Chapter Text
Enjin had said this before and he would like to reiterate.
He doesn't like children.
Not because he hates the little buggers per se, but because he dislikes the hassle and responsibility that comes with taking care of little humans that are in need of waaaaay too much attention.
Well deserved attention mind you. All children deserve love and care and yada yada yada. He would prefer not to be the one doing the caring, thank you very much.
Still for some reason, children seem to flock to him like flies to shit apparently. Just his luck.
He was sitting on some random house’s front steps, minding his business, smoking a cigarette, waiting for Gris and the rest of the support group to come back from their supply run, while listening to the soft Jazz coming from a radio nearby.
The extermination mission had gone smoothly. A simple job that just required him swinging Unbraker once and call it a day. So they decided to make a quick pit stop at the town closest to HQ before going back home.
Unfortunately, he had finished his own window shopping before everyone else and it was too soon for any decent bar to be opened. So waiting it is.
He was on his second cigarette when suddenly a squeaky voice rose above the ambient music and shouted ”Mister, mister! Are you a cleaner?”
Raising his head, he was greeted by the face of a little munchkin with big eyes looking at him with a mix of excitement and awe from the window above him.
“Yep, I am,”he answers.
Not the first time a random, bright-eyed child had approached him, most of them lured by the stories of Givers hunting trashbeast or fighting bandits around the settlements. The majority of the time however, the little ones —still too young to understand what the job entailed— confused the Cleaners with actual house-keepers. Some of them had offered Enjin their meager allowance in exchange for cleaning their rooms before their parents found out they had been slacking. So Enjin answered, half-jokingly, half-serious. “but the answer is no. I won’t do your chores or clean your room or throw your trash away, no matter how heavy it is“
”I know!You are not that type of cleaner!”the little kid shouts indignantly ”I just wanted to ask you if you know another cleaner? White hair, tiny, with a mean face?”
Oh boy. Does he know.
”What did he do now?”Enjin sighs while getting up and snuffing out his cigarette to face the music as they said.
”Oh, you do?! Ah, granny here, here! This guy says he knows the boy!” Rushing, the child gets inside and returns a few minutes later with an old lady who steps outside of the house with a cane and a little difficulty.
She doesn’t look particularly aggravated or mad, in fact her aged face sported a gentle expression. So whatever Rudo may have done couldn’t be that serious, but Enjin knows better than to let his guard down. People tend to take advantage of these situations and try to scam unsuspecting victims. Especially Givers, what with their tendency to conjure weapons and explosions and so on.
”Look lady, whatever the kid did I’m sure he didn’t do it in bad faith”he explains and Enjin means it.
Rudo is a little ball of rage and atrocious manners, however if there is something that can be said about the Spherite, is that very rarely does he pop off unless he is provoqued or cornered into it. Escalating things too much too fast? Guilty, but most of the time Rudo would be watching everything around him with his curious, big red eyes rather than purposely be looking for a fight. So this better not be a case when somebody said or did something to the boy and then got upset because they chewed more than they could swallow and got their asses beaten.
So with a dispassionate tone he continuous with the standard, pre-rehearsed speech all cleaners had for this situation “For any property damage send the bill to HQ addressed to Semiu and-
”What? Oh no no! I think there’s been a misunderstanding! "The old woman interrupts, eyes crinkling with a soft smile. "There was no “property damage” lad, quite the contrary actually. I’ve been looking for the boy to thank him”
Oh?
“You see that radio on the windowsill?”she says, a bony finger pointing at the old but rather big radio that had been playing in the background while Enjin had been sitting there. “It may not look like much, but it is one of my most precious possessions. My late husband gave it to me before he passed away not so long ago. You can’t imagine my heartbreak when one day I tried to tune in and only broken static came off of it. And then a week ago I-“
”Oh, me me! Let me explain!!”interrupts the little gremlin. Excitingly jumping up and down to get the attention of the adults
“So I was doing my chores by myself, ‘cause I do my chores, always-“the little one loudly explained, giving Enjin the stink eye that he can only find amusing ” when I heard the weird noise from the radio stop. I thought it had fallen off or something! So I looked outside and there he was! Crouched under our window, messing with grandma's radio! I thought it was a big racoon or something and I was about to yell at him, but then, BAM! The music came back and I shouted -but not angry, just surprised- and then he looked at me and got scared and, and, and then he ran away after putting the radio back!!! Like super duper fast and-
”Alrights, alright, I get the picture pipsquick,”Enjin chuckles. Not only because of the peppy energy that the child has, but because he can clearly visualise it. He can imagine Rudo, bored out his mind spotting a broken gadget in a window and not being able to stop the urge to grab it and fix it. He can also see him puffed out like a startled cat and running away after being snapped out of his hyperfocus and embarrassed of being found too absorbed into repairing something in the middle of the road.
