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Life on the ground was certainly shaping up to be different, but… maybe not worse than life on the sphere. Rudo’s eyes scanned the trash on the ground beneath him: tarnished cups, broken radios, miscellaneous scraps of metal… what a treasure trove! His hands itched to grab at the first pile he saw, fingers twitching in anticipation. He didn’t have any tools readily available, but that never stopped him before. Especially not when he was surrounded by glistening potential, the trash practically calling out to him, begging him to fix them. Under his gas mask, Rudo’s teeth bared in a gruesome smile. This was Heaven!
His ears picked up the sounds of aimless chatter, and he quickly scrambled after the group of people he was meant to follow. He hopped down the almost intimidatingly-large staircase, stopping on the step right before Riyo, where she was idling with the… other Cleaners? Or something like that?
“By the way, I’ve been wondering. Who’re they?”
“They’re Cleaners, too. ‘Supporters.’ They don’t have powers, but they’re an important part of the team, helping us do what we do.”
Rudo made eye contact with a rather intimidating Supporter. He was way bigger than him, a scar over his eye. He looked way more suited for combat than Rudo probably did. The man held out a hand to him.
“Nice to meet you.” His tone was kind, putting Rudo’s misgivings to shame.
“S-Sure.” Rudo clasped his hand, his glove wrinkling under the pressure. “Nice to—”
Pain. Unbridled, sadistic pain as his hand was crushed and twisted. It was haunting in its familiarity, yet no less unbearable. Almost immediately Rudo lost control over his arm, the sheer agony overtaking his ability to even twitch a finger. Instead, his hand went limp, convulsing and tightening in unequal intervals. The pain traveled up his arm and to his shoulder, leaving a trail of hellish burning followed by eerie numbness followed once more by the feeling of his very nerves being torn apart. Reflexive tears beaded in his eyes, falling down his face in streams.
There was a second of silence, followed by an agonized, choked-off scream. His legs faltered, and he fell to his knees with a brutal thump. His hand, still grasped in the man’s grip, bent awkwardly with the rapid change of stance, and Rudo felt his shoulder pop out of place. Another scream ripped out of his throat, wet-sounding and desperate. His mouth pooled with saliva, falling into the gas mask in rivulets. He tried to gasp in air, choking on both the drool in his mouth and the all-encompassing pain he felt. His thoughts blanked out as all of his senses overloaded with agony, and his brain reverted back to innate, primal instincts. There was a threat in front of him, and he needed to get AWAY—
Rudo wrenched his arm away with a fearful, bloodied hiss, the force of his pull causing him to land straight on his ass. He shuffled back towards a wall, eyes flickering frantically to the figures in front of him. None of them were trustworthy, and they all towered over him. He cradled his injured arm in a tender, shaking grip, and kicked his legs out at the people in front of him. His mouth gaped open, slobber coating both his mouth and the mask. “G…get… a—away…!” His uninjured arm pawed at the gas mask, tearing it off of his face before he suffocated himself. “Get… away f—from me!”
A figure creeped closer, and a hot rush of tears flowed from his wide, terrified eyes. His body shuddered in pain and fear, mind desperately scraping together an escape plan. Where was safe? Who was safe? Who…? Rudo’s eyes clenched shut as his body curled in on itself. “R—Reg…Regto…!” The name clawed up his throat, gouging at his flesh with the strength of fresh grief. Regto! Where was Regto! A persistent fuzz started to climb through his arm, nerves succumbing to shock. He vaguely felt his body fall to the ground, pain becoming distant. Rudo briefly opened his eyes, seeing hazy, graffitied walls and a blurry face in front of him. His muscles slumped in relief. He was safe. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he passed out.
Gris grabbed the boy’s hand with more strength than was necessary. Maybe, if this was before he had experienced the harsh prejudice and lack of respect afforded to the Supporters, he would’ve been kinder. But the ground was nothing if not merciless, where proving one’s strength was a necessity. The boy choked on his words, eyes widening at the sudden strong grip. Alright, thought Gris, message received—
The boy let out a blood-curdling scream, and Gris’ grip faltered, eyes widening as he froze in place. The child in front of him had tears in his eyes, his body shaking. Just as Gris went to pull his hand away, the boy fell to his knees, and Gris saw his shoulder shift, blue hoodie pulling taught before a gruesome pop and equally as gruesome shriek filled the air. Oh God, Oh shit. The boy finally wrenched his arm out of Gris’ limp grip, scuttling to the wall in a manner similar to an injured animal. Like a cat, Gris thought hysterically.
