Hey, it's been awhile. But yeah, I've been pretty busy...not counting my other story that somehow got five chapters in the time I should have been busy...but anyways! Finally got this chapter up. I initially planned this one to be somewhat of an exposition. However, Marth and Nadir's conversation took a different turn. I had a great deal of trouble writing that part. Couldn't really decide what I wanted with it. However, I still hope you guys enjoy it. Tried my best...
Shattered Heart Broken Mind
If the current situation didn't demand absolute silence, the trio's surroundings certainly commanded much stillness lest the three mice wished to be jumped by the rats. Robin had warned them to stay close to him and let him do all the talking. While he himself was not a member of any of the ruling gangs, he had immunity due to his relationship with one high-ranking member. The gamer could not say the same for Marth and Lucina, so the cousins had to stick with him. There was no problem there. Even though both cousins were quite skilled in masking their emotions, their stiff movements and shifting eyes hinted at their nervousness.
Despite the hour of the day, the looming buildings casted shadows for creatures to hide in. Only outlines of various objects with dull coloring stood out. A graceful, summer wind gently moved some of the objects to test if anybody would care. None did. The normal sounds of the city bounced between the walls to distort themselves and give the entire environment the appearance of being an entirely different world. Not a single soul could been seen, which set alarm bells ringing in Marth's head. Even though he rarely spent his time here, on his occasional walks, he did see some poor saps getting beat up by gang members. Occasionally he would also see a gangster seek refuge in this area with the police hot on their trails. The next thing Robin said confirmed Marth's suspicions:
"Weird…the Mario Bros. should be around here. I wonder where everybody went?" The answer to that question soon appeared when they stepped into a clearing. Like the pathways they took, debris and trash littered the area. However unlike the pathways they took, people stood around in bated breath, giving more life to the area. Horrible lives, but lives nevertheless. Once Robin saw what was going on, he immediately held out a hand to stop Marth and Lucina from advancing any farther. The gamer ignored the curious look the cousins gave him. They had no choice but to examine the clearing before them and come to their own conclusions.
Marth saw a variety of people gathering around a small table with multiple cups. He noticed how three distinct groups stood apart with three people leading. One person stood at the head of the table while the other two people sat on either side facing each other. Some people at the edges of the group looked in their direction. Fortunately they seemed to recognize Robin and went back to spectating whatever was going on.
When he took a look at the separate people, Marth nearly jumped in surprise with his heart in his throat. Pit's splitting image sat on the left side of the table, smirking widely at the mousy-looking, young man on the other side. Upon a closer scrutiny, the student noticed that Pit's brother took on a much darker coloration in nearly everything, from his hair to his eyes to his clothes. Perhaps it was a testimony to the young man's difficult life. Either way, every time Marth looked at Pit's brother, he always had to do a double-take to ensure himself that his beloved hadn't gone down the wrong path.
The green-capped man standing at the head looked between the two gangsters. Nadir continued to smirk arrogantly at Pikachu while he scowled back. "Are you two ready?"
"Always," Nadir chuckled.
"Let's get on with it already," Pikachu spat. The mediator nodded.
"All right. Pick-a your pills."
As one, Nadir and Pikachu grabbed a cup. Without removing their eyes from each other, they drank the contents of the cup before slamming them on the table. An expectant shush hung over the large group as they waited for something to happen. When none of the participants screamed in pain, frothed at the mouth, or fell back dead, some money exchanged hands.
"Haha, feel anything, Pikachu?"
"Only regret that you're still alive."
Nadir giggled, causing one of Pikachu's eyebrows to raise. "You," the young man hiccupped, "…should know by now that it takes more than a little poisonous pill to kill me."
"A representative will-a reconvene in three days to report-a the results," the green-capped man said before Pikachu could retort. "The Roulette is-a now done." The people behind the green-capped man began cleaning up the cups with the drugs inside. They, along with Pikachu's group, then left the area quickly, leaving only Nadir and his gang to loiter around.
"Another Roulette, huh?" Robin sighed. "At this rate, Nadir's bound to die from it."
"Robin, I hate to ask, but what is this Roulette thing?" Lucina asked. The gamer opened his mouth to answer but somebody interrupted him.
