Rico blinked, making a face at Raymond in confusion. "Huh? That basketball didn't cause any brain damage, did it little dude? Should you be gettin' a-what are those called, cat scans? Is that the one? Money's too tight to move. Or live, but you know. Capitalism."
"I'm not talking about your money, Ric," Raymond said, putting his arms out to offer a hug. "I'm getting paid way too much, and I need a bottomless pit to throw it into. Figured you'd be the right place to go."
The joke was something out of the ordinary for Raymond. He typically didn't feel comfortable enough to even speak around most people, so cracking jokes was reserved for his closest friends.
Rico's eyes lit up, both at the offer for the hug and and the talk of having money to spend. He bounded forward, pulling Raymond into a bear hug. He'd always given the best hugs. "Dude, you know I'm the best at spending money. You sure about this, if you mean what I think you mean?"
"I'm paying for wherever you want to live," Raymond responded, pulling away from the hug after a few moments. It had been a while since he'd gotten a hug. "You'll still have to work for everything else. I have to keep you accountable somehow."
“Well that’s no fun.” He joked, taking off the shirt with some issue as soon as he’d gotten his hug. “But holy shit. The rats are nice and all, but they’re so noisy at night.”
Raymond turned back to Khione, rubbing his nose in a somewhat sad manner. "I have to get up at 4 tomorrow. I'm sorry to cut this short, but if you're coming with me we have to go soon."
“Impatient as always, that’s our Raymond.” Rico chirped, shaking his head with a grin. “You crazy kids stay outta trouble. But if you’re getting in trouble I want in.”
“Absolutely not. You tend to make things worse.” Khione said, slipping her arm through the strap of her bag. “We’ll see you. Call me before you go to bed, alright?”
"Bye, Rico," Raymond said, passing his old friend a sad smile. "I'll see you soon, I promise."
“You better.” Rico warned with a grin, pulling Khione into a sudden hug. “Stay safe. Both of you.”
“We'll try.” Khione promised, not quite returning the hug, as though she wasn’t sure how. Once she was released, she patted his shoulder, stepping over to Raymond.
Raymond waved goodbye one last time before heading out of the door, his face showing no emotion despite how surprised he was.
"You said it was bad, but…..God…" he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Huh?” Khione tilted her head in confusion, before blinking in understanding. “The apartment? It ain’t….great, but it ain’t the worst, Ray. Livin’ On the streets is a helluva lot worse than a run down apartment.”
"Let's just get back to my house," he said, anxious to get a move on. He'd left this place 2 years ago and hadn't planned on coming back for a reason.
“Rico’s right. You’re still impatient as ever.” She muttered, leading the way down the hall and stairs, taking the latter definitely too many at a time for her short legs, but with minimal effort.
"I can't help it," he said with a huff as they walked out into the cold night. Raymond was distracted by his breath crystallizing in the air in front of him, but returned to his task. "I can take you clothes shopping after you get interviewed if you really are gonna live with me."
“Is there somethin’ wrong with my own clothes, Raymond?” Khione asked, stopping to cross her arms and look at him. Brow arched and face unimpressed, even her short stature couldn’t take away from how imposing she could look when she wanted to.
"N-no…that's not what I was saying," he said, eyes going wide. "I…it didn't seem like enough clothes to last for more than a week…."
He didn't like getting looked at like that, so he stared down at this feet again
She rolled her eyes, uncrossing her arms and patting his arm as she passed him. “That’s what a washing machine is for. If it makes ya feel better though, we can go grab a couple more things. I don’t think I grabbed socks.”
"How do you forget socks?" he asked when they reached his car, pulling his keys from his pockets. "Seems like the most essential clothing after underwear."
“Pants.” She challenged, waiting for him to unlock the car before sliding in. “You can wear sockless shoes.”
"I suppose," he said with a shrug, unlocking the door with a press of a button and slipping into the driver's seat. "Is there any store close by that isn't around Panther territory?"
🙋♀
((what))
"Yamoto General. That place we used to go for slushies?" She said, pulling her feet up onto the seat underneath her as she shut the door, again not buckling. "That's the only place I ever took ya that Reapers frequented. 'Cause the Panthers knew better'n to show up somewhere there were at least seven Reapers any given day. Plus, Mr. Yamoto keeps a sword in his can and knows how t' use it."
((Same question I had in the cult chat)
"You treated me like such a baby," he said as he buckled up and shifted into reverse. "I never really understood why the Panthers didn't like me. Seems like they hated me before we even met."
The first time Khione and Raymond had met, actually, was her saving him from a pack of Panthers. They had ran up on him after a practice, shouting about something he couldn't really remember anymore. He honestly thought he was about to die right there until Khione, Rico, and Silas came out of nowhere and fought them off. From then on, he felt like he had another family, even if he had let them know he refused to join their gang.
"I still owe you a secret," Raymond said as he pulled into the street. "Do you remember the first time we met?"
((Ah. oooo secrets))
"The Panthers aren't fans of people who don't align themselves with one side. And who knows, ya mighta made 'em mad somehow." She said with a shrug, snuggling into the seat and closing her eyes. For a moment, she almost looked peaceful. "Yeah, I do. What's your secret that's gotta do with that?"
"When I got home, I had burst into tears as soon as the door shut." If anyone knew anything about Raymond, it was that he didn't cry. It came with his disability. Even when he was watching his father getting lowered into the grave, his tear ducts were dry. "But it wasn't because I was scared or anything. It was because I had found you guys. I don't think I had met a single person who treated me like I was normal before you. Nobody else would've stepped in and tried to stop that and that made me emotional enough to start crying."
Khione's eyes snapped open in surprise as he mentioned crying, her expression softening as he continued to talk. They had really been that important to him? "You fit, Ray. Right into our group, like ya'd been there all along." She said, voice uncharacteristically soft. "You weren't strange to us. Kids said horrid things about ya, but Reapers…Reapers take in the underdogs. That's what we're made up of. You were just another one of the guys, even if ya never really joined us." Family.
"La mia famiglia," he said softly, the only thing he really remembered from taking Italian in 11th grade. "Don't know what I would have done without you guys."
After a moment of silence, he glanced over at her and asked, "Was I really the only non-member allowed in the clubhouse?"
"It sounds like a ten year old's treehouse fort when ya say it like that." She said, shaking her head. "But yeah. There's been one other. At least, ya were one of the only two t' ever be allowed in and out alive. Boss's husband was the only other one, before he…passed away."
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, taking a left onto Bass Street, where Yamoto's was located. "He always brought me a pack of Skittles when he walked in. Always a different flavor, too."
In truth, he'd been too scared to speak to the man. He was afraid of slipping up and saying the wrong thing, in turn losing the best thing to ever come into his life.
"Anything you want, you can get," Raymond said as he parked right next to the entrance. "Is anyone that I know here tonight?"