muselist
favourites
click for elaboration
connections
person-to-person. the need for companionship and/or contact. truths; forced, coerced, or drawn out through work and trust. bonding, literal or metaphorical. soulmate aus.
corruption
manipulation. deliberately making another worse to suit one's goals. learning to love it. embracing your new self.
alternatively, redemption if the character has already been corrupted, and knowing you can never go home.
environment
weather events, e.g. rain, snow, fog. hunkering down during a natural disaster. stargazing; camping; being out in, observing, or participating with cityscape or nature.
imprisonment
locked away with only yourself, your thoughts, your body, your mind. another person. forced proximity, no escape. do you try to retain your humanity? gain it? do you try to form a bond? do you fight? fuck? or do you just give up?
loyalty
whether kink or not. co-dependency. dedicating oneself to another unquestioningly. being someone's protector, attack dog, devotee.
metaphysicality
dreamscapes, mindscapes. where the physical doesn't apply. where something is off. where you can shape your own world; where you are left with absolutely nothing, stripped down to your barest essentials. raw.
morality
what is it to be a good person? what is it to be good to one another? is it something to strive for? what if you've been hurt? what if it's more work than it's worth? is it enough to try, or do you need to actually do?
tattoos
deliberate marking, commitment, hidden meanings, permanency, pain.
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celluloids) wrote2024-06-21 01:43 am
candlestick —
Nevermind having no parents, no kin; nevermind spending all those years evading the state only to get caught and placed in housed living. Nevermind the scars he picked up from picking fights for no reason but needing a place to put his anger; nevermind the bills he's never going to be able to pay off; hell, nevermind the fact that he's homeless again after aging out of the system. It's where he wanted to be! It's fine! He has a second chance at life now, he is happy, he is going to find the silver lining to everything if it kills him!
But it's raining and he has no shelter and he's pretty sure the bag he keeps all of his worldly possessions in is getting soaked through, so fuck him.
Pete's mood is appropriately dour, he figures, commitment to the sunny side of life on hold when the sun is literally not out. Moreso when he gets jostled by the crowd; even moreso when he loses hold of his bag and it goes sailing into a puddle, ankle deep with how shitty the pavement upkeep is. He just stands there, shoulders slumped, a soft fuck me coming from under his breath.
And then, louder: ] Does nobody watch where they're going anymore?
[ Not that he's expecting a response. When people are this poor and desperate and crowded together shame kind of ceases to exist. But he took his moment for bitchiness, and now it's a moment for trying to reclaim his bag, see if anything can be salvaged from how soaked through it's gotten in the past few seconds. ]
no subject
Ironically it was this stopping to do a kindness that caused him to rush through the crowd now, bumping into people as he tries to rush in a bid not to be late to a meeting with his father.
It's that kindness that, in a very indirect way, has him bumping into a young man with all of his life's possessions stowed away in a now waterlogged bag that lays sad and disheveled looking in a puddle.
Most people around them complained under their breaths about the splash, and quickly kept walking, but Zuo Le, realizing what he had just done, doubles back to snag the bag by the strap, and holds the soggy thing up to the other boy. ]
Sorry, I didn't--
[ Well... he didn't watch where he was going. The criticism is fair. ]
It was an accident.
[ In a move that is entirely unconscious and unaware of the wealth and comfort he grew up in as well as the clueless to the unintended maliciousness of his thoughts, Zuo Le glances at the bag, and determines that surely nothing of real value could have possibly been damaged in it, so surely that's okay... right? ]
I'm sure it will dry out once you get it home?
[ And while he doesn't voice one unintentionally cruel thought, he does open his mouth and speak another without realizing what he's doing. ]
no subject
Point immediately against this guy: Everything else that comes out of his mouth.
Pete just blinks at him, at first. The audacity is insane. Maybe this kid is actually insane? But no, he's too put together for that. And he did apologize, but also: holy shit.
