Hard times: Chapter two

another draft i finished after the first chapter! hope u like it!! 

The kid

Sky was one step closer to adding another incident to the long lasting list of incidents he had created based on stupidity alone, but fate had something different prepared for him.

He was thrown off balance by someone stumbling up to him, the possibilities of this happening were so narrow that you would need a microscope to count them.

The tackle was not that hard, it was more like a bump, not strong enough as to really move sky, it was the startling effect of it, sky being as awkward as he is got pretty frightened and stumbled on his feet, tripping

The both of them landed on the ground, however Sky having experience on his side found it easier to stand up, taking a defensive stand as to be able to protect himself had this stranger wanted to partake in combat.

It was probably around six in the afternoon, the sun had already dissolved on the night sky, leaving the corridor in a particularly cold darkness, Sky couldn't make the details on the stranger, but as if his inner thoughts were read, lights started emanating from the palms of the other person right in front of him

White lights, a bit blinding if you stared directly at them, they canalized to the stranger’s palms, making them radiate light, almost like a neon bulb, they dimmed once they settle, leaving the space in a light blue tint.

As pretty and convenient as the light show might had seem, Sky sensed that this particular set of skills were more than just that

Powers are not really something to be impressed with, almost everyone had those, tho it has to be remarked that most people had quite useless ones

However, in the 800 years that sky has been alive, he hasn't seen someone with this particular set of skills, and that is important in on itself, because after some time powers then to repeat themselves over and over if only with some slight variations to them

With the light that was coming from the mysterious assailant, Sky could see them better

They had a tanned complexion, with above average height (tho still shorter than sky by one or two inches), their hair was recently buzzed, maybe a day or two ago; however the detail that caught sky’s attention the most were their eyes, as the light was emanating from them their eyes were touched by said light, and in that Sky noticed that they shined a bright rich blue color, almost the same hue as his own eyes

This detail shouldn't be that big of a deal, i mean, a lot of people have blue eyes, the thing was that there was a complimentary small detail in this stranger’s face that unease Sky a bit, they had freckles all over their face, just as Sky did

As similar as this made them look, there were enough details to differentiate them, for one the stranger had round narrow eyes while sky’s were big and tired, that been said, the stranger look the more exhausted of the two, as their sported deep noticeable eye bags under those electric blue eyes, their sight between unfocused and frightened

Their face was soft a bit elongated but still with a roundish nature to it, they look like a baby, a slightly long baby but a baby nonetheless, they were young, they couldn’t be older than 17 (and that was if sky was generous)

Now came the detail that worried Sky slightly, the clothing this person was sporting, a white shirt, white sweatpants, rubber socks on their feet, they probably came from the medical bay, the psychiatric ward to be more precise, not that shocking of a fact once you consider they seemed to be swaying a bit

With this realization, an air of familiarity hit Sky, he had seem people in this state before, specially Micke back when Micke was getting used to normal life back in society after the ‘incident’ that changed him on his late 20’s

Sky moved from a defensive position to a more calm and collected one, with this the stranger turned their fist up as if the sudden change in his body language startled them from a trance, Sky kept showing a calm demeanor

“Easy there” Sky said, in the softest voice he could muster while still being clear, his hands open and arms lowering, to demonstrate he meant no harm, he started doing a breathing exercise, loud and clear, he was banking on the human reflex of mimicking each other

A one to the two, to the three, to the four, exhale, then a five to the six to the seven to

the eight

Sky kept ruminating like always, he had to, it eased his nerves, and he was for sure nervous, the kid in front of him seem not only willing to fight, but also like they were not playing with a full deck of cards

The strange kid seem to be falling for the bait tho, they probably didn't realize that they were mimicking Sky, another victory for Sky’s psychology wiki searches as night

As they breath, the kid seemed to be lowering their arms little by little, offering an entrance for Sky to work his magic

“Are you from around here?” he asked calmly “i don't think i had seen you before, around this block and i am not one to forget faces that easily” he said with a playful smile, his tone friendly

However that was a lie, sky not only did not remember faces that well, he was also a shut in and he didn't bother to meet most people, not even those that lived around his apartment

Silence, the kid’s demeanor seemed more worried than aggressive, but their body language was still on the defense

“You seem rather nervous kid” Sky said, making himself less threatening “i gotta say tho, you also scare me here” he said as he flexed his shoulder slowly, in a nonchalant way “i was not expecting for someone to tackle me, my shoulder is going to hurt tomorrow for sure” he laughed softly, hopefully he came across as funny rather than awkward

