A/N- Alright! We made it to the funny number.
Recursion Error
Episode 69- The Great Deliverer
These days Sorun felt dread whenever he heard somebody knock on his door. Mostly because nobody would leave him the hell alone. Nicole was one thing, he could never mind her, but it seemed like all his friends made it a personal mission to interact with him every single day now. Not all at once, of course, since everybody had their own lives, but in addition to Nicole he couldn't go a single day without seeing somebody.
It was as endearing as it was exhausting.
As Sorun dragged himself to the door, he debated not answering and pretending he just wasn't home. Hell, he debated leaving the city as a whole for a few hours just to get a break from everyone, but Nicole was still watching him like a hawk, and Sorun didn't actually know if he was allowed to leave the city. Or if that was a morally correct thing to do to him. Realistically speaking if he gave a good excuse he'd likely be able to leave the city, he had extreme doubts anybody would hold him captive here, but when he entertained the hypothetical world where he was held here indefinitely he realized he didn't really care one way or another. Lack of freedom didn't really mean much when he didn't want to go anywhere else and exercise that freedom. Moot point anyways, but an entertaining thought nonetheless.
"Maybe their plan is to exhaust me to the point I'm too tired to do stupid shit. I wouldn't put it past them," Sorun thought as he reached for the doorknob. "There's gotta be a limit to this kind of thing. Who is it this time?"
He expected a lot of people to be on the other side of that door. Sonic wanting to take him out and do something. Antoine wanting to hang out. Sally. It wasn't Nicole, because when she did decide to knock on the door instead of just teleporting into his house he recognized her knock.
He didn't expect to see the king standing there when he finally did open the door.
"I didn't do it." It was the first thing Sorun thought to say. A knee-jerk reaction more than anything. The reaction had garnered a bemused smirk from the crowned Mobian standing across from him.
"And what, pray tell, are you not guilty of?" Elias asked him, the smallest amount of amusement mixed in his tone.
"Whatever it is, I didn't do it." Plausible deniability. Sorun was pretty sure that's what it was called. "Can I help you?"
"Well yes, actually. May I come in?"
The idea left Sorun hesitant. "Am I in trouble...?"
"... Partially, but-"
That was all Sorun needed to hear. "I think you're good out there." The door began to close as Sorun slowly pushed it. "In fact, I... I'm just gonna go ahead and do this..."
"Sorun, please don't close the door." The door was halfway to being closed. "Sorun." Almost there. "Sorun, really!?"
Elias' cries fell on deaf ears, as Sorun had closed and locked the door. He let out a sigh of relief, nodding to himself at a crisis averted. "Now I never need to think about that again. Wonder what I should do today-"
"Sorun, I will get Nicole, and she will open this door." Elias' muffled voice coming in from the other side of the door made Sorun freeze as he made to turn away and retreat back into his house. "I wouldn't even need to order her."
"... Dammit." He had a solid point Sorun couldn't refute. Sighing again, this time in irritation, Sorun went back to the door and opened it. Elias was still there, his earlier smile replaced by an exasperated expression as he stared at Sorun's face with his arms crossed.
Sorun couldn't fathom why he was so upset. He was the one choosing to accost Sorun with whatever this was.
"May we speak now?" Elias requested in a neutral tone.
"Eeeehhh... sure." The blasé tone Sorun used made Elias make an irritable sound and shake his head. "Come on in, I guess."
Sorun stepped to the side to allow the king to enter, with Sorun making doubly sure the door was closed and locked behind him before following. He found Elias seconds later standing in the living room and looking around. Around at what Sorun couldn't even hazard a guess at since the room was barren save for a couch, TV, and game console. He almost looked surprised at how spartan the place looked, eliciting some bitter chuckle from Sorun as he leaned against a nearby wall.
"You want some water?" he asked. "'Cause it's all I got since it's free."
"No, I'm quite alright. Thank you." Elias stopped looking around the room and focused in on Sorun. "How are you acclimating to living on your own here, Sorun?"
Pretty terribly if he was being honest. "I'm scrapin' by," he answered in half-honesty, pushing off the wall. "Hasn't exactly been spring roses around every single corner, but hey, that's life I guess. I thought for a second this place was a socialist paradise what with the free healthcare and everything until I ran out of food and got desperate enough I had to start leeching off my friends." He stopped right in front of Elias, hands tucked in his pocket as he grinned at the king with a semi-friendly, sardonic grin. If Elias was disturbed in any way by it, he didn't show it. "But that's neither here nor there. How's life being a king living in a castle, Kingy?"
