[Fin] Alfresco Living

[TawnyAngel]

So, here it was then. He felt... he didn't even know. He was scared, tired, and he didn't know what to do now. He had his huge backpack with him, same as the first time he'd met Abel, and he was expecting to meet him again now in the park. He hadn't told Abel what had happened, just that he needed to talk to him. Maybe he should have said by text, but he hadn't.

He didn't know what he was going to do now, it was already past midday and it got dark early this time of year. Trainers' Centre? He guessed, what other choice was there? No home, no job, a few dollars to his name and no idea what to do next.

Taavi kicked despondently at a clod of frozen dirt and plodded on along the path towards the spot he'd agreed to meet Abel. He couldn't have kept on hiding it from everyone, he had to tell someone that he'd totally failed as a human being. He'd cried earlier, before he'd left the apartment. He hoped it didn't show too much now. He still felt like crying. What was he going to do?

High overhead Valour circled, half his attention on his human friend and half on the lookout for something that could become Supper. A bird and his friends had to eat job or no job and he'd see to it that they did.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Luckily for Taavi, Abel was free at the requested time, so with his hands in his pockets, Isaac curled around his neck for warmth, and Elizabeth and Caleb trotting along behind him, the blond made his way through the park. The message was vaguely troubling since he had no idea what was going on but it had sounded important in some manner, so it was with a sense of unease that he approached the designated meeting spot. Relief replaced the unease briefly - only briefly - when he spotted Taavi, but it returned when he spied the oversized backpack.

He lifted a hand in greeting from a distance, then once he got to a proper distance away he greeted his friend more properly. "Hey, what's up? You going on a trip or something?" Really, why did he have his huge backpack with him?  

[TawnyAngel]

There he was! Though still feeling sick and exhausted and awful it was a relief that Abel had come; Taavi waved at him and tried to work out what to say, but Abel greeted him first and-

Oh no. No, he wasn't going to cry.

"I-" Taavi's voice cut out; he cleared his throat, looked down at his feet. "Thanks, you... uh, you came I.... I'm sorry, I don't want to be a.... But... well I...." Taavi blinked tears out of his eyes, still keeping his gaze down so he didn't have to look at Abel. "You know I got fired? And, well, I didn't get another job- I tried! I tried so hard but I didn't and... and.. I just got kicked out of my apartment and I haven't told anyone but I had to tell someone and I-" He had to stop abruptly again so that he didn't let out a horrible strangled choked noise of misery. "I'm sorry I... I know you've got your own s**t going on but you've always been a great friend to me so I couldn't lie to you anymore. I couldn't bring myself to just text you. I'm sorry."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The more Taavi spoke, the more his unease grew, until it deflated with an underwhelming pop. He'd unknowingly started expecting something far worse than what Taavi actually admitted, and it left him feeling an awkward mixture of relieved and concerned when he found out that his friend wasn't going to move away forever or hadn't contracted some fatal disease he'd die from in a couple months. Being evicted wasn't that bad in comparison.

Still, on its own it was a really crappy thing, especially since he knew Taavi had been dealing with being fired and had apparently not succeeded in landing another job. Not even a temporary one. Man, that really sucked. "C'mon man, you don't have anything to apologize to me about," he started gently, not even sure where to begin. Where did he begin? Taavi always seemed like the sensitive sort, so the blond stepped closer both to put a hand on his friend's shoulder and to be within hugging range if Taavi felt so inclined. That was probably as good a start as any. "You've been dealt a shitty hand lately, that's all. You really don't have anything to apologize to me for, so no worrying about that, all right?" He offered him what he hoped was an encouraging smile. Aw man, the poor guy looked liable to cry any minute. So you got kicked out of your apartment, his train of thought started but he pointedly refrained from speaking, instead starting at the second half of the thought. "D'you know what you're going to do next?"  

[TawnyAngel]

Hugs were vaguely offered, hugs were taken for several moments.

When Taavi stepped back he was wiping his eyes on his sleeve, completely failing to hide the few tears that had managed to slip out but oh well.

"Uh." Taavi took in a deep breath and let it out again, giving his eyes another wipe on the heels of his hands. "I, ugh, thanks. I'm sorry. I... guess I'm going to stay at the Trainers' Centre tonight? And for now we'll have to hop between there and the Northern Centre, and camp out some because they keep track of how much people stay I think? Uh, so yeah it'll be camping and still looking for a job I guess. I just," Taavi gestured helplessly, "I feel so stupid! I shouldn't have got fired, or I should have got a new job or.... But I didn't, and here I am." He wished he could ask Sasha if he could stay over for a bit but he'd known from the start that even seeing his boyfriend's home wasn't an option, that was why he hadn't told him what was going on.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Hugs were freely given for as long as Taavi wanted. Isaac held perfectly still, not really sure what to do in this situation except not to move; Taavi probably wouldn't appreciate his tail flicking his ear or something.

Man, poor guy... Abel didn't comment on the tears - didn't even act like he noticed them, even if they were hard to miss - and instead focused on the issue at hand. If there was one thing he did where possible, it was prioritize things. "You shouldn't feel stupid, it's not your fault you got saddled with a p***k of a customer who wanted to cause trouble. You're not the reason you got fired, he is," the blond reminded him in no uncertain terms.