Sky had hidden intentions with this tho, he felt some pressure to be quick here, not because of his dinner plans, those were ruined, he would have to just eat some cereal and tell both the teens living with him to go eat grabble if they didn't like it

His real urgency was because the corridor was extremely cold, and the more the night set in, the colder it would get, and while he was ok with this temperature, the kid in front of him would probably get frostbite if he stayed here for much longer

“Aren't you a bit cold?” he asked “i hear them say the weather is at 5°C”

“they?” the kid finally said, a raspy voice for sure, higher pitch than Sky expected, their demeanor nervous

Then sky saw it, a muscular spasm on his left shoulder that pulled the muscle closer to their head, it seemed to had passed unnoticed, Sky just assumes the kid probably couldn't control it

“Well, the people that check the forecast” Sky said “you know, sometimes they wear formal attires while they talk about it on the news”

He received a puzzled look, like if what he was talking about made no sense at all, and then another spasm, on the opposite side, but instead of going unnoticed, this one seem to had bother the kid, they shook their head as their hands got closer to it, eyes closing and face scrunching as if they were trying to ignore something, the swaying more noticeable

Suddenly It was like if the stranger forgot he was there as they just seemed to grunt from time to time while holding their head and shaking it sideways as if they were trying to get something out, a complicated situation was presented to Sky

There were two options, he could walk past this and get back to his apartment, let this kid get lost in the only area on the entire base with no calefaction, leaving them to meet death at the end of this cold winter as they only had a thing cotton shirt to warm them, he felt that option that was out of the question

So he took the second one

“they really seem to be out of it” said Micke, who up to that point wasn't really present, since Sky’s focus was on the stranger, but as he tents to do, he voiced his opinion when he felt it was needed

Sky pulled his jacket out of himself carefully, he also did it methodically as to not have to fix the sleeves after he pulled it out, his mind focused on how he should approach this situation with the care it needed

“don't touch them without a warning” Micke said as advice “if they are having a mental crisis, touching them could make this worse”

‘thank you Micke’ sky thought, as he couldn't really address him verbally at the moment, after all, yes it is useful advice but it's also advice coming from someone that is not really there

“hey kid” sky said again, more warmly this time “are you cold?” he asked once more

“uh?” the stranger turned to see him, blue eyes unfocused, they blinked a lot, as if with each blink they were trying to understand what Sky had said to them

“Are you cold? you seem to be cold” Sky said more emphatically, as he extended his right hand slowly, he was holding the jacket, this extension a clear invitation to take it

At this the kid stare at his offering, blinking again in quick succession for every word said, their hands had lowered from their head and the light emanating from them was starting to dim, making the room darker in the process

A trembling hand started to reach for the jacket, but then another visceral spasm that had them retrieving the hand back

The kid just scrunch their face, there was some anger on the motion as they fix their posture to a more assertive one before saying in a deadly tone and with an even deadlier expression:

the light of the divine keeps me warm

At this Sky was confused, he didn't understood anything they said

“ok” he answered softly, trying to hide his bewilderedness with compassion and understanding “and what is this light of the divine?” he said in his earnest tone

The question seem to have took the kid by surprise, their demeanor changing from serious to confused and worried, their sight dropping to the ground as if they were caught in a lie

“i… i don't know” they said in a sad and quiet tone, their eyes examining the ground beneath them as if the answer was hiding between the tiles

“well” sky said “the jacket of the denim can also keep you warm” he added some whimsical tone to the nonsense he was saying as he made a jazz hand towards the jacket

“i cant” the kid said losing all the confidence they had a second ago, making themselves smaller, rubbing one hand with the other as if they were looking to soothe themselves, another spasm, as they shake their head slightly “they will get mad”

“Who are they?” Sky asked, concerned, but also a bit relieved that  at least they were on the talking phase, he took back his hand and jacket, as to take the pressure off from the kid

“I don't know, just… them!” the kid said now with an aggressive and angry tone as they gesture broadly to the space around them

They tried to suppress the spasm that was coming, but failed despite their attempts

“they just never stop talking” their tone exasperated “i thought you could also hear them, because you said they said something about the wedder?” more frustration in their tone, their frustration peaking as another spasm got out of them “i don't know what that is either!”

