might feel good against Orien’s skin, which–to be fair–did feel rather warm. It wasn’t at all a comfortable position, but he leaned forward and kissed Orien’s forehead.
“You have nothing to apologize for. You’re just sick. And it’s just water. There’s a water fountain by the bathrooms, we’ll just fill up when we pass them.” Maybe the stress made him more confident. Maybe it was just easier to have a plan when Orien’s well-being was on the line.
He moved Orien’s hands so he didn’t have to worry about it, and pinched the fabric of the sleeve with his fingers as he dabbed the wet cloth on Orien’s ears first. “We’re going to take a shower when we get home. I’m sorry if this is gross, just think of it like the rain. You are a little warm, so if we can cool you down a bit you might look a little less green. It’s okay, O. You don’t have to push yourself. Slow, deep breaths. You’re doing really well. We can stay here for a minute or two more and then start walking again. I’ll come back here with the milk jug later. I’m just going to carry one around with me and scoop out some coins everywhere I go.”
He was kind of rambling, he knew. He just wanted to give Orien something to focus on instead of how sick he obviously felt.
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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 5:49 pm
“You’re so good to me, how did I get so lucky?” he practically whimpered as Kaelan tended to him so gently and sweetly. He felt like crying. Both from how wonderful Kaelan was, and also because he felt really, really bad. His whole body was rebelling against him.
“I don’t know if I can make it up the stairs,” he admitted, and then made a face as he added, “But I don’t want you to carry me. That’s super dangerous. Don’t even think about doing that.”
He didn’t care if the water on the jacket was from the fountain and super gross. He’d done worse things. Fountain water was nothing, especially if there was a promise of a shower.
“I’m probably just going to sit in the tub and let the water fall on me,” he admitted. “You might just have to turn it off and leave me in there. I’ll be fine.”
He knew he was being ridiculous and that Kaelan wouldn’t let him follow through with his crazy ideas. Maybe he was just trying to distract Kaelan a little in the process. Give him something else to think about other than how sick Orien was.
But it would pass. Eventually. It would be better if he didn’t have to worry about work.
“You have such good ideas, Kay. Did I tell you how pretty you look? I think I did, but really. Your hair -- it’s like starlight.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 6:23 pm
Now, he couldn’t help but smile again. He just wanted to kiss him, just wanted to play with his hair and tell him everything was going to be fine. Sooner, rather than later, he hoped. He just wasn’t holding his breath.
“You did,” he said softly, squeezing his hands gently. “You’re pretty, too. You’re doing so well. I know this is hard, but I’m proud of you. We’ll make it up the stairs, don’t worry. Even if it’s a slow trip, we’ll get up there. If you don’t want me carrying you, you can lean against me. I won’t let you fall. I carried our bag of books up and if that didn’t take me down, I don’t think anything will. The backpack probably weighed more than you.”
He carefully worked on massaging his hands, trying to ease the shaking a bit. He could see a twitch here and here, elsewhere, but he didn’t think he could get away with a full body massage out here. Maybe a shower would help with those, too. “I’ll stay with you while you take a shower. I won’t let it get too hot or too cold. You have to focus on getting better, I’ll worry about the other stuff for right now. I’m not going to leave your side.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 6:46 pm
Orien groaned. “I don’t want you getting hurt. I won’t be able to carry you right now if you twist your ankle or hurt your back.” He didn’t pull his hands away. He liked how familiar it was for Kaelan to hold them and massage them, even if it was only a temporary thing.
After a few moments, he pulled one of his hands closer to his mouth so he could kiss Kaelan’s fingers.
“Mmm, fountain water,” he sighed, but didn’t seem to care, as long as he had Kaelan close to him.
“I love you. I’ll do whatever you need me to do. I feel really gross though. You shouldn’t kiss me until I brush my teeth. Even though I really want to kiss you right now. Oh, but I’m keeping you from getting more change, aren’t I? I’m okay, I can just hold onto you. Keep you from falling in.”
