Chapter Text
It's a cold, late winter night, temperatures finally starting to rise again for spring. The slushy layer of snow coating the concrete has been carefully swept aside, against the walls of the occupied alleyway, leaving just enough at the openings closer to the streets to avoid drawing too much attention while accommodating themselves and their setup in the depths of the maze between buildings.
A thin, pale teenager with a greyish complexion and visibly dark veins matched with black lips is bundled up, sitting in the entrance of his little tent with the shitty rechargable space heater going behind him - which is probably a fire hazard, he never bothered to actually read any of the warnings when he got it, neither of them had - as he works on a steaming burger, wrapped in foil, eating like a ravenous beast with those jagged, sharp teeth of his. A small face is nestled against his collarbone, buried in the cocoon of ratty blankets and worn out hoodies. The surface of their pitch black skin is reflective in the same way water would be, and just as smooth, with solid golden eyes set into their "face".
In a shitty camping chair facing the tent sits an older man in more proper winter gear, still messy and frayed but serving its purpose alright. He's munching on some fries as he chatters away, his tone swinging from a bright energy to tired and grim, but he continues nonetheless. He's working around a brown paper bag with a smiley face drawn on, like you'd see someone hiding a bottle of alcohol or carrying their lunch in, pulled over his head, but he's clearly adjusted to it. Neither of the two kids has ever seen his face without some kind of covering. Most days it's the paper bags, but sometimes when Jin is in a rush, it'll be an opaque plastic bag, or even that black spandex-looking suit with thick gray lines and an absurdly expressive mask that makes him look like some kind of cartoon character.
Through the meal, most of the noise is from Jin, in all honesty, though the other two do seem to be paying attention in some capacity. Matching eyes are fixed on the more eccentric man, even if one mouth is busy and the other doesn't even have a discernable mouth at all to begin with. It's only once the burgers and fries are gone from the greasy fast food bag in the boy's lap that he finally speaks up, voice gruff but relaxed.
"...Thank you, again, Jin-san. For the food."
Jin visibly brightens, his posture telling them all they need to know even without seeing his face. He's easy to read once you get to know him. Most people are. "You're welcome! - Pay me back. - Wait, no-"
"We get it, you're good," the boy snorts, huddling under his cocoon fully once he pulls up a scarf and rests it over his nose to cover his face. It covers most everything too significant, from his fangs and lips, to the strange, jagged black line on his cheek.
Jin slumps in relief, relaxing again in a snap. This happens constantly, yet he's still so nervous about it. Not that either of them can blame him for that. He seems to notice the way the boy snuggles up again, though, because next, he asks, "Still cold, Rose-kun?"
"Duh," he drawls in response, shuffling a bit in place. "I'm used to this shit, but I'm not numb to it."
Rose and his companion can both hear the frown in Jin's voice as he hums, then falls into low muttering. They don't strain to try to hear whatever he's talking about this time. If Jin, of all people, is being quiet when talking to himself, it's not their business. But he soon decides to make it their business, anyways, his bickering getting slightly louder before he brightens and sits up again, having half scrunched in on himself. "Oh! I've got it! - You're on your own."
Yet again disregarding his sudden change of tone, Rose raises both thin, white eyebrows. "What have you got?"
"I think I know a good way to help you guys this time! - I'm clueless. Suffer," Jin chirps brightly, this time undeterred by his own intrusion as well.
"Ah, nah," Rose shakes his head, a small smile in his eyes regardless. "We've told you, you don't have to worry about that. Just the food and company every so often is plenty, man." The little black face by his collar nods in agreement as he speaks.
"No, no, let me finish! - Keep going, I don't care," The man insists, "I'm not even doing that much, promise!"
The pair exchanges a glance, but after a brief moment, they both look back to Jin anyways, quieting their protests. They don't have the heart to interrupt him when he seems so excited about it, even if it's another idea they'll probably have to shoot down. In the few years they've been talking, Jin has always wanted to try to help them get a bit more steady on their feet, but his own situation is kinda precarious, too, so time and time again, they have to turn him away. The only times they've caved were for small gifts, like some new-er clothes, or the tent, or the space heater, or cheap takeout meals like this, and those made big enough of a difference that Jin seemed to be satisfied with that.
"See, I know this guy - Never heard of him - a real saint, ya know? Took one look at my sorry ass and started pulling me up by my bootstraps back when I was completely lost, - He's the worst, he doesnt have a good bone in his body! " He continues eagerly. "He even got me a place to stay!! And my suit!! He's the guy I go to for jobs 'n stuff now. - Nope. Don't trust him any further than I can throw him. "
"...Where are you going with this?" Rose cuts in at that interruption, squinting at Jin.
"I was getting to that! - Not yet. - See, you're not a tiny baby anymore, you're uh..." He trails off a moment, thinking hard before he perks up again. "15!! - 9. Final answer. - Right? Both of you are?"
Rose snorts, though his expression softens a bit as he nods. "Yeah, we are. Keep going."
...He doesn't want to dwell on how much time has passed. Neither of them do.