"It's well," was Elias' clipped response. "Is there something you would like to tell me?"
"Not particularly." Sorun gave a shrug. "I wouldn't dream of burdening people with my own problems. Oh, wait..."
Repressing a sigh, Elias reached up to rub at his forehead. "My sister was right. You do cause headaches..." he mumbled out. "Sorun, I realize you're not completely satisfied living among us-"
"Now you're just putting words in my mouth," Sorun interrupted. "Elias, real talk, there's nowhere else in this world I'd rather be living in. I don't not like living here. Ain't home, but second best is second best." He shrugged. "It's just my financial troubles troubling me. And the depression. Mostly the money thing."
For whatever reason Elias only grew uncomfortable once Sorun mentioned money. "Right, of course. And... you're dealing with these issues?"
"Work in progress on both fronts." Everyone was trying their damnedest to try and normalize Sorun, himself included. He'd probably never be able to repay them that much. It was almost funny to think he was practically drowning in emotional debt but had no monetary debt given his situation. "Why are you here, man?" he asked, wanting to get to the heart of the matter for why this guy was in his living room.
"Yes, right." Elias cleared his throat, squared his features, and clasped his hands behind his back. Sorun laughed a bit at the sight. "Besides your own personal issues, how do you find this city, Sorun?"
"It's nice." The people were great enough, lack of anyone willing to give Sorun a job aside. He had neighbors that gave him friendly waves, which was about all Sorun ever wanted from neighbors. All his friends lived close by, the place was clean, crime wasn't even a thing in this city, and he didn't have to worry about dying. Aside from the fact Sorun was destitute he couldn't really find anything to complain about.
If the rest of the world wasn't such a fucked up place he'd go as far as to call New Mobotropolis a paradise. As it was Sorun only considered it for slice of heaven status.
"That's good to hear," Elias said, looking somewhat relieved. "The Kingdom- pardon, Republic of Acorn tries very hard to provide a safe and caring environment for its citizens. That does include you despite the fact you're not a Mobian. I'd like to think everyone is seen as an equal here."
Sorun bit his tongue to stay the scathing remark that threatened to spill out. "Mh-hm."
"But, as such, a k-republic needs resources in order to continue to function properly. Funds. A functioning economy." When Sorun just continued to stare at Elias blankly, he made a sigh and shook his head. "You've been neglecting to pay your taxes, Sorun."
The world slowed to a crawl for Sorun. Elias' words echoed slowly in his head, repeating multiple times at lowered and slow pitches. Tunnel vision set in over Elias' form. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and his hands suddenly felt very clammy in his pockets. He found himself wishing this was all just a terrible, horrible dream, and even made a heavy blink in the desperate effort to try and wake himself up.
No dice. Elias was still there, looking more confused than ever. And Sorun was left reeling from merely hearing the word "taxes".
"Dear god, no..." To the everyman it was a cursed, evil word. A necessary evil, some might say. Sorun would agree with them if he wasn't so strapped for cash these days, and for the briefest of moments he could have sworn he saw his life flash before his eyes. Again. "Come again?" Sorun softly requested in a strained whisper, wishing beyond all hope he'd misheard.
Elias unclasped his hands and used one to palm his face. "Sorun, what do you think our government runs on? The goodwill of the people?"
"Everyone sure acts like it!" Sorun shouted in a frightened voice. "I-I didn't even know taxes was a thing! This's the first I'm hearing of it!"
"The republic sent you notice letters!" Elias argued. "In fact, I recall signing a good portion of them!"
Lies. "I've never seen these so-called letters of yours!"
"Because you never check your mailbox! I looked inside! It's so stuffed full of letters I wouldn't be surprised to learn you've never once checked it!"
Sorun clammed up. He hadn't even known he had a mailbox. "... Was there anything important in there?"
"If we're going by your definition of important, no, I don't imagine the deed to your home and the welcome letter I signed is of any significance," Elias claimed with a roll of his eyes, voice heavy in sarcasm. "It's documents such as the tax notices, among other things, I'm worried about."