“I deduced after a while that they must have been a cleaner by how my kiddo described their clothes. I hoped that one day he would come back so that I could properly thank him, seeing as you all like to hang out in front of my house” she laughs, eyeing the cigarette buds on the floor next to them and Enjin can’t help but sheepishly rub his neck a little embarrassed.
Offering a forgiving chuckle the lady lets the matter go and starts rummaging through her pouch. After a brief moment she produces a little bag full of cockies with different shapes and colors “Here. It’s not much, but I would really appreciate it if you could give it to the boy. We baked them ourself with some good flour I had”
Oh. That is… very, very thoughtful of this lady. Incredibly so actually. Unlike the Cleaners or other big organizations that had a Giver specialized in it , the access to processed food for the common folk was not an easy thing. So, the fact that this lady not only had taken what little precious flour and sugar she had, but also spent the time to make something from scratch, speaks volumes of her appreciation for what Rudo did.
He carefully takes the little bag of goodies, aware of the metaphorical weight of its content "Nah, no worries m’am. The kid will go crazy for these” Quite literally. Most likely Rudo will tear the bag apart the moment it’s in his gloved hands.
“Then I am glad. I hope next time you all come to town I can thank him properly”
It is at that moment that he hears the familiar horn of the Cleaner’s jeep at the corner of the street. Gris at the wheel signaling him to hurry up.“Welp, that’s my cue to leave. Don’t worry ma’m I’ll deliver this safe and sound” he turns away and waves a hand over his shoulders as the old lady and child wave back and make their way up the stairs and inside their house.
Since it’s Gris driving, the trip is predictively smooth and boring. Normally Enjin would have been snoring already in his seat until he magically woke up in front of the cleaners HQ . However, today he couldn’t fall asleep at all.
He keeps looking at the small bag, adorned with a ribbon on his hands. A strange giddy feeling nested in his chest that makes him grin like an idiot. Something that doesn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the passengers.
“What’s that?” Asks Gris, making Tomme rise from the back seat to also look at what he is holding “Did you buy something for yourself?”
“Nope, these are for Rudo. The lady I was talking with before gave them to me as a thank you for something Rudo repaired.”
”Rudo did?” Tomme asks, smiling at the revelation.
“Yep”
Gris doesn’t say anything and returns his attention back to the road not before sharing an understanding glance with Enjin and smiling in satisfaction. Because he can understand Gris perfectly. He too must be feeling the same thing.
Pride.
————
When they finally arrive at HQ it’s lunch time. As expected though, Rudo is in his room tinckering with the piles of trash they had collected last time they went on a scavenger hunt. He is so focused on whatever he is messing with that he doesn’t realise that Enjin has entered his room. Kid should learn to lock his door honestly.
Silently, he approaches the desk and looks over the kid’s shoulder trying to see what he was working on. Some sort of alarm clock by the looks of it.
He has to admit though that it is quite endearing. Seeing the ball of nerves that is Rudo so engrossed in his little project like the kid he should be. It also makes Enjin want to mess with him.
”YO KIDDO!”
Like the stray cat he is, Rudo jumps off his chair with the loudest yell known to man and trashbeast alike. Unfortunately so did the half-assembled gadget in his hands, but Enjin was able to catch it before it hit the ground.
”What the fuck is wrong with you?!?!”he shouts, red-faced and trying to regulate his breathing as he snatches the alarm clock from Enjin hands.
”My bad, my bad”
”What hell do you want!?”
”So I went to town today”Enjin grins, sitting on Rudo’s desk “And I just happened to meet this nice lady and her kid, who told me that their radio magically got repaired out of nowhere by a white-haired cleaner. Rings a bell?”
Rudo looks at him, wide eyes and clearly caught off guard. Yet rather than blush in embarrassment or vehemently deny his good deed, the boy lowers his head and with the smallest voice he has ever heard from him says”…sorry…”
Eh?
”Sorry for what?”
”She was mad, no? Sorry if she yelled at you”
Ok something is not adding up. Maybe Enjin is too used to dealing with Zanka and Riyo, who both react with their own brand of dismissal to cover their embarrassment every time he teases them in good faith. No scratch that, Rudo does that too, only with added insults and attitude. So yeah, weird reaction.
”Kiddo you fixed her radio, unprompted and for free mind you.Why would she be mad? Why would I be mad?” Rudo still is not looking at him, doing a poor job at pretending to be busy repairing the alarm clock. He is biting his quivering lips, his eyes occasionally glance in Enjin’s direction unsure of what to do.
It dawns on Enjin that it is not embarrassment but shame that is preventing Rudo from answering him. At what exactly he is not sure. For his good deed? For his reaction? He thinks Rudo doesn’t know it himself. However, he knows exactly where that shame came from.
”Did people get mad up there when you did that?”