"Didn't expect to see you here, Robin." The three students turned to see a young woman with long, silver hair. Dressed in a silver tank top with a scaly pattern and ripped jeans matched with a jacket, she didn't exactly fit the image of a gangster Marth saw in the movies. However the hard light in her red eyes made him think twice about questioning her. The gangster tapped a box upside down to get a cigarette. "It's not a Tuesday."
Robin made a negative gesture. "Some of my friends want to talk to Nadir. I'm just here to make sure nothing happens to them." Though they barely knew each other, the term "friends" was much safer than "acquaintances" in this environment. The young woman looked over the cousins. While the female friend looked cute, there was something in the male's eyes that made her feel slightly uneasy. There was something about him that was…off. She blinked those thoughts away to jerk a thumb over to their wanted delinquent, who was talking to another person.
"Well, there he is. Let us know if he does anything other than keel over, yeah?" she said as she leaned against a wall to smoke. "I got a grand on him being a little bitch for a day."
"Sure," Robin replied, not at all perturbed at the rather faithless statements. He started walking over with the cousins trailing him. While Marth kept his gaze on Nadir, Lucina inclined her head towards the delinquent with a grateful smile. The silverette simply winked back, causing the blunette to blush slightly and quicken her pace a bit.
Despite the feeling of hard eyes burning into them from all around, Marth and Lucina kept their gazes forward. Some gang members called out small greetings to Robin. If Marth didn't know any better, he would have thought that Robin was part of the gang. However, he guessed that Robin visited enough times to familiarize himself with this particular group. The gamer stopped a few feet away from his friend, prompting the two cousins to stop as well. Robin didn't say anything as he patiently waited for the young man to finish.
Nadir laughed at something Sheik said before noticing Robin. A stupid grin stretched across his face as he staggered a couple of paces forward to place a hand on his friend. He wobbled back and forth rather precariously, the hand on Robin the only thing keeping him from falling over. "Well, if it isn't Robin. Not a Tuesday, so what the fuck are you doing here?"
"Some of my friends just want to talk to you," Robin replied. He raised an eyebrow at Nadir's unusual expression, chalking it up as the result of the Roulette. "Looks like you got lucky again."
"Maybe," the gangster hiccupped. "This stupidity's probably going to last 'til 'morrow…" Nadir peered owlishly behind Robin to get a closer look at Marth and Lucina. He frowned. One of the two looked familiarly, or seemed familiarly. Thanks to that Roulette drug, his brain wasn't working like it should be. "Who…are these fucks?"
Lucina bristled angrily at the drugged Nadir in front of her. She opened her mouth to retort but Marth quickly placed a hand on her arm. When she looked at him in surprise, he quickly shook his head.
"Don't. Just let it be," he whispered. From the corner of his eye, he could see the masked woman watching them carefully. It wouldn't do for them to insult one of the gang members. Even if Nadir couldn't retaliate properly, he had friends to do so for him. Lucina held Marth's gaze for a moment longer before exhaling ruefully to calm herself down. Seeing that she got the message, Marth relinquished his hold.
"They're friends of mine," Robin said, "and they want to talk to you."
"What do they want to talk about?" the masked woman asked suspiciously.
"Yeah…what they…talk about?" It seemed as though the drug was stronger than Nadir thought. Marth found himself hoping that the gangster would recover in time for their conversation. He would take a rampaging, swearing Nadir over this idiotic shell of a man if it meant that he could have a meaningful discussion with him.
"It's…well, it's about…" Robin paused. He scratched his cheek, uncertain of how to put this eloquently. He already knew how Nadir wanted the blunette out of his younger brother's life. Even if the gangster was intoxicated, he still had the potential to really hurt people in his state. Marth more or less solved the problem for the gamer as he was getting impatient with how things were progressing.
"I want to talk to you about Pit."
Dead silence filled the air. The atmosphere dropped a couple of degrees, making some people shiver from the cold. Marth kept his eyes on Nadir. Doing so, he saw the change slowly coming over the gangster. The blank look in his eyes evaporated into the same hard light the silverette from before had.