With a sigh, Sorun flopped onto his couch and began rubbing at his eyes. This wasn't what he needed right now. He needed anything but this. He'd take Eggman attacking the city over taxes right now. He didn't even know how to pay taxes! "So why is the king of the republic coming here to tell me this?" he asked.
"Because we're friends and, knowing you, I figured the issue was due to something inane. Such as you not checking your mailbox," Elias deadpanned. "Councilwoman Prower wanted to send guards to drag you off to the castle to explain yourself. Councilmen Rotor and Chuck heavily objected to this and I elected to come and sort the issue personally."
He sat up straight in alarm at hearing that. "Man, what did I ever do to her!?" Sorun shouted, staring up at Elias with disbelief. "I never even met the woman!"
"I... believe she holds you somewhat in contempt," Elias answered, looking a bit uncomfortable as he rubbed at his arm. "She claims you cause her son an undue amount of stress and grief."
"I cause him grief...?" Sorun repeated, eyes wide and disbelieving. "Fucking Prowers, man..."
"You did destroy his plane," Elias reminded him.
"Yeah, and he kidnapped me and condemned me to furville. There's been more than enough grief being flung on both sides."
"An act that saved you from death by nuclear annihilation, did it not?"
"Details! Semantics! Shut up!" He turned away from Elias in a huff, but inside he knew the king won the argument. Much to his chagrin, Elias had a knowing look in his eyes when Sorun turned back around to him. "Alright," he sighed out, "let's negotiate."
Elias' mouth dropped open a bit in confusion. "You... wish to negotiate on paying taxes...?"
"Yep." Sorun clapped his hands together and pointed the fingers at Elias. "Ignoring I have no job and no basis from which to pay taxes, I just plain don't want to." Nobody did. Not really. Nobody except the patriotic nuts who claimed it was an "honorary civic duty", but Sorun wasn't one of those people. He was, however, reasonably certain he was crafty enough to get out of this situation.
It'd be his biggest undertaking yet. Evading taxes.
A frustrated breath left Elias. "Sorun-"
"I ain't even got a job, dude," Sorun lamely stated. "And I've tried. Believe me, Mr. We-Treat-Everyone-Here-Equally. Except when it comes to jobs. Nobody wants to hire a guy who's barely a leg-up from a cripple by Mobian standards."
"I can hardly tell people how to run their own businesses," Elias said. "But regardless, Sorun, you're a part of this republic. You've a civic duty."
Trying to guilt trip him by saying he needed to do his part. It wouldn't work. "I saved everybody's lives once. Literally everyone. That don't even buy me a grace period 'til I get back on my feet?"
Elias shook his head. "I'm afraid not. The laws are equal for everybody, and you're no exception, despite your accomplishments. I really am sorry, Sorun, but as a property owner and citizen that's just how it is for you."
An idea popped into Sorun's head at the mention of him being a citizen. A grin spread over his face, and he wagged his finger up at Elias. "Ahhh, but I'm not a technical citizen, am I, Elias?" he challenged. "Illegal alien, remember? Since I'm not a legal citizen the legal laws don't apply to me. So no taxes."
He didn't take the bait at all. He didn't even flinch at the logic. "That's not how that works. For one, if that were even true I could label you a squatter for living on property while here illegally and kick you out of the city." The finger Sorun was waving in Elias' face shriveled and fell away with the rest of Sorun's arm. "And second," Elias continued, forming his own grin, "that isn't the case for you anymore."
"Huh?" Before Sorun could fully register the statement, Elias pulled something out of his pocket and gave it to Sorun. A piece of paper. A fancy piece of paper, much to Sorun's mounting horror. He saw things like his name and the word "citizen" on it, which caused his heart to begin to race. "Huh!?"
"That's right," Elias happily said. It wasn't even the malicious type of happiness. It was genuine glee at Sorun's sake, who looked the opposite of happy at the moment. "I finally got around to finalizing your papers! You're officially a legal citizen of the Republic of Acorn as of... well, a few weeks ago, actually." Elias looked to the side. "I found that buried under all your other mail in the mailbox. I meant to give it to you personally, but never had the opportunity. Ha! I suppose it worked out in the end anyways, huh, Sorun?"
