Terminated

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

What was I thinking? Joshua asked himself miserable as he peaked around another corner through the back alley. As soon as he got outside and could no longer see Chris, he knew he messed up. But he had no choice of going back - the landlord had already discovered what he did, and even if he went back and turned himself into him, he was sure to be punished. Increase rent, worse living conditions... either way, it was something he couldn't do. It was no longer on the table.

The landlord would get over him, soon enough. He'd find a girl to put in his old room who was sure to get more customers than he did. Hell, the only reason he got Chris was because the landlord decided to not mention the fact that a boy was in the new room. Joshua would bet by sundown the landlord wouldn't be thinking of him anymore.

He ran a couple dozen feet and ducked behind another dumpster. He peered into it, the same way he had the previous couple, hoping to find some form of clothing. His heart jumped when he saw a trenchcoat. He pulled it out and quickly put it on.

It was too small.
It was filthy and ripped.
It smelled.
He was so happy to have found it.

Now that he was covered and decent, he ran out onto the main street, looking up and down, desperate to find any trace of Chris's red hair. If he didn't... he wasn't sure where he would go.

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

After a couple hours of wandering, Joshua was ready to give up. At first, he clung to the hope that Chris went into a store or restaurant, but after a while he had to face the facts. He had lost Chris, lost the chance to go back to the brothel, lost everything. He was back on the street, homeless, alone, and in danger.

He went into the nearest alleyway, slumped up against the wall, and slid down, feeling the tears coming again. He wiped some away with his dirty sleeve and instantly regret it, this trenchcoat he found was so filthy that now his cheek just felt stained. He let out a sob and placed his hands between his knees. What was he going to do? What could he do? He saw two solutions before him - go back to the brothel and grovel, beg for forgiveness and his room back, or go back to living on the streets.

How would Chris find him again if he was living out here, was his first thought, and he scoffed. As quickly as he had imagined the landlord forgetting Joshua's face, he felt like Chris would forget even quicker. Of course Chris seemed to enjoy their time together, but with how conflicted he was, the next time he went to the brothel and found Joshua gone, he would probably feel relief. That thought made the tears flow even quicker from Joshua's eyes.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and felt the money he had left. It was enough to get him by for a while, until he found something. All he knew right now was that he didn't want to be sitting in this dirty alleyway anymore. He got up, wiped as much dirt off of his clothes as he could manage, and headed back to the main road. He eventually found a diner that didnt' look classy enough to turn him away, based on what he was wearing, and went in, resolving to have a nice hot meal to pick up his spirits, and hopefully come up with what to do next.

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

The food did nothing to clear Josh's head. He spent the rest of the day wandering the streets in a daze, getting some weird looks from people, but he couldn't care. He barely remembered the rest of the day, and certainly didn't remember falling asleep.

The next morning, Joshua blinked the sleep out of his eyes and rolled over sleepily. He rubbed his eyes and looked up across the street. He was camped out on a bench across the street from the brothel. He knew he had to be careful of letting the landlord see him, but he had decided on that place for one specific reason. He was hoping that Chris would come by.

He knew the odds weren't in his favor, after all, nearly two weeks went by before Chris came back the last time, but who knows. Who knows why he wanted to see Chris so badly, either. He couldn't explain it, he just... needed to.

He rubbed his hands together and blew on them to warm them up. It was a chilly morning. He thought about walking down the block to buy a coffee, but he knew he had to conserve his money... and he didn't want to miss Chris if he came to see him. He looked up and downed the street, heart full of hope, but saw nothing.

"Going to be a long day," he muttered and leaned back.

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

~3 days later~

Joshua scratched his chin, amazed at how thick his facial hair was coming in. He hadn't been able to shave, showever, change his clothes, anything. He was sitting roughly a block down from brothel now, he was drawing too much attention to himself sitting in one place. Chris hadn't set foot within a block of the brothel and to be honest, it was at the point now that Joshua almost didn't want him too. Josh looked like a hot mess, if Chris saw him now, he would probably just turn away and not give him a second look.

