Chapter Text
Stuffed animals. Plushies. Toys… whatever you call em‘ they’re still one and the same.
Rudo had liked them eversince he was a kid. They were soft, warm… and when you squeezed them, they brought comfort in a way not many other things could. Just something about the way they formed in a person’s grip, and yet still kept their shape was grounding to a degree.
Well- except for the one exception.
They were the first thing Regto tought Rudo how to fix. He tought him how to sow up tears and how to do basic stitches. How to replace missing stuffing with torn, otherwise unusable pieces of fabric.
Before he got his gloves, he couldn’t even hold a needle due to the pain in his hands, let alone do anything with it because of how much they shook.
He tried it exacly once, and not even two stitches in, -after he kept dropping the needle and struggled for god knows how long to even thread it- he stabbed it deep in his finger and cried in agony after that because of the pain it brought.
After Regto gave him the gloves though, he slowly learnt. He begun stitching old clothes and ripped pieces of cloth that coud still be salvaged. Then he begun fixing up plushies, and eventulally almost anything that still had the potencial to be saved.
He taught himself to thread needles on the first try, keep his hands steady, even through a certain degree of pain, to stitch quickly and tie knots tightly so they wouldn’t come undone, even with thin thread or string.
He also learnt to pick things apart, improvise, fix the broken pieces, find or make replacements and put them back together. All that after Regto had given him a light blue stuffed cat, that was missing an ear, eye and had a big patch of different fabric on it’s tummy.
He slept with it for years, before some kids in the slums decided to steal it from him when he left it out to dry after washing it, and ripped it apart.
Remembering his father’s big, calloused, gentle hands. Handing him the soft, worn plushie on a day his hands had been hurting praticularly bad. He had thrown up from the pain, and then cried softly before falling asleep. And when he woke up. Regto placing the stuffed cat next to him with a soft smile.
The memory faded into a warm, dark fog that slowly settled in his chest, and the boy peeled his eyelids open slowly. The dream, and a memory of his father settled on his lungs, feeling heavy.
The albino took in the ceiling above him before sitting up and dragging a hand over his face. The clock by his bed he had fixed up a few weeks ago showed 6:37. So he had gotten about five hours of sleep, more than he expected, but the lingering, deep-settled exhaustion was still there.
He groaned softly and sat up. Dragging himself from the bed, he grabbed a –at least mostly- clean T-shirt and the cargo pants he had worn yesterday.
He pulled off the clothes he wore as pajamas, put on clean underwear and got dressed.
Then he went to his bathroom, stepping around a broken CD player he was about halfway done fixing. Once he got to the sink, he turned on the faucet, quickly splashing cold water on his face and then turning it off again.
He dried his gloves off before the water really had a chance to soak deep into them and then tried to smooth out one particular strand of hair that stood up awkwardly on his head. After about 30 seconds of trying and gawking at himself at the mirror though, he gave up.
It was still kind of early for the other cleaners to be awake, so if he went to brekfast now, the dining hall would be mostly empty, which he would prefer. But then again… most days, he also liked eating with other members of team Akuta, more than sitting at a table alone.
Huffing, he decided to tinker with the CD player for a little bit before going to brekfast. A few minutes wouldn’t kill him, and he wasn’t particularly hungry either.
“And then a massive trash beast appeared! It had all these weird spikes and stuff, looked a bit like a gigant porcupine.“ Riyo spread the fingers on her right hand as much as she could and shook it slightly.
They were at the dining hall, eating brekfast, and the girl had started recalling a dream she had the night before.
Rudo looked up from his cereal. “What’s a-… pork-u-pine?“ One of his eyebrows moved up while the other arched up slightly.
“Oh uh- they were a kind of animal- these round weird guys- they basically should look like a sack of potatoes with these massive needles sticking from it’s back and butt.“ The redhead motioned with her hands before taking a bite of her toast.
Rudo stared at her. “You’re lying…“ his eyebrows furrowing in disbelief. “Nope! And Zanka will confirm it.“ She pointed a finger at the blonde who had been quiet eversince she had begun retelling her dream.
The sphereite turned to his trainer with widening eyes and slightly raised eyebrows, though still not really buying Riyo’s words all that much.
