Chapter Text
“To Follo!”
“TO FOLLO!!!”
“-CHEERS!”
“YEAH!!!”
Hands raised together, drinks clanging and spilling over the edges as the cleaners enthusiastically celebrated the newest addition to their ranks, a young man who had recently approached with a determined wish to join and contribute. The man, or better regarded as a boy at this rate, sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed by the amount of attention.
How humble. He’d fit right in, Tamsy thought as he tipped his own drink in compliance with the others, a welcoming smile settling onto his face like second nature. The new supporter was likely to be a dead weight on his first missions, but any new addition was always welcome, he supposed. Follo seemed like the self-sacrificing type– determined, and far too friendly to be completely sincere.
With a quiet sigh, he leaned back slightly, basking in his surroundings– the smell of beer and smoke hanging heavily in the air.
The cleaners made fine company. Even with their loudness and crude mannerisms, it was still far better than the uptight shoelickers up on the Sphere. The Ground was a nice place, rotten in most aspects, but prettier than the polished lies of the rulers above. Nothing up there really convinced him to return, if not for his own noble position or his upcoming project... which admittedly still had some work cut out for him.
It was close to perfect down here, if not for the trash raining from the Sphere above, the polluted zones, or the bothersome Trash Beasts occasionally showing themselves– Tamsy could confidently say it’d make a nicer place to live than up the Sphere.
Freedom. Above all, that’s the biggest reason as to why he had joined the cleaners roughly five years ago. He could do what he wanted without it having direct consequences for his position– or causing uprisings, disputes, and headache-inducing arguments with higher-ups or fulfilling their never-ending expectations. However that didn’t anger him. Nothing ever truly did.
The start of his future project, now that would mark his adoration and love toward the true world and the change it would induce.
That needed to wait a little longer. However, living as a cleaner– a Giver no less– was actually quite interesting. It kept him entertained, the people were bearable and it was never mundane.
The parties however….
He resisted the urge to sigh aloud. Social expectations remained everywhere, sadly enough. Tamsy didn’t care for most bonds, not unless they benefitted him directly. However, what would one think if he showed that outright? He’d never belong.
He distantly noted Enjin rising to his feet from beside him with a loud greeting as Gris arrived with Follo under his arm, clapping the young boy on the shoulders hard enough to nearly knock him over.
The young boy awkwardly coughed in his fist, “Gris… I don’t know if I am going to remember everyone’s names around here. You already introduced me to so many others, ha ha!” He noted almost apologetically, glancing around at the seated group.
Idly tracing his left pinky along the rim of his glass, Tamsy lifted his attention back to reality, meeting Follo’s gaze. He framed a soft smile, about to pipe in with some polite reassurance–
– before the man on his left shot up, nearly knocking him from his seat as a large arm bumped him aside, his cup falling to the floor with a faint clatter drowned out by the seat to his side scraping back.
Watching the cup and its innards spilling all over the floor, Tamsy slowly blinked at the loss, but seeing no one was paying attention to him he quickly recomposed himself, smoothing out his blue tassels and reaching for his empty cup with a sigh.
He hadn’t expected Delmon to stay quiet for much longer.
“IT'S SO GREAT TO MEET YOU FOLLOOO!!!” Delmon practically roared, several newer members turning their heads to face the abrupt rise of volume. A few years back, Tamsy used to shrink every time his teammate conducted himself this way, but after it became a daily occurrence, well… one gets used to it. Even if his hearing suffered for it in the long run.
“SO YOUNG AND ALREADY SHOWING SUCH DEDICATION?! YOU WOULD BE A GREAT SUPPORTER FOR OUR TEAM!!!”
The boy in question blinked, taken aback and looking at Gris with question marks visible in his eyes. The blond man smiled in turn. “This here is Delmon, a Giver from Team Eager. As you can see he’s… quite thrilled to have you here.”
Enjin grinned broadly, wrapping his arm around Follo, “He’s the best at raising spirits! If you ask me, any team could use a guy like Delmon to keep the morale up!”
And to lose their hearing in the process.
Follo nodded, encouraging himself to step forward to face the mountain of a man. “It’s very nice to meet you as well! I can’t wait to work alongside you sometime and learn everything about the cleaners and Givers!-” He said with a resolute grin, extending a hand– far too determined to be completely genuine.
Oh, this poor kid.
Delmon beamed at those words, taking a firm grasp of the smaller one's hand.
A loud crack sounded from Follo’s hand, silencing the surrounding chatter as the younger man’s expression shifted to complete horror in a split second.
“Oh dear, you should be more mindful of your strength, Delmon.” Tamsy softly piped in, his voice even as he moved to stand at his companion’s side, hands carefully tucked into his baggy sleeves.
Follo gaped in silence, Gris watched in disbelief and Delmon gave a confused grunt before letting go of his hand.