"Pit…so it's you," Nadir muttered barely audible enough for those standing around him to hear. A harsh scowl crossed his face as he glared at Marth. "There's nothing to talk about."
At least he seemed to have regained his sense of grammar somehow. Marth refused to be cowed into fleeing. In actuality, he didn't even expect Nadir to listen to him. He half-anticipated that the delinquent would actually knock him over for merely mentioning his younger brother. Fortunately Nadir seemed to have some diplomacy, so the student assumed it was safe to continue without any real danger of getting hit without good reason. Marth repeated, "I want to talk to you about Pit."
"I don't," the young man growled. He turned to slouch away. The college student then made the bold move of stepping forward and grabbing his arm. Nadir's eyes flared as he instinctively swung a hand at Marth's head. However the drug affected him more than he thought. Marth easily grabbed the other arm, rendering the delinquent useless. Nadir snarled loudly as he struggled against the hold. His adversary refused to budge, his eyes still trained on the shorter person in front of him. He didn't notice how the masked woman grabbed something at her hip in case the stranger hurt her comrade and Lucina stepped forward with her own hands in a ready position to protect her cousin.
"Please. Just…let me say my piece," Marth said quietly. "Let me talk and I'll leave you alone."
"No."
"I'm begging you." Marth inadvertently tightened his grip in a plea. If Pit's brother noticed, he didn't show it. "Please, I have to let Pit know, and you're the only one who can pass on my message."
Nadir eyed Marth drily. "How unfortunate for you. I don't do…charity." He hiccupped as he weakly attempted to break out of Marth's grip. If he hadn't participate in the Roulette, he might have been able to. Like Link he was surprised by how much strength the blunette had. His skinny appearance belied his hidden strength, something that worked in Marth's favor multiple times. His strength was just as obscured as his IQ. Despite that, Nadir had no intention of backing down. Marth was as pigheaded as him, and they might have spent eternity like that had it not been for Sheik's question:
"…what makes you think Pit still wants anything to do with you?"
Marth's head snapped from Nadir to look at the masked woman. He flinched slightly when he saw a judging light in her eyes, almost like she had struck him physically. The question made his resolve waver slightly as he thought back to how Pit didn't appear at the window despite how many times Marth called for him. Although he wanted to believe it was because Link told his son to ignore Marth, a horrible little voice inside of him loudly proclaimed that Pit really didn't want to see him anymore. The blunette relinquished his hold, allowing Nadir to rub his wrists. Marth lowered his gaze from the masked woman in shame.
"I…I don't know…" the student muttered. The devil's voice cheered inside of him before being struck down quickly. Another voice, one much more pleasant than the last, reassured Marth that even if he didn't know what Pit really felt at that moment, he had to try now. He balled his hands into a fist as he looked up to meet her gaze. "But at the very least…I have to ask Pit for his forgiveness. If he still wants nothing to do with me after my apology, so be it. But I have to let him know that I never meant to hurt him. I care too much about him."
The masked woman opted to say nothing as she continued to stare at the young man before her. Despite her penetratingly cold gaze, the delinquent liked the determination she saw in the other person. The student refused to be cowed and back down, still staring at the masked woman as he understood with how whacked Nadir was at the moment, his best bet was to convince the gangster's comrade. After an agonizing silence only broken by intervals of a light breeze whisper, the young woman finally spoke again. "…I don't know what is going on between you two," she said before turning to say to Nadir, "but I think you should give him a chance, Dragmire."
Nadir's head jerked towards her, his red eyes blazing in anger that she would take this stranger's side over his.
"And why the fuck should I do that?"
"Because if you really care about your younger brother, you'll do it."
That struck a nerve with Pit's brother. His eyes narrowed as he bared his teeth at his friend. Sheik only raised a bored eyebrow at him without flinching when he got in her face. The tension stretched between them with Marth, Lucina, and Robin looking on rather uncomfortably.
"He's…not…getting…a…chance," Nadir slowly enunciated. Sheik drew breath to answer but a desperate voice spoke up before she could form an argument.