Just one more day, he though to himself, ignoring the fact that he said that the past two nights. Suddenly, all thoughts left hsi mind when he saw a flash of red. He jumped up, a grin on his face, and stared at the red scarf that a woman walking by was wearing. The grin slowly faded and he slumped down on the bench.

What the hell was wrong with him?

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

Great, Josh though miserably. Now I look homeless and stole a scarf. He hadn't meant to. He reached out and grabbed the scarf as a reflex when he saw it and the woman screamed and ran off, deserting the scarf, apparently thinking Joshua meant her harm.

Well, that was the straw -- or scarf -- that broke the camel's back, Josh thought. He was leaving this town. If Chris didn't care enough to come back for him, then tehre wasn't anything left for him in this town. Staying here, Chris would always remain in the back of his mind. If he wanted to truly be able to move on with his life, he had to leave the town... maybe even the state.

As he made this decision, he saw another flash of red. His first thought was to ignore it, but he couldn't find the strength to. He looked, certain that he was getting his hopes up for nothing... and saw Chris stepping into a taxi. "CHRIS!" Joshua yelled, running towards the cab, but the sounds of the streets drowned out his voice and he stepped into the vehicle. Josh ran towards it, pushing people out of his way, strugglying to catch up. He was too far away, and the cab pulled away from the curb.

Damn it, Josh thought, I am not letting him slip away again! He stepped into the road, planning on making the cab stop, but as he did he noticed the cab driver was turning on his meter and not paying attention to the road. He braced himself and saw Chris' face turn into a look of shock as the cab struck him. He flew back and saw the red scarf floating away in the wind before he blacked out.

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

The pain. That was the only thing Joshua could focus on when he started to come to. How long had he been unconcious? Hours? Longer? He looked around the bright room, listening to the beeps of machinery, and reflected on the fact that he was more comfortable in this room, despite the pain he was in, than he ever was in the brothel. Maybe getting hit by a car wasn't such a bad thing afterall. He laughed at that thought, and that laugh brought on a bout of pain.

"Careful, hun." The elderly nurse said, putting a hand on Josh's shoulder reassuringly. She wrote something down on a chart, looked at the machines, back to the charts. "You're lucky to be alive, what were you thinking?" She asked.

Josh shook his head slightly, then his eyes widened as he remembered what he was thinking. "Chris..." he said weakly, getting the nurse to raise an eyebrow. "A man... red hair. He was in the car that... that hit me. Did he bring me here? Is he still here? I-I want... I need..." his voice trailed off, the adreneline he felt at the thought of Chris being here did his body more harm than good.

The nurse studied him for a minute, making sure he was in no immedate danger. "Hang on, I'll go check." She said, and headed out to the waiting area to see if this 'Chris' was around.

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

Josh opened his mouth to explain the situation to the nurse and Christine, but he closed it, deciding it wasn't worth the effort. He smiled weakly, which was enough for the nurse to decide she did a good job, leaving his room to help some other patient.

"Josh." He said, introducing himself to Christine. He laughed at her comment about a blowjob. "Don't take this the wrong way, but that's one of the furthest things from my mind." Christine pulled up a chair and blew a bubble with her gum, and Josh decided that he liked Christine.

"So, what do you want anyway?" She asked, chomping on her gum.

"So many things," Josh said weakly, and proceeded to give a G-rated version of his history with Chris, who he was really looking for. "But, then again, if he decided after he was in the car that hit me that he couldn't wait in the hospital to talk to me, I guess he was never that interested in me." Tears started swelling his eye and Christine was already shaking her head emphatically.

"His loss! Fuck him!" She said with a grin, causing Josh to laugh once again. Yes, he really did like her.

