[Closed] And of all these angry people in the world

[firewalled]

Who: Rich Goranski and Six
When: Post Event
Where: Sports deck, early morning
Summary: Rich swallows his pride and decides to actually thank someone he thought was a major dick
Warnings: probably not much aside from discussion of event aftermath and of trauma responses



Rich is... trying to be better. There's been a lot to deal with, after that hell night in the diner. Reassuring his dads that he wasn't secretly missing an arm, trying to comfort Darcy and Dimitri, who were practically missing arms with how hard they had to fight... even after the initial panic was over and after Rich had slept maybe 12 hours straight, there was still the matter of getting back into a routine, of eating meals without glancing over his shoulder every few moments, and of feeling safe enough to turn the lights out in his cabin at night.

There was still one loose end he hadn't quite tied up, though. (All that other junk he's dealing with? Oh, totally fine. A couple nights' good rest is clearly all you need to sort your mental health out.) Rich had seen who was driving the rescue truck that evening, and he's pretty sure the guy didn't have a deep intimate connection to, like, the weird winged newscaster or the sword fighting ghost girl. No, Six was there for Rich.

Even after Rich had threatened him and fought back against him to the point of dislocating his own shoulder, Six had come to find Rich. And he had done it in César's truck. It seems like the guy really was trying to work with César rather than enacting any sort of revenge... which is just rude, because it means now Rich has to apologize for that first fight, and thank him for not abandoning a snot-nosed kid he probably can't stand the sight of.

He checked in with César to find out where Six usually hangs out, and though it means waking up at the asscrack of dawn, Rich pulls himself to the sports deck during Six's usual training time. He's in sweats of his own, definitely pretending he's just here for a pleasant jog when he coincidentally runs into the intimidating man. And no matter how intimidating he is, Rich also (completely casually and in a way that certainly doesn't betray the time practicing in the mirror to get it right) smiles lightly and waves a hand when he spots Six training.

"Hey! Just going for a morning jog! I didn't know anyone besides losers were up this early!"

Smooth, Goranski. He'll never figure you out now.

Comments

[sixthdeadliest]

"Never said I was completely ruthless, just that I'm not as kind as you seemed to think I am."

Also, how dare you question his self-worth?

[firewalled]

"Well, maybe not. Still don't think you're sixth most ruthless in the world, but maybe that's just me."

He shrugs. "Anyways. The important thing is I wanted to say thanks for helping me out. I owe you one... probably not a rescue, I'm shit at that, but if you need some sort of favour, you can ask me about it."

[sixthdeadliest]

"Pray you never have to see me at my worst," Six stated bluntly. "Or if you do, pray you're not the target."

Because he did not mess around with that sort of thing.

"And you don't owe me anything. All I did was drive."

[firewalled]

"I definitely don't want to see you at your worst, but uh, I still don't think you'd take it out on me."

He shakes his head with a bit of a grin. "It was some seriously badass driving, though, and it prevented me from being zombie food. That's worth at least a little favour, right?"

[sixthdeadliest]

Six didn't say anything for a long moment in response to the kid's bravado, allowing the suddenly heavy, oppressive, downright dangerous silence to speak for him. The dark confidence that he didn't need to boast about his skill, that if it ever came down to a real fight, his opponent would likely die.

The silent reminder that he'd let the kid off very easy before.

After giving it time to sink in, Six turned back towards his imaginary targets, slipping into position to start again. "Do what you want, kid, but just know that I'm not keeping score."

[firewalled]

One of Rich's flaws is not backing down from danger when he senses it. Sure, it's a little irritating, maybe even frightening, to be considered an opponent when Rich was just trying to thank him, but... he can put up with this. For Cesar, at least. He's going to do a good thing for once if it kills him.

Which apparently, it might.

"...You're really not good at being polite, huh? We have that in common."

[sixthdeadliest]

Six rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"There's no reason for you to keep insisting on thanking me or paying me back. Move on."

[firewalled]

"I... Okay, fine. Sorry. I thought... never mind."

He did apologize and thank him, and that's... probably all he can do. He hopes that César can convince the guy to unwind a little.

[sixthdeadliest]

"You thought what?"

Six looked back over his shoulder, thoroughly confused.

[firewalled]

"I don't know! Just thought if you were going to be working with César again, I should probably make an effort to like... talk to you and stuff."

Wouldn't it be awkward to avoid each other entirely when he was hanging out with Rich's dad pretty regularly?

[sixthdeadliest]

Six allowed himself to look baffled as he tried to figure out what the kid meant.

"Why?"

[firewalled]

"Um... well, he's kind of my dad? And I shouldn't be a jerk to my dad's friends? I don't know. You're making it sound like it was a really dumb idea, but César said you guys were sorting stuff out and helping each other out, so."

Rich takes a step back. "But it's pretty obvious you don't want me to bother doing that, so I'll just... sink into the floor and die from embarrassment now, if that's cool."

[sixthdeadliest]

"...I think I need to explain things on my end since I'm not sure what idea César gave you about our relationship.

"We're not friends; we're former coworkers. I might have decided not to kill him over what he did to me, but that doesn't make me his friend. You're under no obligation to be polite to me to 'get along with his friends'."

[firewalled]

"Oh... I um. That's totally fair and fine. I thought he was working with you again now? That's what he told me. So I thought, even if it was just as a coworker, that I should try to get along with you."

He sighs and rubs his forehead. "And again, I just thought you saving my ass meant I was sort of obligated to try to talk to you. But you... super don't want that and that's fair."

[sixthdeadliest]

"It's on a case-by-case basis."

At least that was how he understood it. Might need to clear some things up with César.

"It's not that I don't want it, kid. It's just I don't see why you insist on it after I told you that you didn't owe me anything." He traced one of the planks of the wood of the deck with a toe. "What I do doesn't lend itself towards huge displays of gratitude. I'm just a more recognizable grunt on the front lines."

[firewalled]

"I think one of the top six assassins or whatever is a little more than a grunt. But like... frankly, I don't think anyone here is that. We're all supposed to be trying to get through this the best we can together. Trying to go alone is only going to make you more miserable... and the Captain feeds off of that, so like, isn't it in our best interest to be there for each other?"

He's probably a little disjointed at this point, but really, he doesn't know how to argue that Six deserves... the same things that Rich had believed he wasn't worthy of either.

[sixthdeadliest]

"We're all just pawns in the bigger game. Some pawns are more recognizable than others, but we're all still pawns.

"And being alone doesn't bother me. Not exactly trained to deal with large amounts of people."

[firewalled]

"Sure, crowds suck, but... you can't just fend for yourself the whole time. I'd think that would be a little miserable."

[sixthdeadliest]

"Nothing I'm not used to, kid."

Even long before he'd become a mercenary. He'd had to make a lot of compromises when fending for himself on the street.

[firewalled]

"Yeah, but you don't have to be used to it here. Speaking as someone who didn't have connections to anyone back home... it's actually worth trying."

[sixthdeadliest]

"Keeps things simple."

Relationships came with too many messy strings as he'd found out from his partnership and friendship with White Knight. Not all of them were bad, but he didn't need so many people around him. He was having to re-learn it back where he came from.

[firewalled]

"Simple, but also really fucking dire..."

Ugh, but it's stupid of him to even try to convince this guy. He's just one young kid, and Six doesn't get that they could possibly have anything in common.

[sixthdeadliest]

Six waited for an explanation, but it seemed like the kid was starting to get the idea that he wasn't going to be joining the "Kumbaya" circle.

"Why don't you head back to bed, kid?"