"Please, I'm begging you," Marth pleaded again. The two gangsters looked over at the blunette in surprise. Now that he saw that Nadir slowly regained some of his senses, Marth had to take this chance to convince the gangster. His eyes began to turn red yet nothing gathered at their corners. Yet. "If you pass my message to Pit, I promise not to bother you anymore."
Nadir glared at him. "I don't care if you bother me. I do care if you bother my brother."
"I promise not to contact him anymore if he doesn't want me to," the college student quickly said. The gangster raised an eyebrow at the "if" statement but didn't point it out as he noticed that Marth took Pit's thoughts into consideration. "Please, just…just let me apologize to him."
More silence. Yet this stillness was a rare one, one that Marth couldn't take. His heart caught in his throat as his breaths came in shallows of fear. He just had to get through. He just had to. He couldn't bear the thought that he was hurting Pit this whole time. Marth had to let Pit know that that was absolutely not his intention at all. Marth loved the boy too much to do that. If he could protect Pit from all the dangers of the world even if it meant putting his life on the line, he would immediately jump at the chance. However the college student was at least realistic enough to know that that wasn't possible, that Pit would eventually get hurt in some way. Still he wanted to apologize for leading Pit to possible danger in the first place. He had to, even if Pit didn't want to see him ever again.
His breath hitched at the thought. While it would absolutely decimate his heart to know that his beloved never wanted to see him again, Marth would accept it. He loved Pit to the point that anything the boy asked of him, he would do everything in his power to grant it. Even if it meant staying away from Pit. Even if it meant never seeing Pit. Even if it meant never talking to Pit. Even if it meant never kissing, hugging, touching, dying…
"…fine, I'll pass your 'message' to Pit," Nadir grunted. Marth blinked, unconsciously registering something wet at the corner of his eyes. He looked at the slightly bemused gangster, fearing that if he thought he heard right that Nadir would change his mind. The fear slowly ebbed away as the brunette jerked his head towards one of the alleyways. "But I got some questions for you. We'll do this at my place, Blue Doll." Without waiting for a reply, Nadir already began slinking away in the direction he initially indicated. The realization of him succeeding hit Marth like a bolt of lightning, and he hurried after the gangster desperately. Lucina and Robin followed close behind, ignoring the snickers of some of the gangster who had been spectating the little soap opera.
Perhaps the whole ordeal fully sobered the drugged gangster as he walked with nary a sway or stagger in his step. Nadir walked so fast that Marth and Lucina had to widen their own strides while Robin nearly broke into a full-on jog just to keep up. During their trip, Lucina placed a calming hand on Marth's shoulder. When the blunette looked at his cousin in confusion, she mouthed the words "you'll be fine". Though despair still weighted down his heart and soul, Marth managed to find some comfort in those simple words.
It didn't take them very long to arrive at the shabby house. It barely stood with help from its graffiti-heavy walls and the roof looked to cave in with a little bit of rain. Weeds grew everywhere, threatening to conquer the human shelter eventually. At least it was a slightly better defense than the half chain-link fence that barely wrapped around the place. Nadir cut through the plants while the group of three students had to wade through that sea of overgrowth.
They finally reached the groaning porch and waited. Marth watched as Nadir fumbled with a set of keys. Once the young man found the necessary key, he stabbed it into the lock. The mechanisms clicked to grant the four people entrance. The gangster swung the door open as he shoved the keys back into his pants. He walked forward, prompting the others to follow. However they started in surprise when they saw Nadir tripping on something.
"Fuck!" he cursed as he stepped over the thing he tripped on to regain his balance. On closer inspection, Marth could see that it was a kid lying on their side, their back facing them. He looked up to see a livid expression on Nadir's face. "Fucking damnit, Lucas! You overdosed again, didn't you?!" The gangster kicked the boy in his stomach. His three guests flinched at the intensity of the kick and the gasping of the boy. Lucas barely moved to protect himself, only shuddering from his rasping coughs.
"Why did you kick him?" Lucina asked in an appalled voice. Nadir switched his attention from Lucas to the young woman. His ruby eyes blazed angrily, almost making her step back.