...wait. "You're going to hop back and forth between the two," which wasn't a small distance, if he remembered off the top of his head, "and you're going to camp? Like... outside? Dude, it's January. You can't just camp out in January." He paused, his skeptical frown turning vaguely thoughtful; he probably knew full well that camping out in January wouldn't be even remotely pleasant. "Isn't there somewhere else you could stay? What about with your boyfriend? At least for a little while," he added, in case he got the wrong idea and instead thought 'take it to the next level, move in with your boyfriend' or something. Wanting to do that was one thing, but getting evicted and needing a place to crash for a few days was quite another entirely.  

[TawnyAngel]

He didn't exactly feel better - okay he didn't feel better at all really but it was still a relief to tell somebody. "Right," Taavi sniffed, wiped his eyes again and nodded. "He is the reason, ******** him. Ugh. I wish I could stay with Sasha but...." Taavi sighed slightly and shrugged helplessly. "Ah, it's a bit of a weird situation actually? I don't actually know his address. He lives somewhere out of the city I think in a house with his landlord, and he gets an amazing deal on rent and stuff but.... Well it sounds like his landlord is some kind of young heir to a fortune or something and a bit reclusive, Sasha's not allowed to even bring visitors over so me staying is completely out. I've camped all times of the year... with much better equipment yeah but I'll be alright." Cold and miserable, probably, but it wouldn't kill him or anything. He really wished he could stay with Sasha for a little while, that would make all of this a lot less awful. Taavi gave Abel a little smile that didn't look very happy at all. "Hopefully it won't be for too long, and I have got Swift."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"There you go," Abel replied approvingly; he didn't want Taavi to go on thinking it had been his fault when that didn't seem like the case even remotely. His encouraging smile slowly faded to a puzzled and then a vaguely wary frown the more he learned about Taavi's boyfriend, however. The age different he could kind of see past - even if he wouldn't personally date someone so much older or younger than himself - but honestly that was all he really knew about this guy. "You... don't have any idea where he lives and you can't go there even if you did know because of his landlord...?" How good a deal was he talking about? It had to be practically free for the landlord to forbid visitors - if that were even true. Seriously, what kind of landlord leased a domicile but forbade visitors? At that point, why lease it at all?

Setting the suspicious matter aside for the time being, the blond instead focused on the present. Taavi's unhappy smile did absolutely nothing to convince him that he'd be all right. "Swift is just one little Vulpix, isn't he? How's he going to keep you warm? I mean yeah he's a fire-type, but there's only so much one little fire-type can do." Maybe if he were bigger or he had two, maybe, but just one? And Vulpix were so small... Abel chewed his lip a bit, his brows furrowing. Getting fired and then evicted was definitely not an easy thing to deal with... He wouldn't be able to get another place to stay more permanently until he got a job, and some places might be hesitant to hire someone who was essentially homeless, and that would just be a vicious circle no matter what way you looked at it. "There isn't anywhere else you can stay?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yeeeeeah," Taavi replied, giving another helpless shrug. "I know it's kinda weird but...." He shrugged again because he wasn't really sure how to end the sentence, it was weird but it was just how things were and he couldn't do anything about it; he wished he could but that was selfish, Sasha got an unbelievable deal where he was now, he shouldn't want to take that away from him.

"And I know, not very," Taavi continued rubbing his forehead and sighing. "It... kinda sucks but I can't think of anything else I can do or anywhere else I can stay." Getting a new job without an address wasn't going to be easy but he really didn't see he had any choice other than to try. "I'll just have to find a new job really quickly right? Heh. And, like I said I can stay some nights in the trainers' centres so I'll have somewhere to go on bad nights."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Rather than commenting again, Abel merely nodded in response. Now didn't seem like the best time to get into how shady his boyfriend's story sounded.

Find a job quickly, he says... Easier said than done. "Yeahh," he agreed somewhat hesitantly, still frowning thoughtfully. Just on bad nights? The thought reminded him of the chill in the air, so he hugged his coat around him a little tighter, as if that would help. "...you're sure you don't have any friends you could stay with for a while?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah," Taavi shrugged and then shook his head, mirroring Abel's motion of snugging his coat tighter about himself. It was going to be cold sleeping out here, really cold. "I couldn't ask that of anyone and... well I don't really know many people anyway in Kodo besides you and Sasha,and people from work but I've not really heard from any of them since I was fired." The only person outside work he'd say he really knew - besides Sasha - was in fact Abel and, yeah, he couldn't ask that. "Um, I don't like the idea of sleeping in the city so I'll head out to the woods, that'll give me some natural cover at least and I can make myself a shelter." If he kept telling himself it would be okay would he start to believe it?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

