Nightwatcher
Shock had definitely overwhelmed Raphael. He had woke up in the familiar, persisting darkness, and hadn't bothered to move. Sure enough, the grass and soil had done its job in calming the torment in his stomach, but now he had own monster to face. He had sunken below the human norms and did anything to calm his stomach. It was such a tremendous decision at the moment's decision; but now? He realized that it was one of the most fucked up decisions of his life. No one sane did what he did.
"I know you're awake."
The gruff voice of Leatherhead roused him from his spiral of self-loathing thoughts.
"I'm...I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. You did something no one should be ever forced to do."
So what, he thought. So what did it matter if he ate a couple of mouthfuls of dirt? There was nothing he could have done to stop it.
Leatherhead looked at him with pity and cleared his throat from the lump that had grown there.
"We're at my place."
Raphael didn't stir. He didn't care. He wanted to...he wanted to...
"Don't give up on me, kid...one shitty thing happening isn't the worst thing in life. It fucking sucks, but goddamn, don't beat yourself up over it."
Leatherhead felt tears prick behind his eyes. He couldn't lose him to such a stupid, idiotic, self-depreciating act. It was senseless.
Still, there he lay. Hand up close to his face as he lay on his side in a fetal position. An opened sleeping bag had been draped over him to keep him warm on top of the barrel fire that he had started up earlier.
"Come on, kid, don't do this to me...I made something for you to eat. Look! Hot dogs! You can have one, right? I even have some mustard and ketchup."
He tried to coax Raphael out of his near catatonic state. Leatherhead couldn't take it anymore. He reached over to Raph and pulled him against his chest, pressing the hot dog to his mouth and jamming it inside.
"You're going to fucking eat real food and get the hell out of this funk! You're a kid! You can't give up on life after eating goddamn dirt! You know who else eats dirt? Five year olds! And they love it! So man the fuck up, eat your hot dog, and stop being a goddamn wimp, you hear me?"
Raph blinked a few times and bit down on the hot dog, savoring the warmth of another person beside him. Thick globules of tears rolled down his face as he took the hot dog from Leatherhead's hand and stuffed as much of it as he could in his mouth with trembling hands. It smelled so good. It tasted even better. God, what the hell was he thinking? It wasn't the end. It couldn't be the end for him. If things got better and hot dogs were the best thing to happen to him in his miserable, short life, then something better had to be in store for him.
Leatherhead never let him go. He squeezed onto him with one arm and prepared another hot dog with his other one, cooking it on the end of a bicycle spoke over the fire.
"That's it. Eat up. Don't you fucking dare do that again or I'll feed you that dirt myself. Understand?"
Raph's wiped at the snot and tears that ran down his face, holding his other hand covered with mustard up so none would leak on the ground.
"I said, do you understand?"
Nodding, he swallowed the large clump of food in his mouth and greedily waited for more.
"Good."
Leatherhead's chin trembled and nose grew red as he looked down at the child he saved. It was definitely more than he could say for some of the people back where he was deployed. This one precious life in front of him struck a chord in him and he wasn't going to let him waste away. There was no way that was going to happen.
"If no one comes to claim you, kid, and I get back on my feet, I'm taking you in, you got that?"
That alone was enough to send Raphael bawling again. He hated himself for it. He despised himself for allowing himself to cry so freely.
"But you gotta stop acting like a five year old. And you're not going back to that place you were at. You're staying here. I've food here, water, beds...you don't have to do no panhandling stuff. I get it from the shelter. Just don't give up, alright? My buddy comes by here as well once in a while. We'll keep you safe."
The second hot dog, split at both ends and sizzling with fat, was handed to Raph in a cold bun.
"Whaddaya say?" Over the rolling hiccups and the now strongly gurgling stomach, he nodded.
"Yeah."
"That's what I like to hear."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. You've still gotta get better. I know for a fact it doesn't happen overnight, don't try and fool me. I was deployed for ten years. I'm not stupid."