"SHIT, I'M LEGAL!" This was bad. Legal citizenship meant a solid basis for taxation. Doubly so since he owned a house on Acorn soil. Nanite dirt. Whatever the ground here was labeled as. The prospect of worming out of taxes suddenly seemed much more bleak. "Alright, calm down. You've gotten out of worse. There's gotta be some bullshit I can pull here."
Calmly, he set the piece of paper down besides him. It was a losing battle, but he wasn't going to give up yet.
"I still lack a sufficiently-paying job to support my financial wellbeing," Sorun pointed out calmly, looking back to Elias. "It's quite obvious I am unable to pay these taxes of yours despite my best efforts. Surly there is some sort of system or safety net to help support unfortunate fellows such as myself who have fallen on difficult times."
"None whatsoever." Elias' eyes narrowed in Sorun's direction once the human became startling more verbose. A sign that he was taking this matter gravely serious. And as far as Sorun could see, the king wasn't budging. "If you're truly finding difficulty procuring work I am sure you could avail yourself to the educational facilities we have in order to try and better yourself?"
No way was he going back to school. Not with a bunch of Mobian kids. He wasn't even keen on school in general. Besides, he didn't have the time. "You're not my mother," Sorun said. "You can't force me to go to school. I'm technically an orphan."
"Oh, truly? In that case that would make you a ward to the government, seeing as you're an orphan without any living relatives or guardians. In which case, yes, I can in fact force you into school, Sorun."
"... I'm sixteen."
"I don't see how that's relevant," Elias said. "Sonic and the rest of the Freedom Fighters are around the same age and were forced into book learning back when we had an actual school built in Knothole."
"Yeah, I heard that didn't last long," Sorun snarked, angry at losing ground in the battle. "What were they there for, a month? Max? Before there was a robot attack and they all went back to Freedom Fighting?"
"I'm sure they'll all be going straight back to educating themselves once this sordid business with the Doctor is sorted," Elias snarked back, the heat in his voice matching Sorun's. "You, however, are not an adult, and are no longer a Freedom Fighter. So you've no excuse."
Sorun's teeth clacked together. His mind ran a million miles a minute as he attempted to parse together something else to use. "There are many cultures in the world I originate from where the age sixteen signifies adulthood. As the sole human being from the zone from which I originate from you have no say in dictating-"
The king held a hand up. "I'll stop you right there, Sorun. Laws supersede whatever nonsense you were about to feed me," he informed him. "Cultural differences or not, if you live with us, you follow the same laws as us. I'm afraid it's as simple as that."
Sorun inhaled deeply. "I don't want to."
"..."
"..."
"... Well I'm king and you're not, so there."
Sorun made a loud "tch!" sound and turned his head away. He played the king card. He didn't have anything better than that. "Hypothetically speaking..." he drawled out, turning back to Elias, "what happens if I don't pay taxes? You lock me in the detention center or something?"
Surprisingly he seemed appalled at the notion. "Goodness, no! Why would you even suggest such a thing? Of course we wouldn't imprison you," he said. "We would temporarily repossess your home, though, until you begin the tax payments. Which would effectively leave you homeless."
"I think I'd prefer prison at that point," Sorun mentally groused. "Elias, I don't exactly have the time to go to school to learn how to hold a job that uses my brain and not my unimpressive brawn," he said, deflating in his seat as his defeat began to set in. "What exactly would you suggest I do?"
"That I cannot tell you, Sorun," Elias said. And damn him, but he actually sounded sad and looked sympathetic when he said it. Hard for Sorun to be mad at the guy at that point when he seemed actually sorrowful for his plight. "I did hear mention of my sister searching for something, but I honestly don't know if that search will bear fruit. But chin up!" he said in his best cheery tone at seeing Sorun look so dejected. "You've accomplished more dire tasks than something like this. I'm sure a solution will present itself to you in time."
For all the useless advice Sorun had ever received, the words Elias gave him were up there. Even so, he couldn't find himself blaming him, if only because Sorun couldn't think up anything better than to just sit around and wait for something good to happen. Didn't stop him from feeling terrible.
"Ah-huh, sure, man," Sorun muttered out. "How long until this tax thing becomes a serious problem for me?"
"I wouldn't worry too terribly about it, Sorun. Just, um, try and do something about it. Relatively soon," Elias advised him. "I'm already giving you a lot of leeway as it is."