That decides his next course of action easily enough, and Pete shoots him a grin, all teeth and cynicism. ]
Oh, yeah. Which home was that today? All the spots under overpasses are taken, mostly by wannabe tough guys who'll cut you for looking at 'em wrong. [ Don't mind the scar slicing through his right cheek, that's probably unrelated. ] What few community halls we got ain't much better, 'cept those were filled to capacity hours ago. Maybe I can find a nice tree, do you think? Rain'll still cut through the leaves and branches, but at least I'm not going to get knocked into any puddles there, huh?
[ A beat. Still smiling at him, albeit brighter now. Hoping that he's accurately judged this kid as a sap — a privileged, privileged sap — and successfully guilted him along the way, if that first instinct to apologize was any indication. ]
Or were you inviting me to yours?
[ C'mon instincts, don't fail him now. ]
no subject
He'd just assumed that everyone, like him, had a home to return to. It's an easy thing to do when you live in relative comfort, and just because someone does not look wealthy doesn't mean there's any reason to assume they're currently without living arrangements. There's plenty of levels between the wealthiest of wealth (which Zuo Le is certain he's not a part of, even if he's more than just comfortable, and those who literally have nothing to their names.
It's just... he didn't think that this boy was going to be in the latter group.
He blinks owlishly, dumbfounded by the entire situation as he struggles for what to say next. ]
I didn't realize-- I...
[ Under an overpass, or in a nice tree... ]
I'm sure I can find some sort of accommodation for you for the day to dry off in...
[ Privileged sap indeed. ]
no subject
To whatever credit he has, once it's clear he's well on the path to getting what he wants — in this case, some semblance of shelter, even if only for the day — Pete figures, at the very least, he should back off.
Metaphorically. Physically, he's reaching out to lightly jostle Zuo Le's shoulder, a little gesture of camaraderie he's decided they now have. ]
Hey, don't worry about it. Or do, maybe a little. [ Brighter smile, now. A winning one, or what one could almost call downright friendly. ] It was an accident, like you said, right? Still — I really would appreciate the help.
[ Like. He does owe him.
And, not intending to let a fish off the hook so easily, a sweeping gesture with his arm: ] C'mon, lead the way.
[ Just. Locking him in now. ]
no subject
It's just that there is a kind of naive earnestness to him that it doesn't occur to him that the acting may be applied off the stage or without a camera pointing at someone. That it could be happening right now in front of him doesn't cross his mind for a moment. He did just offer help, so of course it makes sense that the guy would be appreciative. If anything, Zuo Le just feels relieved that the other boy isn't still sour with him for what just happened.
The problem is-- ]
I-- Well I was on my way to...
[ He stops long before he even gets to the point of suggesting they exchange contact information, a thought that does genuinely cross his mind as the appropriate course of action.
The man is wet and looking to dry off now for one, and if he doesn't have a home, then would he have any way for Zuo Le to get in contact with him?
At the same time, he cannot imagine that he'll be allowed to bring his new acquaintance with him to the meeting given the sensitive nature of some of the topics, but maybe they can find a good space inside an empty meeting room until Zuo Le can help him find a hotel for the night. ]
Alright. We'll need to stop by somewhere first, but it should be dry if you don't mind waiting a bit.
no subject
It had seemed like it, at first. Most people don't stop to help someone they've bumped in the street, especially not when the weather is foul. It's the easy marking of a sap, someone he can guilt and cajole into getting what he wants. But that smallest hint of pushback — he was on his way somewhere else, that Pete can't bully him into getting exactly what he wants — has him reassessing. Do not push his luck.
So he won't. He just inclines his chin slightly in acknowledgement, smile softer now. Less animated. Less larger-than-life, and more like within the normal confines thereof. ]
Don't mind at all. [ A little shoulder pat before he withdraws his hand, properly shouldering his bag again. Oh, it's so wet. This is going to be bad. But he's doing the best he can about it right now, so that's just going to have to do. ] Beggars can't be choosers, right? Literally, in this case.
[ A laugh. It's a joke, before switching to proper, full-blown sincerity. ]
Like I said, I appreciate it. Really.