...so he'd been fired, evicted, had no friends to ask for help - himself excluded - and his boyfriend couldn't even do anything for him. Would he even want to? Pushing that thought aside, Abel lifted a hand to run through his hair. The strong desire to help him out had staunch opposition in his desire for secrecy; if he invited Taavi to stay with him for a while, he ran the risk of revealing some things he would much prefer to keep quiet. His current financial predicament, for one. "Yeah, no, the city definitely isn't safe to just camp in," he found himself saying almost immediately, though once he paused a moment to think about what he'd said, he was glad he'd said it. The city really wasn't safe to just camp out in, unless they were on the outskirts maybe, or in a backyard in a nice quiet suburban neighborhood or something. "So you're just going to camp out in the woods in the middle of winter..." No heat except from a Vulpix and maybe a fire, no running water, no showers until he went to a trainer center - did they have them there, anyway? - no way to cook food except over a campfire... While the thought was nice for a single summer evening in nice weather, Abel couldn't imagine actually trying to live like that. If it were him, he knew quite well he wouldn't last long at all in such a predicament. Even just standing out there in the cold ate away at him, and Taavi was just going to camp in that? What if it snowed?

Abel scrubbed his hand through his hair a moment before he slid it down to hold onto the back of his neck, then held his breath a few moments while he averted his gaze. He wanted to help him out - badly - but what would happen if he did? In all likelihood Taavi wouldn't even see the chest in his closet, wouldn't run much risk of discovering anything he shouldn't if he did invite him to stay. The only real risk that he had no control over, the only risk that worried him more than any other, was Alyssa. What would she do if Taavi stayed with him for a while? He really, really didn't want to find out, but he also really, really didn't want to see his clearly upset, recently evicted friend go to camp in the woods in the middle of winter.

After a few moments he tilted his head back to look up at the slowly darkening sky and he exhaled inn a long, drawn out "hhuuhhhhhh" before he ran his hand over his face. No, he couldn't do it. He couldn't just turn him away. If it were spring or summer, maybe, but winter? No, he couldn't leave him out in the cold to freeze, at least right now... Ugh. "Okay. Uh," he started then paused almost immediately, shifting to put one fist on his hip and the other on the back of his neck again as he studied the grass to the left of Taavi's feet. "All right. You can come crash at my place for a few days," he ceded, then looked at his company as he pointed at him to emphasize his next point, "a week tops. That sound okay for now?"  

[TawnyAngel]

Oh, s**t, it really had sounded like he was asking by not asking hadn't it? He'd put Abel on the spot by admitting that he didn't have any options, he hadn't meant to do that! But he had and he really, really wanted to jump on that offer of a few more days somewhere safe but he didn't want to be a burden on one of the only friends he had on the whole island.

As these thoughts ran through his head Taavi's expression shifted to one of anxious guilt. "Ah, I didn't mean- I mean I wasn't trying to- I don't want you to put yourself out on my account Abel I..." He found himself out of words again and had to clear his throat hard and look away because he felt like he was going to cry again. He really wanted to say yes, please, thank you, but... but.... "I- I don't want to be a burden, or get in your way or...." He didn't want to camp in the woods either. Taavi tried to swallow away the thick lump in his throat, tried to hold back the tears that were forming in his eyes. "I... I'd really appreciate it. If- if you- I- I promise I'll get out whenever you want me to, and in less than a week and-" Aware that he was starting to babble Taavi stopped himself, wiped his eyes again, hated himself for being such a pathetic cry-baby, because no wonder Tristan had always hated him, and risked looked up at Abel again. "Thank you. I... I can't tell you how much I- Thank you."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

At first it seemed like he meant to refuse, but in all likelihood the offer of not camping out in the middle of winter seemed to win out. Abel had to remind himself that he should be relieved that Taavi wouldn't be out in the cold and would have a place to stay, but he felt too apprehensive to be relieved. It would probably be fine, right? Right. Probably.

Hopefully.

"It's no problem," Abel tried to assure Taavi - and maybe himself, as well - and offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "You won't be a burden or get in the way or anything, don't worry. I did walk here," the blond informed him as he jerked a thumb behind him, "so we gotta walk back at some point, probably sooner rather than later, before it gets too dark or cold out." A thought occurred to him suddenly so he voiced it, "D'you need to get anything from your old apartment, or no?"  

[TawnyAngel]

He was going to make this up to Abel. He didn't have the first clue how but he was determined to repay his friend's kindness one way or another, a few more days to look for something - anything - from somewhere safe and friendly was a blessing he definitely hadn't expected this morning.

"Thank you," Taavi found himself repeating with a shaky smile, "I- yeah, I can't.... Thank you. Um, but no I don't need to go back," he shook his head and then indicated the bag on his back. "It's already locked up probably, I've got everything here. Good job I didn't buy too much when I moved here! Um, yeah, I'm all for heading back to your place and out of the dark and cold." He had enough instant noodles in his bag to last a week so he wouldn't have to beg any food or anything, though it would be tricky when he ran out. Valour would hunt for them and he could maybe make a little money by battling? And he still had a couple of his small wooden sculptures in his bag, if they sold online then that was a little bit of money too.... They'd manage, it would be okay, and tonight he had somewhere safe to stay.

He was going to have to tell Sasha about this at some point, and he was dreading it.