"Okay but can I get a hard number, 'cause I would feel better if I had a date to work wi-"
"Sorun. Don't worry about it. As long as you're diligent you'll be fine." The reassuring smile Elias gave him didn't feel very reassuring to Sorun, who could only silently stare up at him in mild astonishment. "Now as it happens I've other matters to attend to at the moment, so I'm afraid I'll have to depart here. But do come by the castle sometime if you ever have some free time. I've quite missed our chats."
"Diligent. I don't think I've ever been diligent at anything in my entire life," Sorun thought to himself as he watched Elias leave. It was only after he closed the door behind him did he let out a loud groan and go limp against the couch, his head tilted up at the ceiling. "Well, now I got this to deal with. Goddamn. Even in another dimension I can't escape the tax man."
How he wished he would have been able to talk his way out of paying taxes. But like most other things in his life he fucked it up. He spent a long time on that couch, tens of minutes, trying to figure out what he could do to rectify this situation. Everything he thought of pointed to getting a job, at which point he was reminded that didn't work when he tried it.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I ain't innovative. I can't invent. Don't have any kind of marketable talent. How about writing? How much shit can I steal from Earth to sell as books here?" He made a contemplative hum and cupped his chin in thought. The idea had merit. "Hm... nah. I'm a gamer, not a writer. Don't think that'd work out."
Sorun's thinking was cut off when, once again, he heard a knock at his door. He groaned again, briefly considering just ignoring it before deciding against it and sitting up off the couch. The last thing he needed was company at the moment, but then again he wanted a distraction to keep him away from the reality of the situation. So, ignoring his internal protests, he dragged himself back to the front door and opened it.
He only opened it halfway before he saw who was on the other side and immediately tried to slam it back closed.
"Hold it, you!" He'd been too slow in closing the door. Yellow-furred fingers grasped onto the door's edge before it closed fully and wrenched the door back open. Sorun's response was to have his arms go completely slack as he looked out at the now very irate-looking cat standing on the other side of his open door. "Just what was that supposed to be!?" Honey yelled out at him.
If there was anything Sorun needed at the moment, a demented cat wasn't one of them. He was starting to regret trying to slam the door on her, too, because her tail was angrily swishing behind her and her hands were planted on her hips. The cross look she was giving him was probably another sign at her anger.
Normally Sorun would have thought to himself that there was too much going wrong in his life right now to deal with Honey's brand of crazy, but he refrained from acting on these thoughts. He may have had a lot of opinions over Honey, but she was good people. In her own way. And like it or not she was a distraction he needed right now.
"Honey, what do you want?" Sorun tiredly asked, sounding like he'd rather be anywhere than there at the moment.
"'What do I want?'" She'd said it in a mocking tone that mimicked Sorun's own tone. "That's quite the thing to say to me. You know how it feels having to hear about all this awful stuff happening to you from other people and you don't even stop by to see me!?"
"... Oh, right, the last time I saw her was before I left for Earth. And came back..." Sorun realized. With so much going on with him he never even thought to go see Honey for any reason. Not very surprising, he figured, seeing as he wasn't even in the mood to visit his friends. Or anyone, for that matter. Didn't stop them from coming to see him. "I've been busy."
"Busy doing what? Being sulky and wallowing in self-pity?"
Sorun let out a slow exhale, and then shook his head while making a bemused chuckle. "Never change, Honey," he said. "I really am sorry. I've... I haven't been well."
"Yeah, so... so I've heard..." Honey trailed off and looked past Sorun's shoulder and into his house. This only lasted for a few moments, after which she looked up and down Sorun's body, ending on his face. Her gaze seemed to linger on Sorun's face the longest, causing some discomfort to the human at being scrutinized so deeply. Honey, by contrast, had made a heavy frown while the ears on top of her head lowered. Finally she sighed and reached her hand forwards and grabbed Sorun's right wrist. "Alright, come on."
"Huh?" Before Sorun even knew what was happening he was being dragged away. "Wait, hold on." Despite his protests, Honey kept pulling him away. "Honey!"
All shouting out her name got Sorun was the cat roughly tugging on his arm so he'd keep up with her pace. Figuring there wasn't much point in resisting against somebody vastly stronger than him, Sorun heaved out a loud sigh and resigned to his fate as he was dragged off to wherever Honey was taking him.
