Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

His trench coat was ragged, the material scarred and worn. His shirt had holes and specks of liquid on it, leaving dried up marks that had hardened. His shoes were muddy, the soles were stabbed with tiny pebbles and soft grass he had scythed with quick movement clinged on them.

His hands were rough, the knuckles red as he held onto a clipboard and a pen. His cuticles were ruined, dirt and dried blood under his nails. His dark red hair was greasy, the smell of leave-in shampoo and conditioner revealing itselves within each gust of wind- the fragrance of alcohol and sweat alongside it.
His eyes were masked by the reflective sunglasses, where you could see yourself staring at him. The lines on his face were tiresome, giving his resting face a dreaded and serious expression.

You couldn’t see his eyes, but they shifted at you and his clipboard repeatedly. He opened his mouth to speak, yet nothing came out. Only a grunt of displeasure.

You side-eyed a pigeon a few meters away from you, before returning your attention to the man. He stood in front of you as you sat on a bench, a baggie of seeds in your lap. You were feeding the local pigeons peacefully, until this.. stranger showed up. You expected him to say something like ‘’hey, you wanna sign my petition?’’ but he just.. It was like his brain short-circuited.

You sighed and simply stuck your hand in the bag of seeds. Grabbing a fistful, you threw it on the ground; half on the man's shoes.. hah, maybe accidentally, maybe not.
The sudden flutter of wings and ‘coos’ seemed to wake the redhead up. He raised his head and looked around himself, noticing you and the birds.

He slowly approached the bench, afraid to scare the pigeons and sat down. You were glad he wasn’t a total jerk like the others who find humor in terrorizing birds.

‘’uh.’’ he suddenly said. ‘’You feed em’ often?’’

His voice was deeper than you thought, but you didn’t react to it. You didn’t care enough to turn to him and express your interest in him. Since you didn't hear the slight rub and squeak that his coat would’ve made if he had turned his face to you, he didn’t care much either.

‘’yeah. I like them.’’ you reply honestly.

‘’huh.’’ he mumbles.

A few moments pass, before you do hear the sound of his coat, indicating movement. You turn your head and see his hand out to you, displaying a clipboard with paper on it. His thumb held the pen in place as he showed you a petition, silently asking you to sign it.

‘Make Whiney Congressmen Play Violent Video Games’. There were a few other signatures below it.

‘’ha. sure.’’

After you sign the petition and give it back to him, he stands up and looks into the distance thoughtfully. He ponders the clouds, thinking about something. He looks at you.

‘’thanks.’’

‘’....’’

‘’.........’’

‘’how often do you, uh, come here? to feed these guys?’’ he briefly points at the pigeons.

‘’every.. wednesday?.. i guess?’’ you reply, smiling with your mouth closed.

He inhales sharply,
‘’bye-’’

and turns off and away, leaving you alone to ur bird friends.

‘’...’’

Chapter Text

The days go by quickly and you are sitting in the same spot on another Wednesday, feeding the same pigeons with the same bag of seeds. Life is boring here, in this shithole called Paradise. The people are nasty and there are things wrong with this place.

You dream of having someone by your side within all this chaos. Someone that relates to you and is there for you.

You pop back into reality as you hear footsteps approach. Turning your head, you see that it's the same guy from a few days back. He remembered that you were here. You didn’t know whether to be impressed or annoyed. He interrupted your peace with a cough that he didn’t cover but turned his face away in advance, and sat down. He looked the same as last time, but without a clipboard this time. Was his hair better combed?

‘’Hey,’’ he said.

You greeted him back: "Hi."

Almost awkward silence filled the space, stabbed by the occasional yelling and laughing of nearby strangers. Your expression was blank and you showed no sign of anxiety- unlike your benchmate. He scratched his head and looked around, not knowing what to say, yet wanting to. You caught onto it and decided to help.

"How's your day been?" you asked. He turned his face to you.

"Ah, the usual. With my wife gone, I don't have much to do 'round here. She used to ask me to do all kindsa’ tasks." he explained.

"gone?"

He sighs, "she left me- didn't die, fortunate or unfortunate," he shakes his head sarcastically.

You find this amusing. A slight smile appears on your face.

"Anyway, you got a.. wife?........... husband?" he asks, curiously.

You laugh out loud a little. "No, never been married. Have had partners, but not in a while."

‘’Why not?’’

‘’Eh, just never found the right one i suppose.’’ you shrug.

Dude thoughtfully watches your hands as you grab seeds and drop them in a snakey pattern to the birds.
‘’Yeah. I get that. I think I hate the fact that you are then locked together. In marriage, I mean,’’ he explains himself.

‘’Oh yeah. That part seems really shitty. Rather have freedom’’ you reply thoughtfully.

Dude sits back, becoming more comfortable. ‘’Yeah! Exactly. But then again, there's just something special about it. Vowing to be there for eachother no matter what,’’ he bites his lip and pauses to think; ‘’I mean you are happy when you marry? You don't expect to become unhappy later in the marriage, you know?’’

You looked at him. ‘’Unless you are insecure, yeah I guess. But I feel like you can do all of that without a pile of papers.’’

He thoughtfully nods as he looks into the distance, his legs open and arms on the top of the bench. Unlike you, sitting up with your elbows on your knees.

‘’The goal is still the same. Main thing is that you’re happy,’’ he says, almost confidently.

‘’Hehe, true.’’ you say and sit back, relaxing your posture.

You look at each other with a slight smile. The fact that you couldn’t see his eyes bothered you a little, made you feel like your own eyes should also be hidden.
You examined his hand as it laid on the bench side. You copied his manner of relaxing, prowling your knees apart and leaning fully against the bench back. You flicked Dude’s hand away from you playfully and he grinned, taking up even more space. That led to you to trying to stretch your limbs further than his, in a war of territory-claiming. No words were exchanged, just giggles and competitive silly smiles.

At one point you both gave up and simply relaxed on the bench. The sun was setting and the view was quite enjoyable. The colors of the sun and blue sky collided beautifully, an actual masterpiece laid in front of you if put on a canvas.
There was a slight, warm breeze petting your skin from time to time.

Yours and his hands touched, but didn’t part from it. The size difference between them was astounding. His hand was big yet skinny, a little bit gracious even, if not for his broken cuticles and bitten nails. His hands were warm and yours cold.
He noticed it and put his hand on yours.

‘’Cold.’’ he said, holding your hand softly and looking at you.

You simply mumbled back in agreement, nodding a little and rubbing his hand with your thumb.

‘’Want my jacket?’’ he asked friendlily. You shook your head: ‘’No, but thank you.’’
He nodded back and turned his head back to the sky.

The atmosphere was peaceful.