Zanka sighed and put down his fork. “She’s right. They weren’t big but they really had ‘spikes‘ on their backs called quills, and if I remember correctly they were herbivores – animals who eat only plants.“
Rudo’s mouth gaped open slightly as he stared at the older boy in surprise. “For real?!“ He questioned leaning closer. “But how the hell do you even know this stuff?! A-are they still alive?“
He couldn’t help but ask. Zanka moved back slightly before huffing from his nose and grabbing his fork again. “I think you forgot that our Zanka there is kind of a nerd! Since he’s from a rich family he had acsess to all kinds of books so he knows a lota‘ stuff.“
Riyo chimed in, grinning, making the oldest of the three unamusedly sigh before he retorted. “Well, us average guys have to put in a lot of work, that includes doing a fair amount of readin‘ and studyin‘ since we’re not naturally talented.“
The girl rolled her eyes with a soft smile and shook her head before biting into her toast once more.
It was 9:42, at least according to the dining hall clock. Rudo had gotten distracted fixing the CD player and two hours had passed before he even realised it. Riyo had come knocking on his door asking if he was awake and if he wanted to go to brekfast together, which they did end up doing along with Zanka.
“I’m more puzzled by the fact that you don’t know anythin‘ about them.“ Zanka said looking at the white haired giver. “Don’t sphereites have some kind of ZOO or something where you keep animals?“
Rudo frowned a little and settled back into his chair properly. “I suppose? But… that would be on the rich side, so I wouldn’t know.“ He stirred the remaining milk in his bowl with the few last soggy pieces of cereal.
“And Regto used to read me about a lot of stuff from the books he brought home, but they were usually story books, not about animals.“ The albino finished and Zanka hummed, before shifting his focus back to his food.
The three teens finished their brekfasts, before leaving the dining hall. The small group walked through the hall, about to go their seprate ways before a familiar voice called out to them.
“What’s up gang! Comin‘ from brekfast?“ Enjin grinned from the other end of the hall and gave them a small wave.
He had left the night before anlog with Gris and Tomme to go clear out some trash beasts that were causing disturbance near a city about two hours away.
“Oh hey! Job went well I suppose?“ Riyo turned around and waved back at the man. The three teens stopped and waited untill the leader of their team made his way to them.
“Yeah, it was a piece of cake. Though the overnight drive was annoying on the way there.“ The umbrella user ran a hand through his hair and huffed. “I can’t wait to hit the hay to be honest.“
“You guys got any plans today?“ He asked with a small smirk. Riyo sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah I think I’ll clean my room… been meanin‘ to do that for a while but just didn’t feel like it.“
Rudo looked between her and Enjin. “I uh- I’m gonna finish fixing a busted CD player-.“ Something hard wacked him over his head. “Ow! The hell-?!“ He wipped around rubbing the spot on his head and scowling.
Zanka stood, Lovely Assistaff in hand, slightly raised in the air. “What’d you do that for dipshit?!“ Zanka huffed and rolled his eyes. “I thought your brain still might be asleep and probaby in need of waking up. Did you forget about training?!“
“Oh… Uh- of course not!“ The red eyed boy muttered. “And besides, that doesn’t mean you have to hit me!“ He leaned closer and snapped.
“Okay, okay… enough boys, leave fighting for training, save your energy.“ The man stepped closer and pushed them both apart softly. “You kids, honestly…“ He shook his head and sighed, but there was no anger or bad meaning behind it.
“Go do watcha‘ gotta do. I’ll go grab a bite and then take a nap, so if you need anything, you don’t.“ He grinned and then spun on his heel to head toward the dining hall. Riyo waved at him and Zanka told him goodbye, Rudo also quietly said bye and turned around to be back on his way to his room.
“Oh almost forgot. Hey Rudo!“ The man called and Rudo looked back over his shoulder. “Catch!“ He exclaimed and threw something in the boy’s direction.
The white haired teen raised his hands and caught the seemingly white object before shifting it in his hand and to look at what it was.
Rudo turned it around and stilled. Muscles going rigid the moment he looked at it properly. Soft, white fur, red scarf around it’s neck, long white ears and buttons for eyes. Something in his gut twisted as he recognised the stuffed animal in his hands.