As the people watched the bruised hand left in its wake, the large man raised his hands to his head in a panic.
“AHH! I AM SO SORRY!”
“Yo… we should get you checked in with Eisha.” Enjin voiced uncertainly, eyeing Gris warily as he took hold of Follo’s shoulders, who was yet to give a reaction.
Tamsy’s lips pressed thin. It’d be too awkward to introduce himself now… even if it would be a little funny to shake that hand and watch the supporter struggle to keep up that happy facade.
But for the sake of his own composure, he kept quiet, feeling grateful when Follo finally gave a sign of life.
“It’s fine!- It’s fine! Really– just popped a finger!” He chuckled. One could admire the clear lie he told to ease the tension, but that hand was definitely not alright with how tightly Follo clutched it.
Gris and Enjin shared a look, even they could see the miserable attempt– and Tamsy would easily consider the latter to be socially blind at the best of times. Luckily for Follo the voices around them slowly picked up again, some still shooting glances over their shoulders before resuming to the festivities.
“We’ll… get the chance to properly meet another time,” Tamsy said, patting Delmon’s arm as the other man visibly deflated. He smiled at Follo politely before shooting Gris a quick glance. Taking the opening Gris instantly spoke up, “Eisha should be…”
“Right there!” Enjin called out as he pointed over the crowd to the other side of the room, where Eisha remained futile in her attempts to get her brother off the table.
“OHHHH, THE IDEAS MY DEAR SISTER!!! MY FINGERS ARE ITCHING WITH POSSIBILITIES! I NEED TO GET TO IT STRAIGHT AWAY!!!”
It was easy to miss Eisha, but with her brother around… the two made a loud mess of things, which was completely August’s fault. Tamsy was glad he scarcely interacted with the other blonde man. He already dealt with numerous noise complaints when heading on missions due to Delmon, so he could sympathise with Eisha.
The artist and creator of his very gear tended to get ignored a lot around headquarters, with valid reasoning. Once he got his own gear he vowed to stay away from August as far as possible, for the sake of his own sanity– the other was far too unpredictable.
“I AM SORRY FOLLO!” Delmon yelled as Enjin and Gris escorted the young man, who gave a soft wave to the two of them before leaving.
The large man sat back down on the comically disproportionate chair, resting his head on his hands defeatedly. “I totally screwed that up!” He voiced regrettably.
It was not often that Delmon’s strength was put on display like this, usually he had it pretty under control… if not for the times he got too fired up for another person.
“Come now, it’s quite alright. He said so himself, didn't he?”
Tamsy sat down as well, patting the other man on the shoulder before crossing his legs and leaning back. “Besides, you will get to check in with him soon enough I imagine. You can apologize properly then, it’s not like you meant to… pop his finger.”
He definitely broke something.
Delmon sighed, letting his hands down. “Yeah... you’re right. Nothing I can do about it now.”
He huffed as his eyes regained their spark. “I can at least commend his endurance! It’s no small feat to withstand my strength!” He grinned as he eyed Tamsy.
The blonde smiled in turn, glad the other wasn’t beating himself up about it too hard, and so he raised his drink. “We can shake hands on that my friend.” He joked, even if it made his innards cringe.
The roaring laugh Delmon let out was worth it however, raising his cup. “HA! That’s the spirit!!!”
Tamsy eyed his teammate with a grin, and their drinks collided before Delmon took a large swing. His own cup was still empty after the trip it took towards the dirty ground. How ironic. He’d have to grab a new one.
Usually he wouldn’t indulge in drinks, or this amount of company for that matter.
The cleaners found great importance in food and fellowship, especially after missions where they almost got torn to shreds were they keen on ravaging their plates and drinking to their hearts content. Joining them had proven to be fun and amusing at times, but also very tiring. One can only tell so many lies each day before defenses start to wear down. And it wasn’t exactly in his ‘persona’ to go out into town and party with Enjin and Bro.
He is contained– reliable– a calm presence amongst the chaos that calls themselves cleaners.
If only they knew. Sometimes he wants to throw his glass on the floor in celebration with the others, or bash Tokushin into someone’s head out of frustration. He simply couldn’t. There was no place that would possibly allow that. A shame, truly.
Reminded of his surroundings as someone enthusiastically greeted Delmon– one of the supporters from their latest mission, he rose to his feet at the temporary escape opportunity.
“Seems like I’m out, you two want something?” He politely asked.
“Yeah, bring me another! We have a few days off, should be fine!” Delmon said, the supporter at his side shaking his head.
Tamsy smiled, “I’ll be right back then.”
Waving his long sleeve he made his way through the crowd, careful to not bump into anyone and accidentally catching their attention– he knew enough people around here to be randomly dragged into conversations. He wanted to avoid that at all costs.