The words escape Rudo’s greeted teeth as his hand grips the screwdriver so hard that Enjin is worried about the skin under those gloves ”People where mad all the fucking time. I would breathe and they would be mad. So yes, they didn’t like me touching their things very much. I can’t remember how many times Regto… had to apologize for it” and with that, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, all that pent up energy dissipates and the kid’s shoulders dip in defeat.
“I did fix something for someone, once…in the end she just threw it out “
Enjin can see it in the kid’s eyes. He is far away, lost in some memory of his life in the Sphere and it breaks Enjin’s heart a little.
It's bizarre.
People from the ground had never seen the Sphere. Hell, not even the shadow of the moving island is projected on the thick layer of pollution that separates the two worlds. Yet, from the resentment towards the rain of shit that religiously falls on their heads everyday, the majority of ground folk have the same baseline idea of what sort of place it is. A land of excesses, blessed by the sun and clean air, inhabited by snobs that constantly look down on the people they were burying alive with their trash.
Enjin can admit that he too shared that belief. The only difference between those that hold a grudge against the Sphere and him is that he has better things to do than yell at the sky every time that trash falls from the sky. You know, trashbeasts to kill and all that.
Then down comes Rudo, to shatter whatever preconception he had of the place.
It’s still quite the shock to discover that the idyllic paradise above turned out to be a segregated land where half of the people lived in a squalor not so different from the one found on the ground below.
Rudo doesn’t talk much about his life up there. Yet it is easy to get a clear picture by putting together the bits and pieces that come out of his mouth from time to time. To the horror of whoever is listening mind you.
Enjin always got whiplash when he had to clarify the most basic concept of normalcy on the ground only to discover that for Rudo these were things only “rich people” would have or do.
It is very telling what sort of live Rudo lived up there, when the very concept of a steady supply of basic food, medicine and even fucking plumbing was met with absolute awe and disbilief. Granted, the Cleaners had access to more commodities and utilities than the average settlement citizen, but they were surely not living in the lap of luxury. Yet Rudo looked at the place like he had entered the palace of an overlord or something.
It is also very clear what type of people surrounded him in that place. No dog bares their teeth and bites this desperately if they do not expect to be beaten twice as hard (He vividly remembers what is under those gloves. The horrendous scars that he had to bandage one night he found the kid sobbing in the corridor. It made him think for a brief moment that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if the Sphere were to burn to the ground.)
Enjin can’t help but look at Rudo, yet as hard as he tries he cannot muster an ounce of pity. No, the only thing that Enjin can still feel is a very solid sense of pride.
Because despite all that, Rudo is a good kid. Rough around the edges, too full of all-consuming rage ready to devour him and everything in the world. Yet under all that sand-paper personality and hurt lay a genuine desire to understand, to connect, to build.
And isn’t that something?
That little spark of pride he felt when that old lady spoke of Rudo so gratefully had only grown even more and he thinks that Rudo should start feeling it too. Pride in his abilities, in his desire to improve, in his instinct to reach out and help.
And well he guesses that is his job now too. Seeing as he picked up the stray and all that.
”Welp, we do things differently down here.” He says ,carefully placing the little bag of cookies in front of the kid, who curiously raises his head and stares at it. “For you. The lady gave them to me, as thanks for the radio. Said next time we are in town we should pay her a visit for a proper thank you.”
It’s bitter-sweet watching Rudo look at the bag and then at him in confusion . It gets better though when the boy undoes the ribbon and his eyes grow two sizes bigger and start to sparkle in awe at the sight of the sugary confections inside.
He can’t help to ruffle the kid’s messy hair and laugh”I told you nothing is for free down here. So when someone does you a favour you gotta return it. That lady must have thought you did something good for her, hm?”
The question is met with silence, but Rudo finally looks at him with a little blush on his face and slightly nods in agreement. Enjin doesn’t mind. It’s still too soon for that seed of pride to sink into Rudo’s little head, but like he stated before that is gonna be his job from now on.
Ughh, raising children was a hassle. Didn’t Enjin said that before? Speaking of raising children, wasn’t it lunch time already? Did Rudo eat?
”Come on. Let’s put some real food into you and then we’ll try those cookies” Enjin says, getting up and manhandling the too skinny kid by the back of his shirt and dragging him out of the room towards the cafeteria.
”Hey, what do you mean, WE?! You said these were for me!”
”I delivered those for you, so I deserve my 20% fee for that. What did I say about returning favors huh?”
“That is just bullshit and you know it!
One gloved hand tries to punch his arm, but Enjin -bigger and faster- puts the boy into a friendly chokehold and messes with his hair in retaliation. Rudo is not really mad though. Prove being that, when he breaks free he still lets Enjin keep his hand on his shoulder and walk beside him. As if he is secretly enjoying the proximity and the warmth of the one-arm hug.
Man this kid was a handful. Still, Enjin thinks that these words are worth saying.
”Proud of ya kiddo”