“Wow, Gris, what’d you do to him?” Riyo’s voice was filled with forced nonchalance, her green eyes wide with horror.
“I—I didn’t…” He stopped himself. He definitely didn’t mean to hurt him, especially not to this extent, but he did. He did, and so he should fix it.
He took a step forward. “G…get… a-away!” The pain and fear in his voice sank into Gris’ chest like a dagger. “Get… away f—from me!”
Ignoring his pleas, Gris took another step forward, desperate to get the kid some kind of medical attention. His eyes (wide and scared and so young) shook with tears. His lips quivered as he curled into himself. “R—Reg…Regto…!” Gris glanced towards Riyo who looked just as clueless as he was. Gris steeled himself to take another step forward before the boy collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
That makes this easier. Gris slid onto his knees as he grabbed at the kid, carefully cradling his upper body in his lap. Riyo and Follo fell to either side of him, Riyo carding her hand through his hair. “Poor Rudo… what happened?”
And wasn’t that the question of the hour. Gris opened his mouth just as the infernal roar of a trash beast thundered through the air. A quick glance behind him confirmed an absolute behemoth staring hungrily at them. He tightened his grip on Rudo, closed his eyes, and turned to Follo. “Follo! Get Rudo out of here! Riyo and I will handle the trash beasts.”
Follo nodded, turning around and crouching as Gris maneuvered Rudo’s hands around Follo’s neck. Follo’s hands trembled as they grabbed Rudo’s legs, but he ran off regardless, eyes fixated solely on the direction of the medical room at headquarters instead of the battlefield behind him. His legs carried him as he worked them faster than he ever had before, reaching the room in record time. He carefully deposited Rudo on a bed and turned to frantically search through the cabinets for medical supplies. Bandages? Painkillers? How do you fix a dislocated shoulder—!”
Follo jumped as the door opened with a careless slam. Zanka walked in, rubbing at his eyes. “What the—” His gaze landed on Rudo and instantly sharpened. “What happened?”
“I don’t know!” Follo’s voice was panicked, arms full of supplies he didn’t even know if Rudo needed. “Gris gave him a handshake and he collapsed! I think his shoulder’s dislocated!”
Zanka furrowed his brows, ripping the hoodie off of Rudo and leaving him in his gray undershirt. His hands probed at Rudo’s shoulder, and Rudo’s eyes clenched in his sleep, a slight whine leaving his lips. Follo chose to gently wipe at his face, clearing it of tears and spit as he anxiously awaited Zanka’s verdict.
“Huh… yeah, that seems right.” He thought for a minute, before adding, “I could… push it back in. Hold ‘em down.”
Follo held his upper body, readying himself as Zanka grabbed his shoulder more firmly. “One, two, three—” With a pop, Rudo’s shoulder was wrenched back into place. Follo forced Rudo down as his body reflexively pushed off the bed, back arched and mouth open in a silent scream. Follo saw the faintest of awareness trickle into Rudo’s eyes before his strength let out, body crashing back onto the bed. Follo sat down shakily, tension bleeding off of him at the sight of an immobilized Rudo. “Thank go—”
The door slammed open once more, Follo almost falling out of his seat as his heart endured yet another shock. Gris and Riyo ran in, clearly disheveled as they glanced around the room. “Where—!?” Their eyes landed on Rudo, and they relaxed, Zanka raising an eyebrow at the display.
“What didja do to him?” Zanka asked, slightly accusatory.
Gris ran his hand through his hair, eyes still locked on Rudo’s prone body. “I don’t know. I grabbed his hand and he just… collapsed.” He straightened and looked at Follo. “Did you see what’s wrong with his hand?”
Follo shook his head. “Zanka put his shoulder back into place, but that’s all we did before you came in.”
Gris nodded, and slowly held Rudo’s arm up, noting the bandages present on both arms. He took one of his gloves off, slowly unwrapping the cloth to reveal…
“What the!?”
“Shit…”
“Aw, man!”
