Got me sinking to a dark place

Sabotaged myself again, got a brain like a hurricane

So I ask myself, when will I learn?

No one knows what a mess I'm in

He just grunts quietly in response. Cian doesn't know much about Shaju, but from what he had gathered, Sunjata being sent to dear ol' dad didn't exactly sound like a fun time. Lone heir or not. If the noble parents could drown their kids, what's stopping them from beating them to a bloody pulp as well?

A quiet hiss through clenched teeth leaves him when Adam touches the skin at the back of his knee, but he manages to stand still and keep himself from flinch away. It probably didn't feel as much as it would have, had he not worked his way halfway through the bottle already, but it still hurt enough to pierce through the cloud in his mind. "No idea who that is, but 'tis a better plan than I have. Which is none."

Part of him wants to complain. Wanting to hide somewhere alone and keep all his problems away from other people. But he doesn't have much of that kind of fight in him at the moment and simply hangs an arm over Adam's shoulder for support as he limps along. While the alcohol did numb the pain a bit, it certainly didn't make it much easier to walk. "Think 'm past the bloody introduction at this point. I damn hope they will let me leave whenever this lockdown is over. Just please throw me out already." A tired chuckle rises in his throat. "So I can walk into the jaws of my own family. Saints, if they ever find out about all this..."

CIAN

My mind feels like an archenemy

Tell the crowd, tell the world

I want everyone to get high

"Doctor friend of mine. He's got a helluva better chance than me of being able to help you." Cian would hardly be the first Enforcer-battered visitor Adam had brought through the clinic doors and would likely not be the last. He held onto Cian as well as he could, gangly limbs surprisingly strong as they weaved through the slow crowds and thin streets down here. Nate's clinic wasn't too far, but it was up, which was unfortunate.

Nodding as Cian spoke, Adam took advantage of a moment of quiet where they were relatively alone on the street to respond, an uncomfortable cringe touching his face first. "I doubt it, after this. Not through the normal ways, anyway. There's ways t'get out of the city that the Enforcers don't know about...or don't check, but you'd have to pay." It was something he'd considered himself many times, but something close to honour or obligation kept him married to the Drench.

"Your family can't be mad about what they don't know, eh?" He suggested with a smile as he manouvered to leave Cian leaning against a wall as he dug into his pocket to draw out a key for the door they had come to, one he hardly had occasion to use - he usually entered by the windows here.

Tell the press, tell the cameras

I want everyone to get high

ADAM

Base Code by Sky!

Sabotaged myself again, got a brain like a hurricane

So I ask myself, when will I learn?

No one knows what a mess I'm in

He nods along quietly, some part of his brain managing to tell him that a doctor is probably a good idea. Again, since he himself had no idea what so ever, he settles on just following along to wherever Adam is taking him. At least that is something he is good at; getting dragged along one way or the other. Though perhaps this time it is for the better than for worse.

The rest of the way to the clinic is a blur to him. At least the bottle is left just being held loosely in his hand; either he is managing to tell himself enough is enough, or he simply figures that drinking while also trying to walk is not a good combination. As for how to make it out without getting caught, he makes some quiet complaining sounding grunt to it, then shrugs. "Guess I'll just sit still and behave for a while." There is a bitter tone to his muttering voice. Two things he always fails at no matter how much he tries.

"Hm, true. They haven't found out so far..." He is leaned against the wall and takes the opportunity to lift the bottle - only to lower it again without drinking. Perhaps there is some small amount of sense left in his hazy mind. "Just you know... Running out of good stories on why I can't come home yet." His family being angry isn't his biggest fear. It is the disappointment and he knows it will tear into him way more than any angry screaming ever will.

CIAN

My mind feels like an archenemy

Tell the crowd, tell the world

I want everyone to get high

"Just do whatever you do away from Enforcers. Jata, he's cool and all, but he's a dangerous guy to hang out with." Adam still brought a healthy dose of paranoia to any trips with the Arbiter's heir, no matter how close they were getting. Sunjata could try all he wanted, but he couldn't separate his life from his position or family and that would always affect the people around him.

Shit, had Adam been told last year he'd have an enforcer friend, he would have laughed and spat.

The key swung out of his pocket and Adam pushed the creaky door open, stepping in so he could hold it for Cian to stumble in on his own. Glancing up the stairwell, he gave an amused but distracted huff of laughter. "Then make some up. Don't have to go right to the truth. Shit, tell them I kidnapped you or that you hit your head on a wall on the way in and were out of it for months." Clearly, lying was not a moral issue for Adam.

The stairs would be tough. Adam reached out an arm to help Cian again. "I'll help you up the stairs, but uh, I'll probably leave you at the door. Think I should leave Nate alone today."

Tell the press, tell the cameras

I want everyone to get high

ADAM

Base Code by Sky!

Sabotaged myself again, got a brain like a hurricane

So I ask myself, when will I learn?

No one knows what a mess I'm in

"M'yeah, staying... Staying low is probably a very good idea. He seems like a nice kid, but yeah... If the Enforcers are going to be that twitchy to people being near him..." His words fade out to some quiet mutterings under his breath. Cian studies the bottle in his hand and eventually takes one last sip before closing it and stuffing it back into his bag while Adam gets the door open.