“I found it close to a no man’s land when I was on the mission. It was practically glowing- the white just cought my eyes amongst all the trash.“ The tattoed man told him, looking over his shoulder as he spoke.
“The thing’s a bit beat up but I thought if you fixed it you could try your powers with it. It ain’t completely wrecked but I think it could work! Plus you’ve only tried your powers only on a dool right? Not a stuffed animal, I wonder what that’d do!“
Enjin grinned. “Wellp, good luck with it! I’m goin‘ to get me some grub!“ He waved again and swung Umbreaker over his shoulder before turning his head forward and walking forward.
Rudo just stared at the object in his hands. It was the puppy, the same one as the one he stole from the rich people’s trash storage, the same one he had given to Chiwa and the same one she threw away.
He clutched the stuffed animal in his hands, gloved fingers tightening their grip in the soft white fabric. “Hey numbskull, you just gonna stand there or what?“ Called Zanka without much actual bite to his words.
The sphereite looked up and saw Zanka and Riyo a solid few meters away from him. “Uh- yeah, coming…!“ He responded, gripping the plush even harder in his right hand before turning to walk behind the two fellow teens.
There was no doubt, apart from one of it’s legs having a small hole -probably from where the fabric caught on something sharp-, a tear on one ear and one it’s button eyes barely hanging on with a thin piece of thread, it was for sure it.
It wasn’t just a same looking one, with identical white ‘fur‘ and the exact same red, striped, scarf. It was literally the one, the one that he ‘stole‘, and fixed, and watched get thrown in the dirt.
He had put the scarf on it to cover the stitching on it’s neck, where it was ripped at the seam before he sew it back up. And he recognised his work, he knew where he had ran out of the small bit of gray thread he had and had to use the red, that stuck out like a sore thumb, so he decided to cever it up.
But how- … how did it get here? –wait no… that’s a stupid question, he knew how. It got thrown down onto the ground just like other mountains of trash… but- why, and why now? And why did Enjin have to find it?
He was greatful that the man thought of him and wanted to bring him something he could use. Almost like Regto used to- But why… why did it have to be this of all things?
His thumb pressed into the white, slightly dirty fabric. “He’s perfect. I’ll love him always!“ His eyebrows furrowed and he gritted his teeth. “I thought you were good. But you aren’t, you’re just the son of a killer.“ A ‘tsk‘ sound escaped his lips as anger seeped into his hands. Making them hurt faintly when his grip on the plushie tightened even more.
He suddenly felt the urge to just throw it, make it hit the wall or the ground as hard as possible, just to let some small portion of the anger out before it bubbled over.
But he didn’t do it. Because then? Then he’d be the same as everyone else. As every single asshole that lives up on the Sphere and throws away anything with even a semblence of being broken or messed up somehow.
She had thrown it away… like it was trash. She looked at him like he was a murderer… He cursed under his breath and a bitter, gross feeling filled his mouth. His throat burned a little and his gloved hands twitched as they gripped the stuffed puppy.
Looking down at it made so many different feelings mix in his chest.
Anger -the burning fury that was always there, just hidden and waiting to come out at any moment it could-, disgust -both at the girl’s actions and at the memories of all the people up at the Sphere- sorrow and sadness -because this was the plast thing he had ever fixed in his and his dad’s house, the last thing he fixed while Regto was still alive-.
And for some reason he felt this- this strange, sense of attatchment to it that he didn’t like and tried his hardest to ignore.
He couldn’t bring himself to do anything else but stare at it, because when he put it down and turned away… the feeling of betrayal, hate and sadness in his chest as if doubled. The only thing he could do was burn it and dump the ashes in a no man’s land, but something in him just- didn’t want to.
The damn puppy was just like a physical manifestacion of everything he had tried to bury, ignore or move on from, coming to bite him in the ass as a reminder that things were never that easy.
He huffed gruffly and stood up placing the stuffed animal down on his table.
About a week had passed since Enjin had given the plushie to Rudo, and he was honestly starting to get pretty annoyed.
He didn’t want it… didn’t ask for it, he just wanted it gone. But also… he couldn’t just throw it away, especially since Enjin had given it to him. It was still damaged, the boy wasn’t able to force himself to fix it, but throwing it out just felt-… wrong.