“i see” Sky said, doing mental gymnastics as he tried to come up with a plan quick enough to get the kid into the warm building

That was the only goal at the moment for Sky, once inside he could talk about this more profoundly if the kid needed, but the warm safety of the calefaction was a must as the both of them had already stayed too long in the now really obscure corridor

“if the jacket is a no go, that's fine by me, but you do seem cold, and it’s incredibly dark here, how if you tell me more about this once we are somewhere less… concerning?” said Sky with a worried look painted all over his face

“you don't believe me” the kid said, as their expression changed from sad to angry, and as the room becomes visible again with the shine emanating from their palms

Not an ideal situation, not an ideal moment, and especially not an ideal way of handling this, Sky is now cursed with having to defuse this mess quickly or engage in combat

He looks back to his past for guidance, to no avail really, he remembered the times Micke was having a particularly difficult moment, but all of those situations played differently, there had always been someone else to help defuse things down, or they had been in hospital rooms where if Micke where to get violent, be it against himself or others, the staff would be trained to sedate him if needed

This was nothing like that, Sky didn't knew jack shit about this kid, and there was no one around to help him try to defuse this, he had only himself and Micke, but Micke is only inside his brain, and he is aware of that

This kid is doesn't seem aware of what is happening to them, they seem all over the place, they aren't even in control of their own body movements

Engaging in battle is not an option, Sky could floor them but who is to say, what if this is the one time he is wrong and he either goes overboard or his adversary ends up being too unpredictable and Sky ends up hurt

“i believe you” Sky says firmly, keeping direct eye contact with the kid, determination on his face, even if fake one

He had an idea that could either work on his favor or make things worse, a classic Sky move

“My best friend can only speak to me” he admits, in embarrassment “nobody else can see him or hear him, only i can” he hates that he is admitting this in front of a stranger “i also sometimes don't quite understand why he says certain things”

Sky feels this is a gross misconstruction of the issues that had been presented to him, but he also needs to admit he has run out of ideas

“i know it sucks when people don't quite understand you” he says sympathetically

The angry demeanor on the kid seems to soften a bit at hearing this, seeing a slight opening for things to work, Sky takes it for all its worth

“You can't feel the cold can you?” he asks

Another question that seems to startled them, they shook their head slowly, as they seem to be a bit scared at the fact Sky perceived that

“It’s okay, i can't feel the cold either” Sky says softly “that’s why i took my jacket off to give it to you”

This seems to revert them back to the worried state they were before, a sudden wave of shame, as if they were about to be reprimanded

This emotional back and forth seems to be stressful and taxating, another big spasm escapes their control, another shaking of the head, their hands dimming out again as they went back to trying to sooth one another

A pitiful sight; of all the emotions Sky was ready to feel there, empathy was not the one he would had bet on, but again, he seemed to be cursed with eventful dumbassery happening to him

“I'm scared of the dark” a small lie  “but i don't want to leave you here, because it seems like you are also scared” the man says, , maybe through empathy he could get this kid to get inside tho he kept doing more gross oversimplifications “can you come with me until we reach the corridor lights?”

“ok” the kid says, looking at the ground, then at sky and back to the ground nervously “you aren’t… going to…” they close their mouth firmly as if to stop themselves from making their question a reality

“i mean no harm” and he meant that, he gave them a compassionate smile

Sky walked towards the other side of the corridor, where the connection with the center wing of the base was

The kid waited until Sky walked a small distance in front of them, then they started walking the same direction

The kid was tired, they felt exhausted, lots of voices always talking one over another inside their ears, they could usually ignore them, but if the voices got mad they all united against one single target: the kid

They also didn't like the tremors and spasms, not like the movements hurt, but they did felt weird and the fact they couldn't seem to stop them had freaked them out

This body didn’t really felt like their body, they felt too tall and too lanky, they had trouble understanding their body size, conceptualizing it, they had trouble avoiding object, they lost count of how many times they stumbled around chairs, walls, and now they stumbled upon a person

It was an accident, the kid didn't meant to cause any trouble, nor to hurt this man, they were just running around the spacious corridor, it was really big, and no one seemed to be inside, they couldn’t notice the man, his voice mixed with the other many voices inside their ears and they couldn’t quite made his silhouette until they crashed into one another

They were just exploring, the base was so big

On their trip around it, they  did their best to avoid people, fearing that if anyone saw them, the doctors would be alerted of their presence and they would had put them to sleep again, they were tired of sleeping, they had lost count of how many times they had been put to sleep in the short period they had been awake

Only one person had been nice to them so far, and now this man was being nice to them, so that makes a total of two people being nice, but there were plenty more that didn't even bother to listen to them

“ok kid, we are almost there” Sky said smiling at them, in a warm way “thank you for coming here with me, i really don't like the dark”

They stared at the man, then at the ground again, there was a weird feeling on their gut, they didn't quite understood it, they wanted to talk to this man, he had told them that he also hears things, maybe it was not the same way they hear things, the man called the voice he heard a friend, and they wouldn't call the voices they heard friends, as they were too many and they made little sense for them to even befriend them, but they wanted to talk more about this with the man