Gris inhaled sharply at the sight of Rudo’s hand. It was… black. With lines of red carving through the damaged skin. It looked like a burn, but worse than anything Gris had ever seen before. And the fact that he still felt pain… Gris felt a cold drop of horror seep into him. He basically just grabbed at an open wound, didn’t he?! And not just grabbed…
Follo stumbled forward with fresh bandages, trembling with horror. “This… couldn’t have happened down here, right? So… the sphere…”
Gris’ lips curled in a snarl at the thought of where Rudo’s injury came from. Or, worse, who it came from. He grabbed at a bandage and held Rudo’s arm once more, noting with alarm how brittle it felt. He slowly wrapped around Rudo’s fingers, a careful eye keeping watch of Rudo’s expression for any discomfort. His face twitched, a pained frown on his face from the light pressure. Gris’ heart clenched. If this much pressure was enough to be uncomfortable, he could only imagine how much pain he put the boy through.
Riyo sat beside him, leaned over to wrap Rudo’s other hand, fingers moving deftly and confidently. She paused for half a second and looked towards Gris with a casual, sheepish smile. “We should probably apologize, huh?” Her body was tense, a noticeable contrast to her forced, easy expression. She continued wrapping, her movements almost apologetic.
Gris shared a guilty grimace and nodded, trying to focus on the arm in front of him. His hand twitched, pulling the bandage taught with innate, uncontrolled force. His eyes widened, “Shit!”
Rudo’s whole body cringed, weakly trying to pull his arms back into him. A cold sweat formed on the back of his neck, and he ducked his head down as if in defense. His lips parted open, whispering a name like a mantra. “Regto…” His voice was quiet but distressed, enough that Gris slowly dropped his hand to the bed before he hurt him anymore, guilt growing stronger. Zanka took his place, briefly nodding at him before continuing to wrap with steadier, gentler fingers.
Gris took a deep, pained breath, and turned to Follo. “I’m going to make sure our client’s okay. You can keep an eye on him.”
Follo glanced at Riyo who smiled and shook her head. He turned back to Gris. “I’ll come with you, they have it handled.”
Gris nodded, ashamed yet relieved in equal measure as he walked out of the medical room, holding the door open for Follo. His head was a mess, trying to comprehend what gave Rudo the injury, when it happened, how painful it was. As far as first impressions go, this was probably one of the worst he could’ve given. Remorse clouded his thoughts like smog, forcing him down a mental road of useless pessimism. Did Gris re-traumatize him by twisting his hand like that? What should he do to fix it? He looked down at his hands, regretful of his strength in a way he rarely, if ever, was.
Follo fidgeted next to him, but turned to face him anyway. He let out a breath. “It was an accident. I’m sure… you just have to apologize.” His voice lost confidence as his sentence went on, but his eyes remained locked on Gris’.
Gris huffed, pushing his hands into his face before running them through his hair. He gave Follo a small smile and nodded. Once he wakes up, he promises himself. I’ll apologize when he wakes up.
Rudo woke up feeling like hell. The right side of his body throbbed, pulsating angrily. His eyes cracked open to stare blearily at the ceiling. His mouth tasted like death, his nose was clogged, and he hurt. I wanna go home, his thoughts whined, as if he had a home to go to anymore. He was stuck on the ground, a place full of monsters and human traffickers and people who had a grip strength way stronger than humanly possible. Rudo found himself missing the slums with a fervor. He wanted his collection of fixed trash, and his occasional customers, and the few kids who didn’t look at him like he was nothing more than a murderer’s son. And he wanted Regto. Everything would be better if Regto was here.
The door opened with a creak, and Rudo’s eyes snapped to meet Riyo’s. She stared at him in shock, a small glass of water in her hand, before bursting in with a grin. “Rudo! You’re awake! Hold on, there are painkillers somewhere, I never know where anything is in here, I swear they move things around to fuck with me specifically.” She rambled as she opened cabinets at random, finally grabbing at a small bottle with a triumphant sound. She poured three pills in her hand and came to Rudo’s side with both the medicine and the cup. He stared at her, still prone on the bed.
She hummed. “Can you sit up? I can help?” Rudo closed his eyes in defeat before pushing himself up by his elbows. His arms flooded with agony as his body protested, a reaction so sudden he almost hit the bed immediately after. Riyo grabbed his uninjured shoulder to move him up, an action still so wretchedly painful that a choked, embarrassing whimper left his throat. She mercifully said nothing, just holding out the meds with a steady hand. He stared at it for a second, before ashamedly meeting her gaze. His hands were shot, moving them an impossibility. Give him a day and maybe he could grab the cup without spilling water everywhere.