Raph let out a wry smile. He hated himself, it was true, but if what Leatherhead said was also true, then at least there was some light at the end of his very dark tunnel.
"Thanks for the hot dogs."
"I'd let you go to get some cola I managed to buy at the beginning of the week, but I think we can get them later on."
Raph rubbed his eyes and nodded. Hob would never do this for him. Hob was the one who let him starve in the first place, to the extent of eating...
He shuddered at the thought of what he'd previously done and staved the thought off with another hot dog.
With the fire dead and morning gently filtering through the high up windows, Raph felt the warm embrace of Leatherhead's arms still around him. He was a mess. They were both a giant, tangled, heaping mess and he relished every moment of it.
"I have to show up at the shelter today. Make sure that my space is still reserved even after missing a night. They're strict."
The man shifted behind Raph and stretched, yawning loudly and examining the area.
"Do you need a tour or can you find your way around?"
"I'm good."
"Alright. I'll be back this afternoon only. Gonna go to the veteran affairs bureau and see if they can set me up with a job somewhere. Maybe a home, too. Hell, I'll take anything they can give me."
"Isn't that begging?"
Leatherhead's eyes flashed down to Raph, a finger pointing lighting fast in his direction.
"No. I served this country and Afghanistan for ten years. They should be paying me more than what they did."
"And what happened with that money, huh? Get lost?"
"You're real cheeky for a brat who just ate dirt."
Low blow. Really low blow. But he was touching nerves that shouldn't be even trod around.
"I spent it. That's all that matters."
Being set back in his place, Raph stood up, belly still full from the night before, and tried finding the nearest wall. Somewhere amidst his suffrage of the night before, he had lost his sunglasses. The sun was a welcome sight, but also one he wished would dim out. It had begun to spike a mighty migraine and he couldn't help but groan.
"What's wrong?"
"Light hurts."
He mumbled, backing up until his hand touched a wall. He clasped the other one tightly over his eyes and sighed.
"Just need sunglasses."
"Oh, so it's not just something that adds to your blind allure."
"Funny. No, they don't."
"Well I'll pick you up a pair then. For now, stay put, I'll make you a sandwich when I get home, and we'll talk about looking for your family when I come back."
Raph froze up at the thought but knew that he was in no condition to refuse.
"And if I see Hob, I'm going to pound him."
"Don't do anything! You know he's packing ammo!"
"I don't care," he hissed out, "I'm going to give him a pummeling that he deserves for not taking better care of you."
"Leatherhead, don't...please. Just come back right away. He's crazy."
A part of him wanted hob to pay for reducing him to what he was, but another part of him knew that he owed the madman his life. He still cared for him to an extent.
"We'll see. Now take it easy. I'll be back as fast as I can."
Nodding, Raph heard his footsteps fade until a metal door swung open...closed...he was alone.
Sinking back against the wall, he felt his stomach gurgle in remembrance of what happened the previous night. The pain and agony.
It was going to change. He'd known Leatherhead for about two months now and he'd been nothing but kind to him. Except the first time, when he ran into him having an episode of PTSD and was hiding from fireworks near his sewer entrance. Sighing in defeat, he retreated back towards the nearby sleeping bag and crawled inside, savoring the warmth.
Not even two hours had passed before he heard the door swinging open again. Mind hazy and head throbbing, he jerked upwards and stumbled back down as the sleeping bag limited his movement. Trying to get out of his confinement, he heard a bubbly voice calling out for his friend. Deciding that the voice was friendly enough, he rubbed the crust our of the corners of his eyes and yawned.
"Leatherheaaaad!"
"He ain't here." He mumbled back, "come back tonight."
"Dude! Where'd he go? I've gotta tell him the great news!"
The voice was familiar. Too familiar. Where'd it come from?
Argh, he was letting the light in...
"Dude, you're new! How's it-whoa, you're the guy who decked me from the pizza shop!"
The light was the bright teenager removing the sleeping bag from Raph's face. Groaning in protest, his hand reached out and took hold of it, trying to bring the darkness back to him.