At least his mind was taken off the taxes. Or it was until he'd saw on their way out there was a mailbox in front of his home practically overflowing with papers. Sorun briefly wondered if he should convert to using a mail slot in his door as he was lead away by Honey to wherever she was dragging him off to.
The destination of his apparent abduction ended in what he assumed to be Honey's new shop. He'd never been to this one, only the one in Knothole that'd been blown up, but from what he could tell it looked largely the same as the original. The sign bearing Honey's name was more updated, a lot more red and gold and the writing was stylized, but otherwise it was still a shop. Even the interior was nearly identical to the original, which Sorun was able to see as Honey dragged him inside and through the shop.
Eventually he was lead into a large back room. Not too dissimilar, he'd realized, to that one room full of the many racks and mannequins full of clothes he'd saw, way back when he first went to Honey for clothes. This room, however, was actually very well-lit, and opposed to mannequins the room just had a few tables and chairs. And boxes. Lots and lots of cardboard boxes, some on the tables and more resting on the ground, with a few clothing sets and paper strips strewn about on the tables next to the boxes. It was such a haphazard, chaotic setup that Sorun could barely process what he was looking at.
"Feels like I just got dragged into the post office from hell," Sorun thought to himself. Honey had finally released his wrist, though Sorun had paid less attention to this and more on the chaotic spread out before him. "What exactly is all this?"
"So as you can probably can see, this is the main issue I've been having," Honey explained, talking like Sorun had a single clue what was going on. "I get it's not the most organized mess, but I'm sure you can sort it out-"
"Whoa whoa whoa, Honey, slow down." Deciding enough was enough, Sorun rose both his palms up to stop that cat as he turned to face her. "What exactly is going on right now? What is this?"
Sighing in an annoyed manner, Honey turned to face Sorun directly. "I'm trying to give you a job, you moron."
"..." It was almost like Sorun's brain short-circuited. He heard the words, but couldn't find the means of processing them. He tried opening his mouth to respond, but all that came out were unintelligible sounds that emphasized Sorun's confusion over the statement he'd just heard. "H-hurh?"
A job? For him? From her of all people? Why now, why seemingly out of nowhere? It seemed too good to be true, which was in part the reason Sorun hadn't leapt in excitement at the simple prospect. He was just so confused over what was happening all he could do was stare at Honey in befuddlement.
Seeing Sorun's reaction, the cat shook her head and looked away from him. "Look, Sally came to me and laid out everything that's been going on with you. About the thing that happened with your home and how you're really struggling because you can't find anything to do in the city." She reached a hand up and began aggressively rubbing at her arm as Sorun continued to silently stare. "I felt bad because I wouldn't be where I am right now without everything you did for me, so... I wanted to help you out like you helped me." She looked back at Sorun. "So I'm giving you a job. And you're going to take it because you need it and I'm not going to see my friend suffer any longer."
It took a few moments for the words to register with Sorun. "We're friends?"
The awkwardness that had been on Honey's face instantly evaporated in place of the anger that overtook her features. She'd actually growled out and swiped her hand at one of the nearby boxes to fling it up to Sorun's face. He'd reflexively batted the empty box away, blinking in surprise at the angry cat in front of him.
"Of course we're friends!" she yelled out at him. "You're one of the only people I know outside of business that gives me the time of day!"
"Uh... I-I mean it's not that bad, is it?"
"Ugh, you don't know what it's like being me." Honey turned around from Sorun and approached one of the nearby tables. She began to fold some of the strewn-about clothes seemingly on automatic as she began speaking. "People see my brand and the clothes I make and the name and they automatically assume the woman behind it all is this incredibly talented individual. A pioneer of the industry with fresh ideas and unprecedented skills who's as cute as a button. And they'd be right," she added, making Sorun roll his eyes. "But then people here come to me personally for clothes and they meet the person behind the business and they all think I'm some sort of loon. Can you believe that?"
"I literally called you crazy to your face," Sorun deadpanned.
"Yeah, but you never mean that," Honey added, waving a hand over her shoulder as Sorun scoffed. "I mean, you could have went anywhere for clothes, but you put up with me. And tolerated me when barely anybody else does. And advertised for me and helped grow my business to world-renowned fame." She finished folding the set of clothes and turned to Sorun. "That really meant a lot to me, you know?"