"Because this motherfucker had it coming!" he snarled. "I already told him not to look for those damn drugs! Serves him right to be lying half-dead here!" The delinquent stared at the boy in front of him. Marth, watching him carefully, felt a flash of surprise when he saw a brief, sorrowful light in Nadir's eyes before it disappeared. Nadir kicked Lucas again, not getting a response this time. He snorted in derision before turning to lead the three visitors into his living room. "Just step over the brat. I'll take care of him later."
"Take care of him now," Lucina demanded.
"You don't tell me what to do, bitch," the delinquent said over his shoulder as he disappeared from view. The group left behind heard some cans clanging around in tandem with Nadir's shuffling.
Robin put a hand on Lucina's shoulder, stopping her from calling to Nadir to bring him back. "Let's just keep moving, Lucina. Nadir would take care of him soon enough." The young woman glared at the gamer in disbelief. Robin simply nodded in futile reassurance before stepping over the boy to follow Marth into the living room. Lucina didn't trail after him. Instead she looked at the boy in front of her. She couldn't just leave him there; she had to do something. The young woman kneeled down to pick him up.
A rough hand grabbed her outstretched wrist, preventing her from reaching the boy. Lucina shrieked slightly before realizing that Nadir had stopped her. She glared at him for startling and stopping her, an expression he returned immediately.
"Don't you dare touch him," Nadir said in a low voice. Something in his tone warned Lucina not to protest. It didn't sound like he said that so Lucina wouldn't help the kid, therefore postponing the child's recovery. It sounded more like…he said that so Lucina wouldn't hurt the kid even more in an unknowing way. The gangster harshly threw her wrist off to the side. He then quickly scooped up the boy and hurried down the hall to a different room, leaving Lucina to rub away the pain. Nadir's abrupt actions surprised the blunette somewhat. Despite his foul behavior, she could tell that he really did care for the boy. Still…though she could now overlook some of his actions, it didn't complete redeem him in her eyes.
Straightening up, Lucina then entered the living room. Both Marth and Robin looked at the young woman curiously, although both rightly guess what had transpired. The two males had taken two spots on Nadir's moth-eaten couch with Marth in the middle and Robin on his left. They had to walk around the tilting coffee table and navigate through the beer cans to get to the couch. Various stains colored the wooden planks to make a dirty floor. Even more curious blotches splattered on the walls, suggesting that a violent temper led a certain somebody to hurl things at the structure. Lucina couldn't help but wrinkle her nose a bit at her surroundings. When she sat right of her cousin, Robin leaned forward to say:
"You tried to help him, didn't you?"
Lucina huffed in some annoyance. "Of course I tried to help him! I couldn't just leave him there! And who would kick a defenseless kid like that?"
Robin scratched his cheek awkwardly, trying to find a way to put his friend's attitude eloquently. He had an idea why Nadir would do such a thing but even then it was just a guess. Being friends didn't automatically unlock each other's past, and Nadir always team killed his friends whenever they tried to talk to him about it. Even so, Nadir's friends still managed to piece together what little they learned to explain his troubled self. The albino said, "Well…that's just how he is, unfortunately."
Lucina crossed her arms in obvious dissatisfaction at the answer. Although Marth shared her stance on Nadir's attitude and behavior towards the child, he unfortunately had other things to occupy his mind. He sat quietly with his fists gripping his pants, waiting impatiently for Nadir to come back. It was a new sensation, being impatient. It felt so long ago when he could easily sit in a position like this for hours on end. Now he fidgeted and squirmed in dreadful anticipation for what was to come. Even though Nadir had agreed to give his message to Pit, Marth feared that he might fuck this up somehow and change the delinquent's mind. After he saw how volatile Nadir could be. Who's to say that Pit's brother wouldn't back out of the deal and simply do away with the blunette? His emotions continued to conjure horrible scenarios despite his logic's best efforts to calm himself down.
After what seemed like years to Marth, Nadir finally made his reappearance from the back. Sounds of empty beer cans being kicked around arrived with him. The gangster seemingly ignored his guests as he slumped into the armchair facing the three students. He grabbed one of the cans of beer on the unsteady table, swished it to see if it had anything inside, and drank deeply like his life depended on it.
"So…" Nadir sighed once he finished drinking, "Blue Doll, let's make this quick-."
