You're Where I Wanna Go

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◦◾◽desperation◽◾◦

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Elliot had a goal. He'd almost forgotten about it, but he had a goal, and there were only two weeks left to fulfil it. He looked online but couldn't find suitable places and his patience was beginning to wear thin. 

Today he decides he'll go out. It's a bit difficult given the fact that he has almost nobody to ask to take care of Lynx and Aster, but he tries his luck with his next door neighbour, and although she didn't look impressed, once she saw the little beans, she beamed up at him and nodded eagerly when he told her how to take care of them. 

At the door of his apartment, Elliot runs through the mental list of instructions he has for her. "Please, check their diapers every two hours. Oh! And check the temperature of the milk on-"

"-on my wrist, yeah, yeah," Amy, a fellow Asian, cuts in, waving her hand dismissively. "Nothing I haven't done before." She pushes on his back gently and holds onto the wooden door. "Go on, I'll keep them safe." She holds up a hand to the side of her head in mock salute, a wide grin on her face.

Elliot sighs. "Thank you."

She nods, a softer smile on her face now. Waving, she closes the door and Elliot is faced with the empty, cold hallway.

⇸⇩⁑⇧⇷

A cry of frustration leaves Elliot's throat and the surrounding passers-by give him odd stares and heated glares, but right now, Elliot doesn't care to feel embarrassed.

Every vacant apartment or house he's come across either has a limit for the amount of people they want, or don't accept infants. He's close to tears now, and something in his mind whispers about how pathetic he is, a man of his age, reduced to tears all the time. 

Sighing wetly, he sits on the curb in front of a florist's shop, hands tugging harshly at his dark brown strands of hair. He just doesn't know what to do anymore, and he feels completely helpless, something he hasn't felt since he was ten and had lost his first and last pet.

A bell chimes just behind him and footsteps approach his pathetic hunched form, stopping beside him. When he glances at the shoes of the stranger, Elliot sees clean pink sneakers with pretty floral designs on the sides, the laces a bright yellow. Elliot decides the colour combination is a bit odd.

"Hey there," the stranger greets, sitting slowly and gracefully next to him. Elliot straightens just a bit to glance at the stranger's face and is met with light brown skin, golden in the sun, and warm honey eyes. 

He levels the man with a blank stare, as blank as he can muster with his wet eyes and reddened nose. "Hi."

The stranger, presumably a worker from the shop behind him, smiles warmly, deep dimples forming in the direct corners of his mouth. "I saw you sitting here from inside my shop," he chirps, thumb pointing vaguely behind them, "I'm not a therapist or anything, but you look really down."

Elliot scoffs, rubbing at his eyes. "Gee thanks," he mutters sarcastically.

"You're welcome, uh..."

"Elliot."

The stranger nods, his black hair turning a pretty brown when the sun catches it just so. "Elliot. I'm Tinsley," he presents a hand towards Elliot, which he shakes, albeit warily. "You looking for a place to stay?" One of his brown fingers point at the piece of paper Elliot has clutched in his hand, the purpose of the page written in messy handwriting, addresses following in bullet form.

"Yeah," Elliot sighs. "I've been looking all morning, actually."

Tinsley hums in understanding. Then, like a sudden idea has sparked somewhere in his brain, he clicks his fingers and points one at Elliot. "I think I can help."

⇸⇩⁑⇧⇷

"The kitchen is a bit small," Tinsley comments, "but it serves its purpose well."

They're in the floral shop, Tinsley's  floral shop, upstairs where the man lives. He'd offered Elliot the spare room he had and didn't fuss even a bit when Elliot announced that he had new-borns with him. "I'd like to meet them," he had said, beaming happily at Elliot who could've started thanking the man two thousand times that instant.

Once the house tour is over, they settle in Tinsley's living room, each sporting a cup of tea. "It's all yours if you're willing to pay rent." 

"Of course!" Elliot nods, "Thank you so, so much."

Tinsley waves his hand dismissively, a small smile lifting the corners of his face. "It's no big deal, just make sure I get to see your children soon," he jokes, tipping the cup back to finish the last of his tea.

Tinsley escorts him back downstairs where a customer waits for him, looking at a display bouquet he'd made a while back. "Thank you again," Elliot insists, smiling one last time at Tinsley and leaving him to tend to his customer.

He promises himself to pay the man back for his kindness in any way he can.

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