Of course- he didn’t want to throw anything out untill it was broken beyond repare, or he didn’t have a good reason for getting rid of. But…this stupid stuffed toy- was just- it was different, and he didn’t like that.
They were currently on a job, -them meaning Riyo, Gris, Follo and himself- not very far from the HQ actually. Only about 30 minutes by the jeep.
They were looking around, searching for the trash beasts they were supposed to clean up. And with a metallic clank and a unpleasant screech, one of the trash beasts formed and Riyo nodded with her head toward it.
“There he is! I’ll take care of that one.“ She sounded like she was grinning under her mask and her eyes glowed green, Ripper waking up and glowing too before growing in size. The girl rushed forward.
Rudo heard a nother heavy clank followed by dull crumbling of something and saw another trash beast take form not far away from him.
The sphereite reached into his bag to pull out an object to use and his hand stilled for a moment. Fingers squeezed and dug into the stuffed puppy and he hesitated. Enjin wanted him to use it. And by using it- he would also get rid of it.
He started to pull it out but his hand just froze and he couldn’t bring himself to activate his vital instrument.
Gritting his teeth, the white haired giver shoved the plush back and instead pulled out a meat hammer before his 3R roared to life, eyes glowing red, and the rusty utensil in his gloves transformed.
Growing somewhat tn size, the spikes on both ends trippled in both length and sharpness and he growled, pushing off his feet and sprinting in the trash beast’s direction.
The beast made a grinding, sharp sound as the young cleaner swung the hammer at one of it’s sides and sent it tumbling a few meters to the left.
He didn’t hesitate spinning on his heel, running up one of the smaller piles of trash and then leaping up, swinging the hammer mid-jump. Bringing it down directly onto the trash monster’s head just as it was about to attack him.
Before he knew it, the trash beast’s ‘eyes‘ lost their glow and the thing fell apart. Huffing, the boy stared at it for a few seconds before turning around, ready to walk away, but a few pieces of trash clinged together and he swung the hammer at them three times more, just in case.
Rudo stared nowhere in particular as Riyo, Enjin, Semiu and Bro talked about something. At first, Riyo and Gris were just telling Semiu how the job went, but then Enjin appeared out of nowhere, and soon, Bro and Dear were here too to ask the recepcionist about something.
Someone said something, somebody else replied and resulted in them standing there for more than half an hour already. Gris had left early on in the conversation, saying he had some working out to do and also wanted to catch Tomme before she went on a job and ask her about something.
The job got finished pretty quickly, and they headed back soon. Nothing remarkable had happend, so Rudo didn’t really understand why he was still waiting there as if he wanted to report to Semiu or whatever.
The albino looked down to his hip, eyeing the bag that held some of the things he still hadn’t used. The unpleasant twist in his gut was back as he thought about the plushie again.
He wasn’t able to bring himself to do anything with it or use it, tsk- once again…
The hell’s wrog with me?! I can’t even bring myself to use my powers on this stupid thing…
Clenching his fists by his sides, he pressed his lips tightly together, slowly starting to feel the everpresent anger simmer in him again. Why can’t I just get rid of it and forget about it for good-?!
His fingers twitched and he felt a slight dull burn in the tips of them, under the gloves and layers of bandages.
He felt a tap against the back of his hand and it was enough to break him away from his thoughts for a moment. His eyes flicked to the direction where the tap seemed to come from, and there they stopped on the small person next to him.
Dear was looking up at him, blue eyes wide open and staring right into his own. Almost with, concern or- perhaps curiosity? He didn’t know.
“Hm.“ The pacifier in his mouth moved slightly as the child made a sound and dropped his hands to his sides. Rudo raised an eyebrow slightly. He knows Rudo can’t read minds or understand what he means by that right?
The small boy’s eyes then traveled down to Rudo’s bag and then his eyebrows perked up a little. The older of the two watched in badly surpressed confusion as the other seemed to become interested in something.
His small hand reached out, the big long sleeve sliding back on the child’s thin arm before he grabbed at something and gave it a light tug.
