AU; ain't no rest for the wicked

[nooses]

i've got bills to pay, i've got mouths to feed
there ain't nothing in this world for free

STARRING:
THOSE BORN INTO FORTUNE - Shintaro Kisaragi. Shinji Ikari.
THOSE CAST OUT BY FORTUNE - Masumi Seki. Monica Campbell. Guy Cecil.

Comments

[truants]

[Contact from Monica's about as familiar as the dirty streets they lived in. It's accepted with a grunt, but nothing more. When she turns he pats the cheek she touched, his other hand fishing through his pockets for the keys.

Another day done. Another meal shared. That was all they could ask for. He settles him down on the seat, making room for her to sit behind him as usual. The bike rumbles as he turns its engine to life.]

Exactly. We don't need one. [People like them don't deserve one, in the end.] Hold on tight.

[maskmaker]

[She waits until he's seated to climb on. She used to try not to think about how familiar the motion is, how easy it is to find just the right height to wrap her arms around him, the exact place to settle her cheek against his back. But now she doesn't bother with that resistance. She accepts, and resigns to it. These are the moments she can indulge herself with.]

I'm holding.

[truants]

[Her presence is a warm shield against the biting cold. There's few things Seki appreciates in this life. He'd never admit it, but Monica is one of them. Something as simple as having someone by your side to keep the wind off your back: it's more valuable than people would think.

The bike growls as it cuts through the crowded streets, with Seki honking his horn every now and then to scare off any lollygags. He hardly has to think to steer. The route home is something he's memorized by now, and he pulls up at Monica's place without any problems.

He doesn't bother to kick down the brake when he stops the bike.]

... here we are.

[maskmaker]

[For Monica, who always rides on the back of his bike, there's nothing to keep the wind off her back. But that's fine. For her, the value of these moments lie in the back she can rest her body against, the waist to wrap her arms around, and the wind blowing past them. They move fast. Faster than she could ever go on her own feet, and for that short time she can pretend they're escaping, leaving it all behind to a future just as unknown but perhaps brighter than the murky bleakness ahead of them now.

It's all just an illusion, but people have to hold on to dreams sometimes, she thinks. She's as usual a little slower than necessary in peeling herself away and slipping off the bike.

Her place is a small apartment. It's not any better than the rest in this part of town, even if she does her best to keep it clean and comfortable. But she calls it home, because sometimes you're lucky to even have somewhere to go. She turns and smiles a little.] Thanks.

[truants]

[His back is still warm when she leaves. Seki watches the way she walks, the way she moves, studying it as though he's been granted the privilege of glimpsing something rare that only comes by once in a lifetime. He's half-afraid that one day, when he drops her off, that radiance will be gone.

Shit. They were terrible. Him especially, for appreciating that smile.]

It's nothing. [As always.] Have a good night, Monica.

[maskmaker]

[There's a bounce in her step and a flair to her movements that she knows she only has because he's there to watch. There's no need for a mask when nobody will see. There's no need for a play when there isn't an audience. There's no need for her to act alive if nobody knew she was there. But there's Seki. He's her only audience and her one co-actor. The only one she'll truly accept, and she knows it. She doesn't touch him once they've pulled apart, taking a few steps forward and stopping when he's far enough that she couldn't reach him if she stretched her arm as far as it would go.]

You too, Seki. If we're lucky, we'll see each other again.

[She means it in no ominous way. But it'll save them both the disappointing of promise of seeing each other again and it not happening, right?]