The kid had tried conveying this feelings before, they tried talking about this with the doctors and nurses that had been around them for days now, but every single one of those conversations ended the same, with a needle on them as they lost consciousness

It wasn't fair, nobody tried to listen, how would the doctors like it if they woke up confused and with no idea of who they were and where they were, with so many voices talking over and over making them dizzy and nauseous, making them scared and feeling like nothing they did was good, having ideas be put inside their head without even understanding what they mean and when they tried to talk about this with anyone, they would pull down their pants to prick them to make them pass out, just thinking about the situation was upsetting enough

They just wanted some help, maybe some quiet time, where they could just be in a dark empty space to let the voices drown their ears and… just be, tho they also wanted to learn more about the place they were being held at, and maybe more context about their current situation

As they approached the light, the kid started noticing things about the man they were walking with

On the dark corridor, with only the dimming light coming from their hands, the man had seemed blue, but now that the warm light was hitting him, they begin to notice him better

He was tall and bulky, he had a gut and thick arms and legs that made him look huge, he had seen dense people but this man was denser and more formidable, tho he still look plump in some parts

His skin was pale, his face was covered in freckles just as their own, but where the kid’s freckles got lost on their tanned skin, the man’s were highlighted on his face, they also didn't quite noticed it before, but the man had a golden fang on the right side of his mouth

Another thing that was more prominent now in the warm hue light was the man’s hair, it was blue, but it was a different kind of blue than the kid expected, it was intense and colorful, as if someone had combined purple and deep blue into one

the jacket of denim he offered them seemed welcoming and quite comfy, it had a hood made of different material, gray in color while the denim was darkish blue

They actually felt bad for not taking it, but the voices said that a real deity didnt need something so dumb like a jacket, the kid had a hard time even understanding what the voices meant with deity, but had they asked that simple question, they would probably verbally berated them

“i have to do what they tell me” the kid said in a defeated tone, as their hands soothed one another, the thumb of their left hand rubbing circles on the right one “and i have to be aggressive when i do those things, if i dont they get mad and they yell really hard” they close their eyes after saying that, wanting to feel the soothing sensation on their own hands “it's so hard that i feel confused and nauseous”

At this exchange, Sky felt a loss of words, what could he even say to that?, he felt a mixture of pity and sadness as he had a better look at his company again, their body language now almost like the one of a dog that had been kicked

Sky took notice of a small detail now that the lights of the adjacent corridor were reaching them, on the sides of their head, the kid had two scars, they seemed to have been burned with electricity and in the midst of healing, Sky didn't even considered that this poor kid could have some sort of brain injury

“my friend sometimes tells me things i don't want to hear” Sky talks, trying to find anything about his relationship with Micke that he could use to relate to the situation the child was telling him about “he isn't mean to me, but sometimes he talks about things that make me sad, and i often feel like if i ask to change the topic of the conversation, im being selfish, because who is he going to tell this? i'm the only one that he can talk to”

“Does he ever get mad at you?” the kid asked opening his eyes to stare at the ground again, they are nervous after all, they are scared still, that maybe the man is just lying to them, and he is going to call the doctors to make them go to sleep

“oh plenty” Sky laughs softly at that “he was actually a bit upset with me before you tackled me”

“Aren't you scared he is going to hurt you?” the kid asked

“not really, we have been friends for a long time now” he says, a genuine smile on his face, as weird as the situation between Sky and Micke is, Sky generally enjoys their interactions “we have learned to talk things through, you know”

“i don't think i can do that” the kid says, disappointment in their voice “they are too many, and” they stop death in their tracks, as a big spasms travels through their body, making them feel weak and at the mercy of whatever causes those movements to happen, after the spasm, they feel angry closing their eyes once more, scrunching their face in frustration and then:

slap

slap

slap

their breathing a bit erratic, a mixture of frustration and pain causing it to gain speed

they feel dizzier now, they always feel dizzier after they do this, the voices are indeed buzzing and rattling faster, but luckily the kid can't quite figure what they mean

they hate the tremors, they hate the spasms, they are going to stop them even if it means slapping the living shit out of themselves

Sky is shocked at the scene, he saw them have another spasm, expecting nothing big to come out of it, but instead he saw them slap themselves

They were loud and heavy slaps too, filled with anger and a lot of temper, if their skin wasnt tanned, their face would probably show the red markings those slaps left

And then another spasm, a little one, fearing for the worst sky closes the distance between the two of them, but the kid seems to be less responsive now, they don't even seem to register that their tic happen