"For a more short term want..." he ran his hand across his beard. "Maybe we could get a nurse to shave this off me?" Christine smiled and headed into the hall to get a nurse. Josh wondered why Christine was even here at the hospital and why she would be okay spending time with him now. He meant to ask her when she got back, and he slowly drifted off to sleep, his body and mind both still exhausted.
~~~
When he awoke a few hours later, Christine was sitting across a chair, feet up in the air, flipping through a magazine. Josh's chin felt somewhat naked, and he ran a hand against smooth skin.

"Thank you." He whispered, getting Christine to look up, wink and flash him a thumbs up. His mind yelled for more rest, and he agreed, falling back asleep with the knowledge that Christine was at least there for company.

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

Josh had opened his eyes just in time to see Christine's little jump and heard his threat. He didn't know what had Christine so on edge, but he saw in her the way that he had been spending the past couple years of his life, jumping at every little noise, afraid of anyone who they didn't recognize.

Once the orderly was gone, Christine made eye contact with Josh, who grinned at her. "Thanks for looking out for me." He said, ignoring the food. He looked over Christine and could tell she was about to leave. She had no reason to even stay as long as she did, but Josh was grateful that she had. "You should come visit sometime... if you want to." He said, well aware of how lame he sounded. He hadn't had a friend in ages and his time with her had been nice.

What she was gone, his stomach started grumbling. He ate the food slowly, savoring the taste. Truth to be told, it was probably sub-par, even for hospital food, but it was leaps and bounds better than anything he had been given at the brothel. Well, he thought, I was planning on leaving and when I didn't, I got hit by a car. If that wasn't a sign, what was? He was sure the hospital wouldn't let him leave for a couple days at least, but once he was discharged, he would leave this town behind him. He felt a twinge of pain at the thought, but bottled it up, grabbed the TV remote, and started flipping through channels.

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

"You know that I'm okay to walk, right?" Joshua said, looking over his shoulder at the elderly nurse who was pushing him down the hall back to his room. She smield, nodded, and kept pushing him forward. He had just left physical therapy where the doctor had emphatically declared that he wouldn't be able to leave the hospital for a week, at least. It didn't matter that his leges weren't broken, the doctors were too concerned over the possibility of internal damaged. He sighed and tried not to think of how itchy his left arm was in the cast.

Back in his room, the nurse helped ease him back into his bed, despite his complaints. He was sick of laying in bed - he was bedbound in the brothel and now he's bedbound outside of it as well. He sighed, smiled politely at the nurse, and looked out the window at the sunset as she left. It was evening, and his mind wandered back to Chris once more. He sat there, pondering what he did for a living. Perhaps when his shift was over he'd come by. That was probably why he wasn't here yesterday, he had to get to work in the morning!

Stop being childish, Josh scolded himself and rolled over. He looked at the TV remote but decided against it, nothing on there would be able to keep his interest. Instead he closed his eyes and rested, hoping that either Chris of Christine would come see him soon. He chuckled at the similarity of their names, apparently he had a thing for "Chris'".

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

Josh smiled at Christine's words. "Hey, if I don't amuse myself, who will?" He was surprised and glad that Christine came back to see him. Based on what little Josh knew of her already, it seemed unlikely that she had much going for her in her live either, which was part of what drew him to her, for friendship.

His grin fell off his face. "No. No, he didn't." He let out a sigh and turned away, avoiding Christine's gaze. He felt guilty for still being hung up over him, the boy had already vowed to leave town as soon as he could. If he could push Chris from his mind, leaving would be a lot less painful. "I suppose I could do better. After all, it's not hard to do worse than someone who was in the car who hit you and yet doesn't care if you're okay." He said, voice rising with anger.

He calmed down in the company of the attendant, looking down and picking some hair off of his gown, letting Christine deal with the man. A small voice in the back of his head tried yelling that he was going soft, being too careless, letting others fight his battles. It was likely to have negative consequences, but for some reason that voice fell on deaf ears.