"His name is Marth, not 'Blue Doll'," Lucina interrupted before Nadir could continue.
The young man scowled at her, obviously not liking her behavior in his house. He leaned forward to lock a hard stare on Lucina and emphasize his next words. "I can call him whatever I want. In my book, he hasn't earned his name. And you haven't either, Eye of the Tiger."
"What did you call me?"
Nadir smirked as he mockingly pulled down his bottom left eyelid. "Eye of the Tiger." Marth's cousin flushed when she realized that the delinquent actually noticed how her left eye was a shade lighter than her right eye. Still she refused to back down. She said rather tersely:
"My name's Lucina."
"Don't care." Nadir grinned. He crushed the can in one, swift crunch before throwing it over his head. Some bouncing clangs, and silence again. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "All right, my questions first, your message later. You don't answer truthfully, I don't deliver your message. Agree?"
"Agree," Marth said quickly. Anything to get through to Pit. He looked over to the side at his cousin. "Lu, please let me do this on my own." Lucina frowned slightly but she nodded in understanding. With how she always butted heads with Pit's brother, she would certainly ruin Marth's chances of convincing Nadir to pass on his apology.
Nadir raised a surprised eyebrow at how swiftly Marth agreed. The blunette didn't even bother to make sure that Nadir asked only about Pit. Hell, not that he needed it, but he realized that he could actually ask Marth for his social security number and the fool might just give it to him. Either Marth was extremely confident or extremely foolish. The brunette mentally shrugged. Whatever. As long as he got his answers and protected his brother from any more harm, he didn't care about anything else.
"Okay, first question. Why can't you just leave us alone?"
"Because I love Pit."
…well…that was certainly straight-to-the-point. There was absolutely no hesitation in Marth's answer either. Even so, that statement irked Nadir. Obviously if his little brother started dating somebody, he would want to make sure that that partner actually loved his sibling and that he approved of said partner. Nadir didn't know much about Marth, and that made him apprehensive. Even though Pit spoke about the college student with obvious feelings, the older sibling still had his doubts. For all he knew, the college student could just be getting close to his younger brother for a fling before leaving Pit behind. If that was Marth's true intention, Nadir would absolutely make the young man disappear from this life and any lives afterwards. He eyed Marth critically, his disbelief clear on his face. "You love Pit," the delinquent repeated drily.
"I do."
"Then why did you keep telling my brother he could go outside? I'm pretty sure Daddy Link already told you that Pit isn't allowed outside."
"Link did, but Pit shouldn't live his entire life in a cage. Nobody should." A small voice in Marth's head told him to be particularly careful right now. After all, Nadir did tell Marth to stop telling Pit stories and visiting the house in past. However something else from Nadir's statements set the blunette on his guard a bit more. It took him a moment but then he realized what it was: how Nadir addressed Link. He wondered if Nadir was involved in a relationship with his father similar to the one the man had with Pit. It would certainly explain the choice in nicknaming. Yet the small voice told him that no, that wasn't it. Marth heard in the young man's tone how mockingly he used that nickname. It wasn't meant to be an endearing nickname, even if it contained Link's real name as opposed to being a full alias like his and Lucina's. It sounded more like Pit's brother used that name to taunt Link. He then had to wonder whether Nadir knew of the taboo relationship between his father and brother. It didn't seem likely, but Marth couldn't be too sure.
"Hmph, even if going outside could potentially kill him?" Nadir questioned harshly. The cold words made the student visibly flinch. He felt a momentary flash of fear that Pit really, truly had a condition that forced him to stay inside at all times. He quickly reassured himself that Pit was perfectly healthy as he had learned from his arguments with Link. The only thing stopping the boy from leaving was the father himself.
Marth said quietly, "Pit doesn't have any medical conditions that would prevent him from going outside."
"Oh, you know that, don't you?" Nadir's mouth formed an o of mocking surprise, his red eyes blazing with knowing hatred. Marth wisely said nothing in response. He only returned the gangster's heated gaze with his own calm one. "And pray tell, how did you find out that Pit didn't really have something going for him?"
"Link told me."
"Daddy Link told you?"
There was that mocking nickname again along with a raised eyebrow. Marth once more opted for silence.