Social pleasantries were a hassle when people were drunk.
Tamsy resisted the urge to frown as someone blocked his path, barreling forwards after their companion that stole their drink. He wove around them easily, ducking aside as an elbow nearly hit his face. With every loud voice present in the room, his annoyance grew.
At the bar things seemed to be more at ease, and there just so happened to be a spot free next to his favorite– and the Cleaners’ only secretary.
Tamsy smiled as he sat down, arms folding on top of the bar as he eyed Semiu who had been absentmindedly sipping her drink. “I imagine you must be missing your desk right now.” He mused aloud.
She shot him a glance, followed by a heavy sigh. “For once, I’m not.”
Strange.
Signaling over the barman for one more drink, he turned his attention back to her. “I’d say you are out of magazines, but that’s hardly ever the case.”
“You are a valuable supplier.” She scoffed fondly.
“I take pride in that, even if the shopkeepers may recognize me as a depraved man.” Tamsy sighed out in remorse.
He wouldn’t be lying if he said that the secretary was one of his favorite people around headquarters; she is low-maintenance, has a nice dry sense of humor, and cut to the chase when she has to. Even if her gift was a fright when he first arrived.
He was lucky, she couldn’t read thoughts but only someone’s essence, and his true essence is as angelic as one can be. After all he harbored no hatred or resentment, he stood above those feelings.
Semiu took a few more sips, resting her head on her fist as she watched him. “I wish it was as simple as that. I could send you or someone else over with a single message, but this latest case…”
Tamsy raised a curious brow, taking the drink from the barman he was meaning to bring Delmon. He could wait a little longer.
The other Giver stared down at the wooden surface of the bar, “For a while there have been reports of people in the North relying more on our help, the rates of trashbeasts over there have been going up for a while now– which by itself isn’t that rare with the seasons changing. It’s happened before.”
“...But?”
Semiu raised her eyes back to him, grateful to be facing one of the sharper Givers the cleaners had to offer. “But. The people reporting don’t seem to be glad at our arrival. Even after the Trashbeasts are eradicated, they seem hopeless– empty– some even saying that there will be more to come in a few days time.”
Hopeless?
The loud chatter around them was drowned out by the weight of the conversation. He curled a finger under his chin in thought, “That’s most strange indeed, people are always thankful and glad to see our job being done. I’ve hardly ever encountered someone who brushed our tasks off and went on about their day.”
“And are they usually right? Do the Trashbeasts return?”
She nodded wordlessly, grasping the bridge of her nose in exhaustion.
“I’ve been wanting to send Team Child over to eradicate the next batches of Trashbeasts arriving in two days time– as there are never that many of them to begin with, and Bro wants them to get more practice in. But they will only get discouraged being faced with dull faces brushing off their feats and hard work.”
“And Team Akuta?”
“On another mission to the West, they are heading out early tomorrow.” Semiu noted. The blonde lifted his gaze as he spotted Enjin partying and drinking to his heart's content– hollering at Gris to drink another beer with him.
Idiot.
“How about Delmon and I tag along with Team Child? I could get a closer look at the people around there, see what’s up with them.” Tamsy humbly offered with a close-eyed smile.
He often played this role, the selfless Giver who was always ready to fill in where needed. Most people gobbled that right up, Semiu however…
“Didn’t the both of you get a few days off after that last job?” She questioned, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “With how much you travel, I would’ve thought you’d make good use of that.”
“Mm, we did. But it’s not like I had any ideas of going anywhere. Sure I had a day in town planned out, but that can wait. I am sure Delmon would be eager to see how much Team Child has improved.”
He could reach the Sphere in about a day depending on its location, but all the boring work waiting for him up there was not worth it. Someone else could pick it up, just like they’ve done for years. No one seemed to mind.
“Besides, seeing that scowl lift off your face after hearing my offer, I believe it’d save you a lot of stress.” Tamsy waved a sleeve. “It’d be easy enough to tag along, Team Child deals with the Trashbeasts as expected– we talk with the people around there, and I report back to you what I’ve heard and seen.”
Semiu eyed him for a moment, before promptly lifting her glass and swinging it back in one go before calling for another. “I’ll take that offer, thanks Tamsy.”
He gave a polite smile, “It’s nothing, really. Just have to make sure Delmon doesn’t drink from here on out.” With that did he slowly slide the drink in front of him to Semiu, who took it appreciatively with a grin.
“You’re the best.”
“Mm, I tend to notice that.” He joked, rising from his seat and scanning the crowded room. “Oh, and at what time are we heading out tomorrow then?”
Semiu gave an amused look, “6am.”
His smile instantly dropped, eyes flicking over to the clock hanging over the fireplace.
1am.
“You are cruel to me, Semiu.”
“Only to the best.” Tipping her drink to him, she returned to her lonesome company.
Great.