"You did promise to take half the food," he said with a laugh. "Good to know you're a woman of your word." He chewed on his portion of the food, but quickly lost his appitite when Christine mentioned her parents. He pushed the tray away from him and shook his head. "No... it's just... my parents died." He whispered, chewing on his lip, the thoughts obviously causing him pain. "But... it's okay, really. I..." his voice trailed off. Hospitalize him. Not kicking him out. He looked around the room slowly. He really was becoming soft. Who was paying for this single room? Who was paying for his medical bills?

"I... think I need to leave." He said, panic in his voice as he pushed the blankets off of him, trembling.

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

As Christine tried talking him down, Josh was shaking his head emphatically. "No... no, no, no. Hospital's aren't generous, and no one has even bothered to ask me if I have insurance. They're not planning on billing me, someone is paying for it and... and I'm worried it is a scheme." He tried getting up but Christine kept her hand on his shoulder, holding him in place.

"Ch...Chris?" He asked as he stopped struggling, his mind reeling. Chris was paying for this? "So... he does care?" He asked aloud as he slid down onto his bed, feeling the blanket at his feet. He grinned. Chris was paying for him! Paying for him to get better. But... "why hasn't he come yet?" He mused aloud. He started biting on his fingernails, deep in thought. Chris must have money. That wasn't a surprise to Joshua, and the fact that he was paying for this. He cared more than he let on, that much was for sure. It made sense. He smiled. "He must be busy," he naively declared. "He'll probably be in on the weekend." He laughed and his face brightened.

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

"Chris..." Josh said, repeating Christine. He lay back, grabbing the blanket by his feet and pulling it up and around his body. "Yes... rest. I do need rest." He yawned, amazed how how tired he could still be despite how much rest he had been receiving. Then again, he was never hit by a car before, it's not like he knew how much rest he truly needed.

Christine let go of his shoulder and turned to move away, but Josh reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. "Thanks, Christine. You're a good friend."

"I-I think I'm going to rest my eyes, for a little bit." He said, his eyes closed, not seeing Christine's reaction to his touch. "I'll see you when I wake up." With that, Josh started snoring, his mind giving in to his body's demands.

His dreams were filled with Chris tonight, different variations of how things could have gone with them. Him running out of the brothel into Chris' waiting arms, the taxi screeching to a halt right before hitting him and Chris running to him, Chris sitting by his bedside and feeding him soup.

It was the best night's sleep he had in months.

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

It took Joshua a bit of time to realize that he was no longer dreaming, after all, his dreams had been full of Chris and when he saw Chris standing over his bed, why not just assume it was another dream. The world was a bit clear, a bit brighter, and all of the pain in his body was once again prevalent, that was the biggest indication that this was no longer a dream. Chris closed his eyes, shook his head, muttered something under his breath and turned to leave.

"Ch-Chris, wait." Josh said weakly, pulling himself up from his bed and staring at his back. "I'm awake, don't worry." He said, misinterpreting Chris' actions once again. He flinched in pain from sitting up, but shook it off, he had more important things to deal with. "I'm glad you finally came to see me, been busy lately?" He hesitated, getting no response right away, and staring at the back of Chris head. "Is everything okay?" He asked tentatively, worried that something was wrong.

RE: Brothel Boy (MagusXOokami)

Josh winced when he was pulled into Chris' arm, discomfort running through his body, but he could care less. He wrapped his good arm around Chris and held him tight. "Good to hear it." He whispered, nuzzling into Chris' chest. "You'd better come everyday. These past few days have been hard to bare without you." He pulled out of the embrace and smiled up at Chris before moving over in the bed, patting it to indicate that Chris should lay next to him. The bed wasn't designed for two, but Josh wanted Chris as close as possible.

"It was foolish of me, running in front of your taxi," Josh lamented, "but I had to try to stop you. And I guess I did stop you, although... probably not in the best way." He chuckled. "Plus side is I made a friend. The nurse found a red-haired girl named Christine and thought that's who I meant. She's fun, but you'll be better company."

"There were days I thought I'd never see you again. Days that I doubted my decision to leave the brothel. I still can't believe that I did that! I'm sure the landlord is furious with me, although I'm sure freeing that room up was a favor to him, I'm sure other girls will get more customers than I did."

"Am I rambling?" Josh asked suddenly, his face turning red. "I guess I've been lonely. I'm sorry. Tell me about your week."