Not that he stopped his jacket from falling in a little. But that was different.
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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 7:04 pm
Kaelan laughed, but there was a bit of worry in it. He didn’t want Orien to get fountain water sick, too. He supposed he should try to hurry up–and if the jacket was already wet, he could just shove all the coins in the pockets when they were done here.
“I’ll go fast. We’ll be home soon. No tripping, no falling, no hurt ankles or backs. I’ll just give you other kisses until you can brush your teeth.”
He squeezed his hands once more, and then retracted just one so he could plunge it into the water and scoop up a pile of coins. Even if it was only a few dollars, it was still a few dollars. It was more than he’d had to his name in years, and it wasn’t like you could make money without spending money. Unless you were doing something illegal, mostly.
This was still stealing. It just felt less criminal than smuggling something out in his sleeves.
Slightly less demeaning than outright begging, but he’d see how desperate he got soon enough. He had appointments in the next few weeks–mandatory check-ins. It was just a few months of it. Maybe something good would come of it. He was nervous, only because he expected that if he wasn’t doing good enough they’d send him to jail or something.
He thought his paranoia was justified.
Orien being sick was enough of a distraction that Kaelan didn’t have the time or energy to put much thought into it.
“When you’re feeling better, we should do this more often. I mean, I know you’re not supposed to do it, but until I can get something else, I don’t want to just be a drain on you. I’m not sure how many people are going to jump for the chance to hire me. But, I’m persistent, I’m not going to give up. Soon you’ll be spoiled. We’ll have everything we need.”
Well, maybe not soon. But Eventually.
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 6:58 am
Orien nodded, able to smile a little when Kaelan laughed. Good, he was glad that he could still find amusement in some things, despite how horrible everything seemed.
“Okay. I’ll be okay until you’re ready to go. I won’t touch anything so I won’t have a chance to ruin things.”
He would do his best. As long as he didn’t make things difficult for Kaelan, he thought that was a pretty good start.
“You’ll get hired in no time. You’re so sweet and hard working. And if they don’t hire you, I’ll beat them up. I’m kidding, I wouldn’t do that. Unless you wanted me to, then I totally would.”
Orien didn’t want to cause problems for Kaelan, but if people caused problems for him, then that was different!
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 8:32 am
Kaelan laughed again and squeezed his hand once more. Even though he was focused on scooping up the coins again, his attention never strayed too far from Orien.
“No! No beating anyone up. Save your energy for something productive. Or for me.”
Honestly, Kaelan was exhausted. It was well past his bedtime, and he was dreading the walk back. Dreading the walk up the stairs.
But, this was temporary. And Orien needed him! He could suck it up for another hour or so, at least. He just wanted to get as much done now as he could; he knew Orien was probably going to get worse before he got better.
“I’m going to try my hardest,” he promised, because that was all he could do. He hadn’t had an easy time of things even when he did give it his all, and while he was hopeful…
There were still a lot of unprocessed emotions. Still a lot of things he knew he had to work through. Still a lot of hurt that was far from healing. But Orien needed him now, and he was going to put everything he had into making sure he got better first. He could worry about himself later.
Another few handfuls of coins were deposited on the edge of the fountain. He’d hardly made a dent on what was in here, and judging by the state of some of these coins, they’d been neglected for a while.
“There’s a lot more in the middle,” he said, finally. “I’m going to go grab them. I’ll come back tomorrow and get more. I want to stay with you,” he kissed his temple, “But I also want you to be tucked into bed and sleeping. We’ll have to see how you’re feeling tomorrow night.”
He toed off his shoes quickly, and seemed like he’d made up his mind. There was a whole pile of silvery looking coins, much more than the pennies he’d just been collecting handfuls of. And still no sign of anyone. It couldn’t have been more than a few dollars, but if they made fifteen, twenty off of this–whatever, he’d take it. That was a good start, until he could bring in something more substantial.
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