"How d'you know LH? He's like the coolest!"
"Wait, you call him that too?"
"Yeah! He said some guy called him that name and I loved it! It's so genius! Oh my gosh, do you even realize how ingenious that was!?"
"Now I know. Leave me alone."
The words left his mouth before he even had a chance to stop it. In all honesty, he wanted to get to know more about this guy.
"No way! Klunk always come around here, I'm still looking for that rascal. He came by home for some wet food I set out for him and took off again before I could catch him."
Was he pouting? It was hard to tell, but he could almost hear it.
"I mean, Klunk can find his way home alright, I'm just worried..."
Raph stuck his head out of the covers to give him a firm glare.
"I'm going back to sleep."
"No way, dude, come on, help me look for him. I can't lose Klunk, too. Listen, help me out here and I'll...I'll bring by some pizza! How 'bout it?"
Raphael let out a groan and covered himself up again, the boy prying the covers off.
"Come oooon...stop being lazy."
With a final yank, he managed to pull Raph out of the sleeping bag, sprawled out and irritated.
"Great! Thanks! I owe you!"
Grumbling with a yawn, he scratched mustard off the corner of his mouth and winced as a few grains of soil remained in his mouth.
"Man, you reek."
"Thanks."
Rolling his eyes, Raph shoved his hands in his pockets and hunched forwards, trying to hide his entire body from the boy in front of him.
"Name's Mikey! Lemme guess, youuuuu're..."
"R-"
"Reek! Cause peeeee-yew you stink."
"Are you serious?"
"I could call you...mmm...you're super stinky...thin...blind...uh...your hair is really everywhere...hmm..."
Mikey toured around him and tapped his chin, "you're gloomy, too...what do they call you on the streets? What's your street name?"
"Are you seriously serious?" Raph's voice cracked.
"You think it's funny?"
"Dude. You named Leatherhead."
"Yeah, well..."
"And I know a Two-Toes and Pigeon Pete."
"Oh great, you know Petey..."
He groaned, dragging his hand down his face and frowned.
"Don't tell me you're on talking terms with that bird-brain..."
"Heck yeah I am! I give him bread!"
Raph's eyebrows furrowed. That's where he was getting his bread?
"You do that for him?"
He felt for Pete. He really did. He didn't deserve anything that came his way, but he loved Hob to death and it seemed that Hob really took care of him too. Or so it was just a child in his head, there was no way he could fend for himself. Maybe Hob saw that?
"My street name is Piss Off..."
Mikey exploded in laughter. The kind of laughter that was usually reserved for friends who had just told them one of the most embarrassing things to have happened to them.
"Wait, you're not kidding?"
"Piss off..."
That sent Mikey hollering louder than he should have. Heaving a heavy sigh, shoulders and rolling eyes included, Raph rolled his hand as if to say 'get it all out' and waited. Finally, too painfully long after, Mikey stopped and wiped the tears at his eyes, still giddy.
"Okay, okay, name change time. You're now Nightwatcher! Because you can't see, obviously, so you watch the darkness!"
"That hurts, lame brain."
Mikey froze up at the name, biting his lower lip. Raph sensed the tension in the air immediately and furrowed his eyebrows once more.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. No problem. My brother used to call me that. Weird. That's all. Hey, help me find Klunk and we can go grab some pizza!"
"I ain't going outside without sunglasses, but yeah, whatever. I'll help you look if you stop bothering me."
Mikey lit up instantly, face cracked in two in a smile, and nodded. Remembering that he couldn't see, he vocalized his happiness with a 'yeah!' followed by a fist pump and began to veer Raph towards the door.
"Okay, first of all, we're in a warehouse! Second, we're TOTALLY safe because we're in the cargo yard of said warehouse! Pretty cool, am I right?"
Raph couldn't help but grin from ear to ear, keeping his eyes shut now as he felt his way out the door with one hand, the other resting on top of Mikey's.
"Yeah. Pretty cool."
AN : Thanks for the reviews!