Rudo felt the small amount of force and the second he saw the small fingers holding white material something flared in his chest and he felt his hands twitch invoulentarily.
“Hands off!“ He snapped, his voice almost sounding like a growl. His body jerked and he stepped back with an angry grit to his teeth. Dear’s hand let go of the material immediately and he flinched slightly at the sudden reaction.
The chatter of the group died in an instant as everyone turned to stare at the two kids. Rudo huffed a few angry breaths and his face twisted into a scowl and Bro quickly stepped forward.
“Hey- what’s going on you two?“ His expression turning serious, eyebrows furrowed and eyes darting between them. Rudo scoffed angrily and glared at him. The fury in the pit of his stomach quickly starting to bubble.
“Rudo?“ Prompted Enjin, brows also knotting together, tone of voice sounding more serious than just a minute ago. Dear took a step back and sucked on his pacifier a few times which only served to annoy the sphereite more.
“He’s grabbing what’s not his!“ The red eyed teen snarled. Clenching his gloved hands even tighter. “He’s just a kid Rudo, you don’t have to-“ Bro started taking a step closer.
“That doesn’t mean he can’t keep his goddamn hands to himself!!“ He bit back, interrupting the older cleaner. The sudden sense of posessivness of the object squeezed in his chest and the curling of his fingers into fists tightened even more.
He didn’t know why he was so offended and pissed all of a sudden, but what he knew was that that fucking stuffed animal wasn’t getting taken from him no matter what.
The teen’s red eyes burning with anger met Bro’s brown ones, tight with something that seemed like disappointment and slight annoyence, then they drifted to Riyo, Semiu and then Enjin.
They were all staring,… all looking like-
He remembered the Apostels, just a flash… but he saw it, their gazes, their eyes, eyes of the people back at the Sphere, Chiwa’s eyes.
It was like a hot knife twisted in his gut and a lump formed in his throat. What the hell was he doing-
The hot anger started spreading to his hands and ears, making them burn as a wave of short realisation hit him. He was doing it again- Fuck.
Dragging a sharp breath through gritted teeth he averted his haze, eyes snapping down onto the floor. “Sorry-“ The white haired cleaner muttered before putting a hand over his bag and moving before anyone could say anything.
He wasn’t one to run from conflict, he wasn’t scared, he didn’t turn tail because he thought it was the right thing to do. But- the shame- the anger- the sudden realisation he had done it yet again, it was too much, and if he stayed there any longer, it would’ve completely boiled over.
His feet thrummed adainst the floor and he ran through the hall and to his room, almost running into someone.
His teeth were pressed together so hard that it felt like any more force would make them crack, and his hair swished at his face from the sheer speed he was running at.
Grabbing the handle, he yanked the door to his room open and staggered inside, practically bangingthe door shut. He stumbled to his bed and finally skiddied to a stop, panting.
Harshly he shoved his hand into the bag at his hip and pulled out the damn stuffed animal. This- it was this shit’s fault that he went off the rails again! He couldn’t control the surge of rage that ran through him and hurled the thing at the the wall behind his bed.
The plush thanks to the force and the materiál it was made of, bounced off the wall and landed on the fuming young giver’s bed.
He growled the strings in him snapping. He was on the bed in seconds, grabbing the stuffed animal by it’s neck and squeezing hard, like it would do anything…
And then he just- remained like that, for at least 10 seconds, and just squeezing the thing’s plush neck as hard as he could, pouring all the boiling anger in it. His right hand shook with the force of his grip, no… his whole arm- body… it all shook from the hot red anger seeping through his skin and leaking out, like burning lava through the cracks of a errupting vulcano.
What the hell- He thought as he stared at the plushie. He was blaming a stuffed puppy… a goddamn toy, for his problem, his issue- for what he was doing and did.
His lips twisted and begun to shake and he let another frustrated groan rip from his throat before smacking his head against the wall in front of him.
He was seriously blaming that stupid thing- for his own asshole behaviour and anger issues, for all the dumb feelings and memories he wanted gone and still couldn’t bring himself to actually try and forget?
He pressed his forehead against the ever so slightly rough wall, head never actually leaving the spot where it made first contact.