"Daddy Link told you?!" Nadir's o of surprise morphed into a wide smirk. It widened until he couldn't control himself anymore. To two of the students' surprise, Pit's older brother burst out laughing. He laughed to the point that tears streamed down his face. He had to hold his stomach as he wiped them away. Perhaps this was another side effect of his earlier dosage but the gangster was in no position to explain the hilarity of that statement. Both Marth and Lucina looked over to Robin for an explanation. The gamer simply shrugged, choosing to stay out of the conversation. He was here to play escort, not diplomat. "Fuck, I knew he was stupid, but I didn't think he would be that stupid!" The brunette somehow managed to get that out despite his roaring laughter.
Marth glanced over to his cousin to see her reaction to Nadir insulting his own father. To his mild surprise considering how stubborn she was concerning respect to others especially those older than the party in question, she also chose not to say anything. By now Lucina had accepted that this was just who they were dealing with and nothing she said could change him. It didn't help that their surrounding environment discouraged any protest even if the young woman did in the beginning. The student turned his attention back to Nadir just in time to see him wipe away the last tear.
The gangster reached for another can of beer, shaking his head in disbelief. "Fuck, didn't know he had trusted you that much…stupid motherfucker…" He grabbed his chosen can and cracked it open. He drank deeply once again before sighing. Then Nadir fixed a rather serious expression on Marth. "How much do you know?"
Marth blinked in obvious confusion. "About what?"
"I'm the one asking the questions, Blue Doll." A dangerous light in Nadir's eyes told Marth to watch himself and that he wouldn't get a second chance at this. "And I'll only ask them once." The gangster repeated himself slowly, as if talking to a child with no understanding whatsoever, "How much…do you know?"
"…not a lot," Marth said quietly and truthfully. Sure, he knew a lot of things about Pit due to him spending nearly every minute of his recent life with the boy. However, he had a feeling that Nadir was talking about something entirely different here, something that had to do with his family's history. Pit and Link never talked about the past, and Marth never thought to ask. He had no right to. The only thing he could really gather from his time at the house was that Pit's mother died some years ago and that Nadir never really lived with them in the first place. Marth did wonder why that was the case as it seemed like the older brother left very early in his lifetime. However, again, he had no right to probe into their past.
This time, Nadir didn't respond right away. He simply stared at Marth with the frown still on his face. When he saw no lies, he asked his next question, "What exactly did Daddy Link tell you?"
"He told me that Pit wasn't allowed outside for any reason."
"Did he tell you why he forbid my brother from leaving that house?"
"…he was afraid that he would lose Pit."
"Wait, that's his reasoning?" Lucina couldn't help but ask in surprise. Everybody looked at her as she tried to process what she just learned. "That's why Pit isn't allowed outside? Not because he has SCID or something?" Her shock caused Nadir to snicker a little bit.
"Stupid, isn't it? I already told him that that was a stupid idea and he couldn't keep Pit inside forever. Stupid motherfucker wouldn't listen."
Marth was extremely tempted to ask why Nadir didn't do something about it then if he didn't like his father's rules. Given the young man's personality, Marth thought that the delinquent wouldn't have any trouble at all rebelling against Link. However, he remembered that volatilely calm warning and kept his curiosity down.
Nadir looked back at Marth, snicker gone. "That's all he told you?"
"…that's all he told me."
"But you still insisted on taking Pit outside despite knowing nothing." Though Nadir phrased it as a statement, the question in it was loud and clear to Marth. Again, his curiosity screamed at him to find out exactly what lied underneath the thin surface. The nuances of a horrible past made Marth's heart ache for his beloved. He could only image what had happened and regretted rather irrationally how he couldn't be there to help Pit get through it. Somehow though he managed to keep his inquisitiveness down once again to answer the unspoken question.
"Pit deserves more than that. He shouldn't have to stay inside forever if the only thing keeping him inside is your father's fears."
A confused frown crossed Nadir's expression. "My father? Oh…" The frown then twisted into a knowing smirk as the owner leaned back in his chair. "So that's what he told you, huh?"
If his curiosity wasn't unbearable then, it was definitely overwhelming now. Before Marth knew it, the question slipped through his lips:
"What do you mean?"