Thankfully getting the memo, she pushed the pills at his mouth so that he opened it, depositing them and tilting the cup of water towards him. He drank, the lukewarm water tasting better than anything he’s had recently. (Granted, one of his most recent meals was literally scraps of food trash, but that’s neither here nor there). When he finished, she put the cup down and looked at him with serious eyes.
“Okay, listen Rudo. Gris had been wanting to apologize for, like, the whole day. But if you don’t wanna see him, just tell me. You don’t have to.”
He stared at her sluggishly, brain cells smashing together as he desperately tried to remember who Gris was. She seemed to notice this, and delicately said, “the guy who smashed your hand up.”
Ah, of course. He looked at her even more blankly, before hesitantly nodding. She frowned. “You sure?” He nodded again, and she left for the door, pausing before opening it to hear for any objections. He stayed silent, and she left into the hall.
Gris. The guy with the grip strength. The guy who made his whole body hurt like hell. He couldn’t help but tense as he awaited the guy to come in.
And after a moment, the door creaked open, a blonde head hesitantly peeking through before spotting him. Rudo felt his body flinch at the look, curling inwards in instinctual defense. Gris caught the motion with regretful eyes, but stepped inside the room nonetheless.
“Rudo.” Gris paused, and after an awkward silence, Rudo slowly nodded his head. Gris let out a sigh. “I’m so sorry about hurting you. I had no idea I would cause you so much pain, but that’s not an excuse for what I did. Please know that I’m incredibly sorry, and will do anything to make up for this.” His words came out obviously practiced but no less sincere. Rudo felt his face flush brighter with each word. Is this what being given an apology feels like!? How… awkward!
Rudo closed his eyes, arms twitching to cover his face yet still unable to move. He sputtered as he opened his mouth. “Don’t… you don’t… okay!?” He looked at Gris, face tomato red. “It’s okay. So stop… stop apologizing.”
Gris looked at him unreadably, before holding out a small box. It was full of delicate-looking food (?), vibrant-colored and appetizing. Rudo felt his mouth water. ‘They’re macarons,” Gris explained sheepishly. “I didn’t know what you liked, I’m sorry Rudo.”
If Rudo could stop looking at the treats in front of him, he would’ve yelled at Gris for the extra apology. Instead, he willed his arms to grab one, valiantly attempting to lift an arm, a hand, hell, even a finger. Nothing happened. Rudo felt angry tears form in his eyes, and he hurriedly looked away. Gris grabbed a macaron instead, gently holding it out to Rudo. With a suspicious sniff, Rudo took a bite.
…
HOLY SHIT!!
His head divebombed into the box, teeth ravenously snapping at the pastries as he endeavored to fit everything in his mouth as fast as possible. Gris let out a shocked laugh, snatching his hand back to not get mauled. When the desserts were gone, Rudo leaned back, eyes sparkling as he savoured the last taste in his mouth. Gris smiled helplessly, mentally promising to feed the kid as many macarons as he wanted for at least the next week.
Rudo noticed his stare, and flushed yet again. His lips trembled in a pout. “Y’know…” his voice was meek, “I… think you’re pretty cool.” His face burned as he started yelling. “Like, you’re really strong! And that’s pretty cool! And…! And… thank you for the food.” Rudo ran out of steam and slumped forward, cheeks hot enough to cook an egg.
Gris was dumbfounded, gawking at Rudo before an uncontrollable grin lit up his face. He felt his chest pulse with joy, the remnants of his guilt melting away because of the display in front of him. Before he could stop himself, he ruffled Rudo’s hair, who flinched back to stare at him incomprehensibly. Even still, his grin remained. “I’m glad you think so.” He stood up, stretching out his legs before walking to the door. Just as he reached out to open it, he stopped, turning to give Rudo a soft, fond look. “I’m glad you’re okay, Rudo. Rest and get better, alright?” And with that, he left the room.
Rudo, brain fully overloaded, leaned back into the bed. His arm and side had been numbed, the pain diminished to a distant ache. His chest felt looser than it had in a while, stress slowly bleeding out of him. His lips curled upwards. Yeah… the ground wasn’t that bad.