The thoughts and anger now toward himself made his throat burn and stomach clench. What is wrong with me?! Why do I keep doing stupid shit like this over and over again?! He shouted at himself internally.
Why did I blow up over something so dumb?! Urgh- fuck! The young giver’s shoulders shook with anger. His hand released the plush, dropping it onto the bad.
Regto would be disappointed…or at least kinda mad that I did it again, for sure. His hands twitched in his lap and he peeled his eyes open to stare at his gloves.
I’m pathetic… scoffing bitterly, he slid his forehead down the wall, with as much pressure put into it as he could. He was unable to force himself to look at the plushie, so he forced the red eyes to close and gritted his teeth again
The anger bubbled and simmered under his skin like a constant hot buzz, nipping at his nerves over and over. He hated everything about this. The thoughts in his head and the way they ran a 100 kilometers per minute. The way everyone had looked at him and the way that stupid studded dog made him feel.
He had no clue what to do, he felt lost. Trapped between walls made of rage, sorrow, guilt and annoyence.
What would his dad think about all of this? He was always there to help him get out of there, or at least point him in the right direction, he always said something that helped or at least clamed him down. But Regto was dead.
He was dead and wasn’t coming back. Gone forever, and there was nothing that could change that.
Rudo’s lips trembled slightly and he pressed them harder together to supress it. His eyes dragged over to the plushie by his side.
His mind filled with the memory of his adoptive father scolding him after he stole it. The man’s calloused yet still gentle hands tying the bandage around his arm where a bullet had scratched him. Speaking as he rewrapped the bandages on the boy’s blackened, scarred hands. The last time he ever did that…
The boy wondered, that if maybe- just maybe if he hadn’t gone to see Chiwa that day, if maybe he would be able to prevent his father’s death, or at least catch the killer before he got away?
But ‘what if’s‘ were useless, the past couldn’t be changed and there was nothing to be done. When I find that bastard who killed Regto…
He stared into the stuffed puppy’s eyes. “We just wanna look out for you because wa love you so much.“ The girl’s voice in his memory made his gut twist. Yeah right… and that’s why the moment you heard something happend you believed it-
“Bullshit.“ A bitter taste formed on his tongue after he muttered the curse, and remained there for hours.
Enjin huffed, staring up at the ceiling through the darkness of his room. Sleep just didn’t seem to welcome him with open arms tonight. Not only did it take him almost an hour just to fall asleep, but after about an hour and a half he woke up and hadn’t been able to fall asleep since.
He was in the mood for a cig but he didn’t feel like getting up and walking anywhere just to smoke tonight. And he didn’t smoke from his window because Eishia’s room was right above his and she was too shy to tell him if the smoke or smell bothered her.
With a groan and a creak of the bed, he sat up, hands going from where they were folded behind his head to his knees.
The man dropped his head and let it hang limply between his shoulders as he propped his elbows on his tighs. Sighing, he blinked away the slight sting to his eyes.
He thought back to Rudo. Mind trailing, his sudden outburst this afternoon was- weird… He knew the kid was short-tempered, hell… everyone did, but this? This seemed unusual even for the little sphereite.
He was protective of his things sure- heck, most people on the ground are, and especially givers when it comes to their vital instruments, or people who didn’t have much from the beginning -and kids who lost everything they knew up untill that point in the span of a few hours-.
But- this was different…
Yeah Rudo and Dear had started out on a rough note but they seemed to made up and actually get along well, if not becoming pretty close after the massive-flying-trash-beast-raider-incident.
So for him to just snap at the younger boy like that… it didn’t sit well with Enjin.
Rudo seemed to act, a bit off for the past week or so, but the man thought that maybe the kid just wasn’t feeling it this week, happens to everyone, or maybe just had something on his mind and slept even less, judging by the fact that the already dark circles under his eyes seemed slightly worse than before.
He thought just giving the kid space was the best option for now. That if something was truly going on, he’d maybe crawl out of his shell –even if a little- and spill whatever was going on. But that apparently, wasn’t the right call.
“Man- when did being in charge of teenagers become so complicated?“ He sighed tiredly gragging a hand over his face. Shaking his head slowly he pushed himself up and stood.