Marth's heart froze when he realized his mistake. However it was already too late. The question had been asked despite Nadir's assertions of him being the only cross-examiner here. A wave of fear washed over him, and he hoped that perhaps the gangster could give him another chance to not fuck up at this interrogation.
Fortunately, Nadir didn't seem to have noticed, or, if he did, he let that accidental question slide. His smug expression disappeared to be replaced by a thoughtful expression. Or rather, to Marth, it looked more like he was scheming than thinking. Nothing really showed in the gangster's dark eyes as the silence stretched on. Robin muttered something that sounded "I'm going to be here forever" under his breath while reaching for one of the unopened cans. Marth ignored him, refusing to break eye contact with Nadir.
It was becoming easier and easier to distinguish Nadir from Pit despite their very similar appearance. Anything and everything Pit did had a sense of innocence to them, a trait that endeared him very much to Marth. Nadir, on the other hand, did actions in a more wild and mature manner. Even if his attitude didn't ring true with Marth, the student understood that the hardships in this environment entailed such a defiance to survive. It was almost as if Pit stayed on the childish side on the spectrum while Nadir forced himself to the adult side. Yet now Marth had to wonder what made Nadir leave his family in the first place. After all, if he had continued to live with Link and Pit, he might not have turned out this way.
Pit's brother took a small sip from his beer. Nothing in his eyes hinted anything about the delinquent's thoughts. So Marth was rather surprised when Nadir asked quietly, "You really love my brother?"
"I do." Again, the answer came without any hesitation. Even though that type of question was not one that Marth expected Nadir to ask, the student would always answer it the same way should anybody else ask him if he loved Pit. Because it was the absolute truth.
"Even if something is wrong with him?"
"There is nothing wrong with Pit." Another answer without hesitation. Even though he felt the slightest doubt due to Nadir asking in a way to make certain of his convictions, Marth knew that even if he learned that Pit had some incurable disease, he would still continue to love him no matter what. Marth didn't need to see anything in Nadir's eyes to know that the delinquent was weighing some unknown options.
"So you say…so you say…" Nadir took one final sip from his can before placing it down on the table. "I'm impressed, Blue Doll. Didn't think you had it in you to hold out for as long as this."
Marth felt his breath hitch once more. This time, it was because of a growing hope that he had finally gotten through to Nadir and he was finally able to apologize to Pit. Though it wasn't in person like he had hoped, at the very least Pit would finally know about Marth's true feelings. Already forgetting about Nadir's implied threat, he barely dared to ask, "Does…does that mean…?"
"Hold it."
A cold hand wrapped around Marth's heart at those words. He attempted to keep his face devoid of any "weak" emotions yet his tense body allowed any observant bystander to see his paralyzing terror.
"Before you tell me whatever your message is, I still have some things I want to say. First, if Pit forgives you, then I don't care what you do as long as you don't harm him." Nadir's eyes narrowed. "But if Pit doesn't, then you have to swear that you will never go near him ever again. I don't care if you love him or not. If he doesn't want you around, then you won't be around."
"I promise." Though it pained him to accept those terms, Marth promised exactly that. He cared more about Pit than himself so it was much easier to push his own feelings to the side for the well-being of his beloved.
"…Hmph, you've got guts, Blue Doll. And second…" a cruel smirk crossed Nadir's expression. For a moment, Marth believed that that forbidding grin was directed straight at him. However, the delinquent's next words surprised him for the third time that day. "Daddy Link's been lying to you. Our real father died years ago, thanks to him."
What?! Tell me somebody predicted that! Tell me somebody predicted that Link was not actually Pit and Nadir's father! Not like I really gave much reason for you guys to think that...but anyways, SCID is severe combined immunodeficiency where a person's immunity system is virtually nonexistent, making said person extremely vulnerable to infectious diseases. Coincidentally, this story shares the same name as the movie depicting a boy who couldn't go outside because of this disease. I don't know if my friend ever saw that movie, but I do remember hearing something about it and that's part of the reason why there really isn't anything stopping Pit from going outside other than Link's fears. Hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you guys...in another eternity, I guess.