He was surprised to find that her face looked so heartfelt and sincere. Emotions Sorun realized he'd never seen on Honey before. He also felt embarrassed by her claims and turned his head away from her. "I only put up with you because you're the only person I know in the whole world that can make me pants."
"Pants of the best quality," she reminded him.
"... Yeah, fine, they're beautiful pants," he admitted, turning back to her. "And I mean, you're... I've heard the word eccentric get tossed around, but you're no Crazy Ricky."
Honey sent him an odd look. "I have no idea who that is."
"He was this homeless guy that lived behind the grocery store back where I'm from. I think he was psychic. We always went to him during the winter and he was able to perfectly predict when we'd have a snow day at school." Sorun reached a hand up to scratch at the back of his head. "Then again he was always going on about how he picked up government radio signals from the fillings in his teeth. So maybe he was just hearing weather broadcasts and was secretly some kind of meteorological savant." A moment passed. "I guess he's dead now." Another moment. "But, uh... point is I've seen crazy. You're not on his level. I don't even think anyone here is on his level." He shook his head. "What I'm trying to say is you're alright. I... don't think you're that bad at all."
In the past Sorun had. There'd been a time he only tolerated her because she provided quality goods he couldn't get anywhere else and dreaded every conversation he had with her. But, overtime, he supposed he'd gotten used to her at one point or another. And in her own way she'd shown she had a caring side to her. So he'd freely say Honey was cool in his books, even if Sorun himself was surprised at him admitting it to himself. He'd even go as far as to say he liked her.
It was odd times he lived in.
"Well, that's nice to hear you say." Honey made a small smile and looked down at her feet as she leaned back against the table with her palms supporting her. "Fact is I don't know a whole lot of people that would say the same thing. The clothes are one thing; everybody loves those. Me?" She shrugged. "I honestly never really cared. But it's nice having people like you around."
"..." Letting out a resigned sigh, Sorun turned to the left and swept his eyes over the box-filled room they were in. "Alright. So why don't you tell me all about this job of yours?"
Nodding, Honey pushed off the table. "Right. So as you know, I get orders from all over. Different settlements, different continents, I even get requests from Station Square. Problem is I've kind of been getting flooded with requests. Lots and lots of requests." She made a tired laugh as she slumped her shoulders. "I tried raising my prices to cut down on the demand, but that barely made a dent. Between going back and forth from the post office to make my deliveries, sorting out all the request forms and shipping labels and actually packaging my products, I just don't have the time of day to do all that and actually make the clothes." She turned to Sorun. "So I need somebody to do all that boring stuff for me."
"You want me to pack the clothes you make into boxes and bring them to the post office?" Sorun asked with a raised eyebrow. "That's it?"
"And figure out the shipping labels and organize the order slips for me, but you can figure all that out," Honey claimed, waving her hand to the side in a dismissive manner.
It seemed easy, if not a bit mundane. But a job was a job, Sorun supposed, though it still sounded a bit too good to be true. "That doesn't really seem like a lot to do in terms of a job," Sorun pointed out. "Moving boxes back and forth? That's it?"
"Sorun, I'm basically leaving you in charge with my entire distribution. That's pretty important."
Point to her. "And you'd rather leave this with me than anyone else?"
"Why wouldn't I?" she asked him. "You need the job and I like you more than most other people in this town. Besides..." Honey gained a small smirk. "I'll be completely honest with you. Ever since I've been getting all these orders and raised my prices I've had more money than I know what to do with. So I can easily afford to hire somebody like you."
"So grow the business," Sorun suggested. "Open up another place and hire other people to make-"
"Nope, not happening," Honey interrupted him with a shake of her head, surprising Sorun. "I do this because I love doing it. It was never for the money. Though the money is nice..." Sorun shook his head and rolled his eyes as Honey looked up towards the ceiling with a dreamy look in her eyes. "Beyond that the only person in the whole world I trust to make my brand is me. And I was really only in it for the fame and because I love doing it. But now that I have all that I don't see why I can't use what I've got to make life for myself easier and help a friend out." She jumped up to sit on one of the tables, legs playfully swinging back in forth in time with her swishing tail as she looked Sorun in the eyes. "So! What do you say?"
