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"You ready?" Pollux asked, revving the engine a bit.
"Secure and all that?"
The Prince and the Assassin (closed o/o)
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flash_on
"Yeah… I'm good." he said softly, his wings tucked in behind him, and his small bundle of clothing held tightly to his chest.
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Pollux drove them back to his place for a second time, parked his bike, and helped Rykah get his things. He led the way back to his door and unlocked it.
"You can throw those clothes in the wash with mine," he offered, "I was going to do laundry anyway."
flash_on
Rykah hesitated at the other of washing his clothes, then nodded silently in agreement, allowing himself to drop his clothing into a basket of dirty laundry to be dealt with later.
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"Make yourself at home," Pollux said, "If you need anything, just let me know. You're welcome to go use the shower, or the bed, or whatever else."
flash_on
Rykah nodded quietly, feeling more out of place than he had that morning. He looked around the home a bit nervously, hesitant to do anything.
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Pollux grabbed the laundry detergent and dropped the bottle on top of the full basket to deal with later.
He went to get his laptop and sat out in the living room, placing the device on the arm of the couch.
"And if you need help finding anything, let me know."
flash_on
Rykah hummed awkwardly, nodding in response to to the other's words. "I.. Okay." he said softly, slwoly moving into the dining room and sitting at the table, his tail tucked in, and wings held close, signifying how much he felt out of place.
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Pollux looked away from his guest and worked for a few minutes before deciding to do laundry. He placed the clothes in the washer, poured in a cap of detergent, and started the cycle. He found himself glancing over at Rykah again.
"Everything alright?" he asked, "Need more pain meds?"
flash_on
Rykah shook his head, "Just.. I feel like I shouldn't be here.." he said softly, keeping his eyes trained on the table.
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"Ah, I see," Pollux replied.
He fell quiet, pondering what to say to that.
"I understand why you might feel that way, but I do want you here."
He frowned a bit. The man didn't exactly have a way with words, but he had no problem with Rykah here.
"It'll be nice having company, too."
flash_on
"I.. Thank you." said Rykah quietly. He didn't relax. At least not visibly, but the reassurance that he was wanted… it helped.
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"Of course. It gets lonely here, and you seem like a nice guy. And if I get to help you along the way, I most certainly don't take issue with that."
He flashed a slight smile.
flash_on
Rykah managed a weak smile at that, nodding in thanks. his wings readjusted against his sides, and after several minutes he finally opened the box he'd brought, revealing a small stack of old sketchpads. the newest one on the top, had a ratty pencil case on it. Inside were your standard cheap graphite pencils, colored pencils, sharpener, and teeny eraser bits. Certain pencils like the blues and greens, and the darker "B" pencils were all varying amounts of tiny, and it was clear all of these had been well used.
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Pollux heard the rattling of pencils clacking together and turned to see what Rykah was doing.
"Oh, so you do art?" he said.
The washing machine beeped, and he opened up the little closet that held the washer and dryer. He started moving the clothes to the dryer and threw in a couple of dryer sheets.
flash_on
Rykah tensed a little when the other spotted him, and he nodded quietly, "Ever since I was little… yeah.." he responded quietly.
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"That's nice," Pollux replied, "Do you work with other mediums, or do you mainly do drawings?"
He clicked the dryer door closed and started it up.
flash_on
"I never had the cash to work with other mediums, so no." he said softly.
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"Ah, yeah… I guess not," Pollux replied, "Is there anything you're interested in trying, though?"
He laughed a bit to himself.
"I've been wanting to pick up some hobbies myself, since I'm going to be alive until someone kills me. Plus, the whole not-having-to-sleep thing gives me a lot of spare time. Not sure what to spend it on. But I'm not the artistic type, sadly."
flash_on
"I'd like to pick up painting.. but 'yknow…" he said softly, opening his sketchbook to a blank page, then fiddling with his pencils.
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"I have some old craft paints, if you want to mess around with them. Not sure if they're any good still, but I'm not using them," Pollux replied, "Would you like me to find them?"
flash_on
"You.. You don't have to.." said Rykah, despite being clearly interested in the prospect of paints.
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"I can just do it later, when I get the chance," Pollux said, trying to make it sound like it would be no inconvenience, because it really wasn't.
flash_on
Rykah nodded, "Thank you…" he said, not sure what else too say without being awkward.
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"Mhm," Pollux replied in a happy little hum.
He stretched a bit.
"How're you feeling? Physically, that is."
flash_on
Rykah was sketching out something in his sketchpad by now, the lines not really making sense if you didn't know what he was drawing, but it looked to be some soft of animal. "I'm okay… my wing is sore.. but it's fine."
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"Okay, I'll leave some over the counter pain meds sitting out in case. And don't worry about wasting them or anything. I can't exactly take pills myself," Pollux replied.
He pulled a bottle from a cabinet in the kitchen and set it down on the counter.
flash_on
Rykah nodded, "Okay.." he said softly, his attention quickly going back to his sketch.
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Pollux sat back down on the couch, picking back up where he'd left off.
He let out a quiet sigh when he went to check his email, and he had one from his employer. How was he supposed to explain his whole situation? Not even the Rykah part. Just… keeping himself unbearably hungry to the point where he could be a danger to patients, and missing a day and a half of work, even though the fix was as simple as biting the bullet and drinking blood.
flash_on
Rykah wouldn't say it either, but he also really needed that job. Not that he knew of the other's dilemma as he focused on his drawing, a regal looking Tigress.