The rain is a surprise, though he supposes if he had a phone or asked about the weather it wouldn't have been. It isn't unusual for it to downpour the few times they get rain a year.
"Do you want to come uh, to my house?" Ricky asks, head tilted, staring out the door. Hector's hand stops abruptly, about to push open the door.
"No, I'll be fine." Hector says, voice cut at the end. He likes Ricky, but he doesn't think he trusts him enough to go into his home.
He walks out into the rain, and it's a heavy one, beating down on him immediately. He doesn't own an umbrella. Neither does Ricky, Hector realizes, as the other follows him out in the rain less than a minute later. His bag is heavy now, making him slower, and Ricky catches up with ease.
"Where do you want to go?" Ricky asks him, and Hector is starting to feel annoyed. He knows Ricky means well, but he doesn't know how to tell him to leave him be without being mean.
"You go home, I've been in the rain before." He tells him, voice edging an annoyance he hasn't let anyone hear in a long time.
Ricky stops dead in his tracks and walks in what Hector assumes is the other direction. He doesn't say anything and neither does Ricky. They go their separate ways and Hector wonders as he's walking if he's messed things up.
He steps in a puddle as he enters the park, and that wouldn't be too bad, if not for it being mud. It has coated his shoes, and the bottom of his pants. He hopes they'll just wash out in the rain. He scours through the park looking for one of the benches that have an enclosure. They had gotten rid of the pavilions last year to combat homeless-ness.
He finds one of the benches, and there are a few people hiding from the rain too. He doesn't feel as bad getting caught in it anymore. The people under the temporary shelter, give him a once over. An older looking man looks like he feels bad. Hector figures it's because he looks like a drowned rat than anything else. A woman is talking on the phone about being late. An old woman stares into the rain like it's betraying her specifically, and Hector almost laughs at the scowl on her face.
The rain slows after a few minutes of milling in silence, the woman's call having been ended while they were waiting. They all make a break for it, the woman and old lady going in one way, the man in another. Hector stays where he is. The rain picks back up again not even five minutes later.
He sits down on the bench, tired. He's starting to get cold too. He shrugs off his bag, and sets it beside him, his spine and shoulders rejoicing in relief. He opens his bag, to see if anything is dry enough to put on. Everything is wet, he realizes. He shuts his bag and sighs, He's going to be wet for a while.
He feels he can't go to the shelter having already been there not even two weeks ago. He knows logically though, it would make sense for him to go, it is raining after all, and he doesn't have anything dry to wear.
His contemplation of going to the shelter are interrupted, as he's nudged. Ricky never actually says anything when they see each other, just taps him, Hector realizes, as he looks at him. He's standing just outside the shelter of the enclosure, and umbrella open shielding him, another in his hand.
"Come on, you can't stay in this, you didn't catch it in time." Ricky tells him, and Hector can tell he isn't going to take no for an answer. Hector stands, he should've just accepted Ricky's offer in the first place, he's done worse for less offers before. Besides, he feels responsible for the man coming out to get him, and if he'd just went originally he wouldn't be out here right now.
He grabs his backpack, and it seems so much heavier than before, he almost drops it as he picks it up. Ricky takes a few steps forward, now covered from the rain completely. Hector opens his bag trying to think of what he can just leave and maybe come back for later.
"Gimme, uh it, I promise to give it uh back okay?" Hector turns to look at him, and he knows Ricky doesn't want his stuff. He still has reserves about handing it over though, as he zips it back up. He hands it to Ricky, and he throws it over a shoulder as if it were the lightest thing in the world.
Ricky hand him the still closed umbrella, and as he opens it, Hector wonders why he even owns two in the first place. They start the walk back to Ricky's apartment, and Hector as they walk, Hector can his bag is starting to get to heavy. Ricky shakes his head no, suddenly as if he were aware of Hector wanting to carry it the rest of the way.
Hector tries to remember what streets they take to get to Rick's house, well apartment, Hector realizes, as Ricky pulls a key out of seemingly nowhere. They're only a few blocks away from the diner. The building is clearly older, but as Ricky opens the old door, it's clear this building has had some renovations too. The lobby area just has three mailboxes, one of which has writing. The other two are blank. Hector wonders if Ricky is the only person who lives in this building. That makes him nervous to think about.
"Elevator is always out." Ricky grumbles, clearly to himself. He unlocks the door to the stairs now, and as Hector looks at the broken elevator he notices that requires a key too. They walk up two flights of stairs and as they're climbing up them, Hector becomes aware of how uncomfortable he is in his clothes.
The door to Ricky's apartment is right as you reach the top of the stairs, and is the only door on the floor, besides the elevator. Ricky turns a different key, and it jams. He rams his shoulder into the clearly old door, and it opens with ease.
"They revamp everything but the door and the elevator, ya' know...." Ricky says, and Hector realizes what he's doing is a routine, and he might not exist to Ricky right now. He takes his shoes off outside the door, and drops his umbrella. Hector does the same. Ricky mumbles something Hector can't hear as he shuffles inside, and drops his bag next to the couch. Hector stands in the doorway, he knows he's being awkward.
Ricky looks at him, and yanks hid head telling him to come on. Hector steps inside, hitting his side basket, he grabs the clothes in the bathroom too, as he comes back to the living room.
He motions towards the basket, now half full, and Hector drops his clothes in without a second thought.
"Do you want me to do your other clothes?" Ricky asks, "Baskets uh, only half full..." Ricky trails of towards the end. Hector shuffles off now too, over to his back and he has to dig in order to get his clothes. He takes out the few canned goods he has left, in order to get the rest of his clothes. He unceremoniously drops them into the basket. It's mostly blacks, Hector notices, as he scans them quickly.
Ricky picks up the basket, and as he exits out his front door he looks at Hector as if challenging him to touch something. Hector sits on the couch and waits. Ricky is back much sooner than expected, he looks sheepish though, as he grabs a handful of what he assumes are quarters, in a bowl by the door.
He seems almost out of breath as he comes back in, as if he'd run up the stairs, only to pretend to walk in casually. Hector wonders what that's about. He closes the quietly, a soft click, heard as the door catches. Hector hears the audible click of a lock. He wonders now, if he is about to be murdered.
He isn't murdered, or at least not yet, as Ricky drops a few quarters back into the bowl. He comes back over to the couch and sits next to Hector a comfortable amount of space left between them, he didn't think Ricky knew about personal space but he's been wrong before. Ricky props his feet up on the table, mismatched socks, clashing. He wonders if he loses the mates or chooses to have them like that.
(Sadly this fic has been abandoned and hasn't been updated in about 3 years sothis is where it ends)
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