Jin takes the affirmation and runs along with whatever he's on about now. "Right!!! You're a big boy! And not-boy! - Little piss babies. - No- Anyways- I think it's less horrible of me to suggest it now, and, uh...ya know. I can't do much about this stuff on my own. I don't really know how to," he admits, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand before perking up again. "But Giran-san, he does! He'll get stuff started for you, and you can take jobs from him to do stuff yourself, and you don't have to live in a tiny tent in a dirt alleyway anymore! - You'd crash and burn, doing all this. You're better off here, anyways, it's less annoying. Fuck capitalism. "
Both kids falter at that, taking in the suggestion. The jobs Jin does...well, he's, simply put, a villain. It's the only way for him to survive anymore, when normal society has kicked him to the curb. They've known this. And it's not like they haven't done similarly. Just, not for a paycheck. They haven't killed to work, they've killed to survive...and for more personal motivations.
...But it's probably their best option, is it not? If this Giran guy is actually willing to get them a proper place to stay, at the very least, then that's their biggest problem solved. They're too young to apply for an apartment themselves and can't get a steady income, because who would hire Rose? A walking skeleton with a freakish quirk? Terrible for any place's reputation and good for nothing. And, well. The "freakish quirk" themself isn't even legally considered a person, let alone an employable one. If this is working for Jin, it could work for them.
There's already blood on our hands. What's it matter anymore?
"Uh. Hello? Helloooo??" Jin harps as he waves a hand in front of Rose's face. "Whatd'ya think?"
A beat of silence.
Then...
"...We think that's a good idea." Rose answers in a careful manner, looking back to Jin properly. "We probably should've thought of it ourselves, at this point. How're we gonna do this?"
Jin lights up like a kid on Christmas morning, his grin audible as he sits up. "Hell yeah! - Fuck no. - I'll call Giran-san, get us set up for a meeting, like, tomorrow? I think? 'Cause it's pretty late now. - Whaddaya talking about? It's bright and early! - And I dunno if he's busy. - He's totally got nothin' going on, no problem. "
"Alright," Rose nods in understanding. "We'll be waiting, then."
"I'll try not to keep you waiting too long! - Don't hold your breath, " he promises in response as he stands and takes the trash from Rose's lap.
The corners of the boy's eyes crinkle slightly as he smiles under his scarf. "Thanks. Again. For everything. From both of us."
Jin softens. "You're welcome! I'm happy to help you lil guys! - Fuck off. I don't give a shit. "
Rose chuckles, tilting his head slightly. "Well, I guess we'll see you tomorrow, then?"
"Mhm!! See you!! - Never, losers. - Have a good night, Rose-kun, Ichor-kun!! - I hope you have nightmares." Jin chirps as he waves happily, starting off towards one of the many exits in the alleyways.
Rose waves in turn, and with him, a little tendril of black, liquidy material slithers out from the little creature snuggled into him to wave as well. "You too! Sleep well, Jin-san!"
Jin turns to walk backwards and continue the waving until he's forced to turn a corner and cut the exchange off, so very bright and bubbly. It's always nice to see him like this. He doesn't deserve how bad his bad days get. Not that they see him often on those. He doesn't like to be seen like that. Which is fair. Neither nor Ichor likes to be seen on their bad days, either.
And just like that, the boy and his quirk are left alone again. Which isn't all bad. Rose is tired. He always is, but it's more noticeable right now, especially with a full stomach. Of course, going to lay down means moving into the tent, closing the flap behind them, and scooting over to their sleeping bag, where he'll probably lay for an hour before finally passing out. So it takes Rose another few minutes to finally sigh and start wiggling back into the tent proper when he builds up the motivation to do so, but as he does, he's interrupted by a squeaky little mew.
He pauses, both him and Ichor leaning forwards and peeking towards the sound, where they find a familiar, young blue-gray cat trotting towards the tent with soggy paws. She's barely more than a year old - they remember when they first came across her as a kitten and started feeding her. She was so small. She's still stayed pretty small so far, just grew more into her face. When she kept coming back, they gave her a name;
"Smoke," Rose murmurs, smiling slightly under his scarf. "There you are. We weren't sure you'd come back today."
Smoke perks up, her tail raised in greeting as she hurries over and meows up at the both of them again. She always comes back, they know, even if she's gone for a few days. She was even gone for over a week at one point. They were worried, but she showed up again, safe and sound and in one piece, aside from the clean cut where the tip of one of her ears was missing. She is a stray, just like them. She knows how to handle herself by now.
Rose extends one arm out of his cocoon, waving Smoke over, to which she eagerly hops up into his lap and snuggles up to his chest, nuzzling between him and Ichor's surface. While Ichor settles a few tendrils around her, Rose hugs her to his chest with his free arm and continues as he was before, scooting into the tent and managing to zip the front flap closed with one hand. It feels easier to do all this now. Once he can get them all laying down on the sleeping bag, Ichor flips the battery powered lamp in the corner of, but leaves the heater for the night and focuses on holding both Rose and Smoke as best as their little body can. The former is more than happy with that, easing the scarf off of his face so he can press a gentle kiss to Ichor's surface, then another to Smoke's forehead before he relaxes. The kitty of the hour seems pretty pleased herself, soft purrs filling the tent and rumbling in her chest.
Having her around always makes everything hurt a little less. Neither of them are quite sure what it is, but the aches and fatigue and mental fog surrounding Rose at all times feels less intense when they have their sweet little baby purring away in their cuddle pile. It's...nice. Even if it's not quite enough to lull him to sleep quickly.
Well. Tomorrow should be interesting. Maybe things will start sucking less for them after this meeting with Jin's friend. Or maybe he'll just turn them down. Rose and Ichor aren't too inclined to get their hopes up. Still, it probably can't hurt them anymore than they already are, they suppose.