All in all she made a lot of pragmatic points. And after hearing her side of it he really couldn't blame her for wanting to shift a lot of the boring stuff in the business off to someone else so she could focus on what amounted to a hobby she made a successful business out of. And it didn't seem like that hard of a job to do. Sort labels and boxes, pack clothes, and bring said boxes to a post office? Being a glorified personal mailman wasn't the most glamorous job Sorun envisioned, but hell, it was an actual job he was in desperate need of. And even more than that his boss was a person he liked.
With that all thought out he really couldn't refuse, could he?
"Well, when you say it like that... I'll take it. For sure," Sorun said. Honey's eyes lit up enough he could have sworn they started to sparkle, and she gave him an open-mouthed smile large enough he managed to see her teeth and fangs. "Alright, calm down. Sheesh. So do you want me starting now, or-?"
"Nah, no, it's fine." Honey held up a hand to him and shook her head. "We'll start the... what's it called, orientation? Yeah. We'll go over the hours and pay and what you'll actually be doing and all that tomorrow. It's a little late in the day to be doing that right now." She paused, and then blinked in realization as she reached a hand behind her red dress. "Oh, one more thing. I made a hat for you to wear at work."
"... A hat?" Sorun repeated in a questioning tone.
"Well you need something to tell the people at the post office who you are and who you work for when you're delivering stuff. Duh," Honey explained.
"W-why does that matter?"
"Because it's my business and I said so. Ah, here it is!" She held up the hat for Sorun to see. To Sorun's surprise, it was a black cap with gold trimming. He wasn't as surprised to see "Honey" written in the same stylized font Honey used for the sign outside her shop, embroidered in gold on the back of the black cap. "I pitched the hat idea to Sally," Honey continued as she gave him the hat. "She... had a pretty unusual request for the hat. Said you'd get it. I didn't see what was so funny about it, but I went ahead and put it in anyways."
"Hm?" Examining the hat in his hands, Sorun turned it around so he could see its front. "Why, what'd she... oh."
It was hard to miss it considering the letters were embroidered in large block letters on the front of the hat. He only needed a momentary glance to confirm it was "GREAT DELIVERER" sewn into the hat, the words stacked on top of one another. He made a small, sighing laugh at the sight, mostly in amusement at realizing she'd remembered that ridiculous title he'd used for himself on those delivery missions he'd done for her back then.
"Come to think of it, this is only happening because Sally reached out to people on my behalf. And I'm probably only getting this job because I happen to be friends with Honey." He felt a small tug in his chest at the thought. A warm feeling he didn't find entirely too displeasing. "Maybe... maybe I was wrong in trying to do everything myself after all. Maybe I really should have just gone to my friends for help in the first place. And probably why they all got so pissed I let it get this bad."
To think he'd actually feel sorry for the things he'd done and for how he'd gone about this entire thing. And there everybody was, pretty much ignoring it and doing their best to help him. He really didn't feel he deserved them.
"Uh... Sorun?" Honey's voice drew him from his musings, causing him to look up at the cat. "I got it was probably an inside joke between you two, but I didn't realize you'd like the hat that much."
He was confused on her meaning until he felt the strain in his facial muscles that signified he was smiling. He made a small laugh at the discovery and looked back down at the hat. "I just find it funny she remembered this silly little title," he said, brushing his thumb over the golden letters. "It was a stupid reference from a really pretentious game. A game that had messages about connecting with other people and helping others hand-in-hand as opposed to going it alone. Maybe I should have paid better attention." He looked up at Honey. "Thanks, Honey. Not just for the hat, but for helping me out with the job. You help me out a lot more than I deserve, so I kind of feel bad-"
"Oh, that's nonsense. You're fine." The cat hopped off the table and clapped Sorun on the shoulder. "I'm gonna head on home. Come back here first thing in the morning, alright?"
"Yeah, Honey. Sure." He saw her flash him one more smile before leaving the room. There'd been more words of gratitude he'd wanted to say to her, but the amount of emotions he was feeling had him too choked up to say much more of anything. He was already fighting to not let any tears show, because he absolutely refused to let anyone see him in that state. It hadn't stopped his eyes from becoming incredibly glossy as he looked back down at the hat in his hands.
"Maybe I can make life here work out after all."
A/N- Coincidentally I know there's a bunch of tax evasion memes floating around the internet right now, so I found it kinda funny I got to writing this part around the same time. I was really tempted to put a boss title in just for Sorun trying to talk his way out of paying taxes, but decided against it since it woulda been a bit too goofy.