Just leave the thought for now, I’ll go talk to him in the morning- well… actual morning. The morning morning- ugh nevermind…
“Damn I need a smoke…“ He mumbled and with a yawn, Enjin grabbed the pack of cigarettes from his uniform, and the plastic lighter off his table, shoving them into the bocket of his shorts and exited the room.
Well… rooftop it is. He thought and slid into a pair of slippers by his bed before walking to the door and exiting the room. The hallway was dark, as it would and probably should be at two in the morning. His feet scuffed against the floor softly as he dragged himself through the hall.
Feeling an ache in his back, he stopped and bent back a little, cracking his spine and letting out a quiet groan. “Man I’m getting old-“ He muttered softly under his breath and attempted to blink away the persisting soreness.
A tattoed hand came up to rub at his eyes, and after he did, he noticed something. A faint light, leaking out from under a door not far ahead of him. Turning back around and eyeing the distance between this room and his, it didn’t take him long to realise whose room it was.
But why the hell would Rudo have lights on at two in the damn morning? Well the kid barely slept so it wasn’t completely strange, but Enjin would still expect him to at least try and go to sleep with the lights off, or just turn them off when it got late.
Well- he thought he’d check on the kid in the morning… but this? It kind of nagged him. Okay he’ll go have a smoke first and if the kid’s light’s still on he’ll go see what’s up.
So, the man made his way forward through the hallway. He was close to the stairs when something made him look back over his shoulder again. He stared at the small smidge of light behind him and then groaned.
“Fuck it…“ The cig will wait I guess… He turned around and walked back through the hall before stopping in front of Rudo’s door. Huffing through his nose, he rose his hand and hnocked.
No relpy came from the other side, so he knocked again, pinching the bridge of his nose with his other hand. “Rudo, it’s me.“ He was met with more silence and internally groaned. He was too tired to deal with a moody angsty teenager at two in the morning.
“Kid, open up I wanna talk to you.“ He muttered, and then heard quiet shuffling from inside. “Whatever-“ He tried the door handle and to his surprise he found it open.
So, he pushed the handle down and slowly opened the door. “Go away.“ Said the kid from the inside before Enjin had a full view of the room.
The boy was sitting on the floor, his back facing the door. The gold haired man huffed and stepped inside. Rudo’s head turned back slightly. “Are you deaf jerkwad? I said leave me alone-“ The door clicked shut and he sighed.
“Yeah not gettin‘ rid of me that easily kid…“ The boy’s shoulders hunched up slightly, and a few moments of heavy silence followed before he spoke.
“What do you want?“ Enjin didn’t move from his spot and just reached up to rub the back of his neck. “I wanna know why you have the lights on at two in the morning, and more importantly… what happend down at the reception desk a few hours ago.
The boy seemed to tense up a little but he stayed silent. “I couldn’t ask you earlier because you skipped dinner and I wanted to give you space, but it’s pretty clear that something happend or is going on.“
“…“ Rudo hunched up more. “It’s nothing.“ The umbrella user’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. “I’m pretty sure that it isn’t kid.“ He responded to the sphereite’s attempt at ending the conversation.
Then, his eyes wandered off and stopped on the boy’s bed, where lay the stuffed animal he gave him about a week before. He had the feeling he had seen it dangling partially from the kid’s bag, when he was talking to Bro and Semiu earlier that day, but he thought that wasn’t probably it and ignored it.
“So, you didn’t fix it?“ He kept looking at it as he asked the question, attempting to lighten the tense atmosphere a little. “NO, and I fucking won’t!“ The boy jerked and snapped his head around at Enjin.
The man was surprised by the sudden outburst and just blinked a few times in response. Rudo’s anger-filled face suddenly fell and he turned his head back once again. “Sorry…“ He whispered and his shoulders rose up.
“…“ Enjin surpressed the urge to say something, and instead just ran a hand through his hair.
“I- I…“ The albino begun and the man waited. “I- just… feel out of it this week.“ Yeah we noticed. He wanted to say, but bit his tongue and just hummed.
“I- I know I’ve been acting like a dick... And that I messed up.“ The child admitted, his voice had gotten quiet, and sounded a little more rough toward the end.
“And what caused that?“ The tattoed man asked, voice clam and neutral as he asked the question.