He limps his way through and looks at the stairs with a 'are you fucking kidding me'-expression on his face, but he refrains from making any comments about it. Instead, he just huffs in a tired laugh at Adam's suggestion about lying. "Seems like I will have a lot of time learning to perfect the art of lying at this point." He hates lying to his family, but he had already been going doing that path even before he even left for the city and he suspects that trying to crawl his way up it again to tell the truth would be much harder than just letting him slip down even further.

With a grunt, he takes Adam's offered arm again and mentally prepares himself for a difficult and probably painful climb up the stairs. "Right... That's fine. You've helped me a bunch already." He already feels a bit lost over the idea of being left alone with a new stranger, but he doesn't want to ask any more of Adam. He feels as if he has received too much help already, but at least he could show some gratitude to it.

CIAN

My mind feels like an archenemy

Tell the crowd, tell the world

I want everyone to get high

"Yup. Can't say I've followed that advice great myself, but...anything Plates-y needs a big ol' caution sticker on it. One that says 'BE FUCKING CAREFUL'." Adam stated, spreading out his hands during the last words as if he were painting them in the air before him. Perhaps he could have done with following his own advice, but he (perhaps foolishly) considered himself more street smart than Cian, able to deflect Enforcers with more grace.

Not that that same skill had worked out for dear old dad, in the end...

Having mastered the art of lying the second he'd learnt to talk, Adam found himself bemused by Cian's seeming reluctance to create a story for his family. Deciding not to comment, he grabbed onto the man's wrist around his shoulders for extra support and with a grunt, began to scale the concrete stairs. On the best of days this was a depressing climb, a gray and boxy ascent that always smelt faintly of piss, but this was truly the worst it had been.

"It's just-" A moment to breathe as they went across the gap between stairs. "-I may have fucked someone in his bed this morning, and I was so goddamn drunk I have no idea what kinda state we left it in. So...best t'leave him alone for a couple days, you know."

Tell the press, tell the cameras

I want everyone to get high

ADAM

Base Code by Sky!

Sabotaged myself again, got a brain like a hurricane

So I ask myself, when will I learn?

No one knows what a mess I'm in

Ah yes, "be careful". That mythical concept that never quite seem to stick on Cian. Perhaps he should get it tattooed on one arm, and "think thrice" on the other arm. He resorts to just making some more grumbling noises under his breath in response without really saying anything useful. He would not be able to tell if Adam indeed was more street smart. Cian had managed quite well for a while in the past, at least. Though then he had been on home ground and with a gang at his back. Huge difference from being alone in a new city.

They start their climb and Cian does his best to keep as much weight off Adam as he can, forcing his pained leg to carry him. Even if he had thinned out since he came to the city, he probably still has more bulk on his body than the stick Adam seems to be and he doesn't want to force the other man to having to try and carry him up. He did not need to have a fall and crack his skull open ontop of everything else now too.

"Your doctor friend sure got an injured-friendly entryway." He mutters through his grinding teeth, but then Adam's explanation as to why he won't come with in temporarily distracts him from the discomfort in his knee. "I uh... Not sure what I would have done if someone had done that in my bed. Set it on fire, maybe." Maybe it is a harsh response, but if sober Cian failed at thinking before doing, drunk Cian doesn't think much before speaking all the time. And when it comes to the topic of sex, he is just awkward about it on a good day already. "Can see why you'd want to stay away."

CIAN

My mind feels like an archenemy

Tell the crowd, tell the world

I want everyone to get high

They managed, slowly, with a couple of breaks. While Adam was sure it was painful for Cian to take on as much of his weight as he was on his leg, he wasn't in much of a position to do anything about it with his stick-figure limbs. At the comment on Nate's entrance, he huffed a laugh and tilted his head to one side then the other. "It's more important to stay hidden, given the kinda uh..clintele, he's got."

He only laughed more as Cian continued. "Oh, we'll be fine in a couple days. Not like it's the first time and not like he hasn't done the same to me." If Cian was awkward about sex, Adam was the direct opposite, perhaps too much. "I'll drop you off outside the door - look, nearly there."

Indeed, they had come to the last set of stairs, a plain white door at the top badly lit by a flickering bulb attached to the wall. "Get in there, tell him Adam sent you to get cleaned up after you got it in with some Enforcers. He'll help. Probably give you something for the pain that'll have ya seeing stars." Up the last couple of stairs, Adam gently deposited Cian where he could lean against the wall and took a step back, leaning on the railing. "You got it?"

Tell the press, tell the cameras

I want everyone to get high

ADAM

Base Code by Sky!

Sabotaged myself again, got a brain like a hurricane

So I ask myself, when will I learn?

No one knows what a mess I'm in

Cian would probably have more understanding with the clinic needing to be hidden, if he was in a better state than what he currently is. Current Cian just wants to grumble and complain about it, but he holds his tongue and focuses his energy on getting up the stairs. Actually managing without falling.

When Adam continues explaining that it wasn't the first time he had done something like that, Cian just sticks with nodding and continues to hold further comments to himself. Not that he has much to say to begin with, since he has never been in that situation himself. Luckily, he is soon saved by them reaching their floor and he looks towards the door in question.

He leans against the wall where Adam leaves him and is finally able to take weight off his leg. "Yeah, got it." He replies after trying to catch his breath for a couple of seconds. Doing his best to remember what Adam just said. "Really though, thanks a lot for the help. Again." He offers Adam a nod before he leans his head back against the wall. He will probably spend a while there just gathering himself up before daring to go in.



{END}

CIAN

My mind feels like an archenemy