“Hey…. kid?” Sky asks softly, sad, worried even

the kid looks at him, a sad confused look to their face

“please don't…”

Sky cant find words to say what he is about to say, who is he to intervene?, this is a stranger, someone he doesn't know at all, why suddenly now he feels his words should be as careful as they should be poignant, if this kid doesn't want to listen to him that's their choice, but Sky feels this gut wrenching feeling inside that tells him he should try everything in his power to stop this stranger from hurting themselves

“uh…. crap” he blurts out,

He doesn't know how to phrase this

“I have a brother” Sky starts talking “He used to do…. he used to do a lot of things that hurt him…. repeatedly” he swallows hard, he is just realizing a knot is forming on his throat “he thought doing those things… well, that doing those things would make him feel better”

Sky hadn't considered the length of time before this point, like sure, he was aware that 800 years is a long time, but he had never quite felt that distance as he is feeling it here, it's been almost that long since the last time Luke did anything of the sort

But just this moment, and remembering how it used to feel seeing his brother hurt himself over and over, suddenly those 800 years also feel like yesterday

“he…. he stopped doing them” he said, holding back a bit, if he gets too sincere he might let a tear slide and he doesn't really want that at the moment “what i'm trying to say…. is that….” he breathes in sharply, he musters all the energy around him to be clear and concise “you don't have to hurt yourself, ok? i can’t tell you what to do or how to act, i know, but i just want you to know that you don't have to do that, you don't have to, i promise there are ways to deal and handle frustration that don't end in you hurting yourself”

This is it, this is the most pathetic and cringe moment Sky has gone through in a while, he is a mess with words, there is no way he is not confusing and making things harder for this kid, he should had just stayed quiet

Except, that's not how the kid is seeing it

They were confused at first, they couldn't quite understand what the man was saying, he seemed worried

By the time they could make out the words the man was saying, they felt guilt, they really did not meant to cause a scene

but then, the words the man said, those last words

you don't have to

Those words, they felt like a storm, they felt like a circuit, something powerful, something big, they didn't quite understood why

“I don't have to?” they asked, the buzzing around their mind contributing probably to how emotional they felt about it

It was stupid, those were simple words, they shouldn’t had mattered at all, not now not ever, but suddenly they just meant everything

“you don't have to” Sky said again, soft and almost begging

This kid is almost as tall as he is, they were probably near the end of their teen years, but in a strange way they feel so  small and vulnerable, as if a particularly strong rush of wind could knock them, as feeble as a house of cards

Sky had always struggle with empathy, he can easily feel the emotions of others, he used to try and shut that empathy many times as sometimes it felt too overbearing to carry

Right at this moment he felt the crushing weight of those emotions again, but weirdly, he is not desperate to turn them off, he feels as if it's his responsibility to help the person struggling right in front of him

He gives the kid a pat in their shoulder, trying to be as gentle as possible, to this their shoulders seem to lower a bit

“c-can i have…. t-th” they interrupted themselves, they felt scared of the consequences, but they also didn't have to, the man had said it, they didn't have to, they didn't have to do things they didn't want, or stop themselves from doing the thing they wanted

“Can I have t-the denim j-jacket?” they ask, their heart in their throat, as if they had just killed someone and asked a judge for forgiveness

“Yeah, you can have it” he said, softly taking it off, and handing it in their direction “what’s your name by the way? I just realized we have been talking all this time and i hadn’t even asked”

They pull a dog tag from inside their shirt, its stained, and the letters on it are hardly readable, they move it between their fingers in a way that the tag is facing Sky, an invitation to read it

“Oh” Sky says, and it's perhaps the deepest oh they had ever said

Sky gets close enough to try and read the tag, the current information is printed on it:

                                                           Nico*** I*ons

                                                              8/*5/2*99

“It says your name is something that can be abbreviated to Nico” sky says “that's very interesting, it could go either way for the gendered reading of this name”

“I don't understand” says the kid, a bit embarrassed

“Nothing to worry about really” Sky gives him a reassuring smile “I can abbreviate it to Nick also if you like?”

“I do like that” they say, Nick does sound a bit more welcoming than Nico to them

“Well, nice to meet you Nick, my name is Sky” the man says “you can abbreviate it to Sk or to Ky, whichever you like more” He is now a bit more satisfy as the dumb joke did managed to make Nick laugh a bit

“Nice to meet you” nick says

Despite how cheerful Sky might seem here, he was actually a bit concerned, the date on the tag seem to indicate this kid’s birthday, and if that's correct, then Sky miscalculated greatly

They are 20 years old