Chapter Text
There is a man in the back of the dead-end alleyway. His form is partially hidden by the piles of boxes, garbage can, and the shadows obscuring the corners. He is curled up on himself, knees to his chest, and Pyro can barely make out a white dress shirt and purplish-gray pants against his dark skin.
Pyro stares at him for a long time, and the man stares back, eyes glinting almost-purple in the illumination of the nearby streetlamp.
Pyro had been walking home from his job at the coffee shop, glancing around meaninglessly as always. At work, Kaboodle had rambled to him about the new talk of the town: a man who had been reported missing just the day before after working in Clown’s lab. Pyro hadn’t paid it much mind at the time, but now he can’t help but be reminded of it as he watches the man huddle in on himself like he’s trying to hide.
“Fuck off and stop staring,” the man snarls, and Pyro nods his head in a quick apology and hurries away down the street. He’s simply making things up-- a missing person wouldn’t be found that easily.
The man is still there the next night, pretty much exactly where Pyro had seen him before. Pyro dares to pause and observe him for a moment, and the man glares back, although not with as much ferocity as before. He seems… tired.
“What?” the man snaps.
“Nothing,” Pyro quickly answers, raising his hands slightly. “I was just surprised you were still here.”
“Of course you are,” the man sighs.
Pyro watches him a moment longer before leaving him in the peace of the night.
The man is there again the night after that. When he looks up at Pyro, he doesn’t even seem surprised anymore. Although, that could be because of how lethargic he appears, curled in on himself in a mess of limbs and fabric.
“What do you even want?” the man questioned, exhaustion heavy in his voice.
“I want to know why you’re here every night,” Pyro answered sharply, concern leaking into his tone.
“Fuck off,” the man groaned.
Pyro stepped forward into the alleyway, and the man’s eyes widened. He began to subtly unravel himself, as if he was preparing himself to run.
“I mean you no harm,” Pyro quickly explained. “I am… worried, though.”
“Yeah, right. If you’re so worried you can get me something to eat,” the man scoffed.
“Well, what do you want then?”
“Are you serious?”
“Very. I’ll happily get you a meal.”
The man looks at him for a while at that, gaze lingering as if searching his face for any trait of deceit. Pyro holds it. He’s quite serious-- he doesn’t know what circumstances have led this man to being huddled in an alleyway three nights in a row, but he does know that he can at least help him a little.
“All right then,” the man finally decides. “I want Chinese food. Lo mein and fried rice. And teriyaki chicken. Water with it.”
“Okay,” Pyro says, dipping his head in acknowledgement. “I’ll be back soon.”
He turns back the way he came, leaving the man to wait. There’s a Chinese restaurant close nearby, and Pyro’s eaten there enough to know that their food is consistently good. He also knows that they give large portions of the food, and he hopes that the leftovers can give the man more meals than one.
Pyro makes it to the restaurant and orders what the man had requested for takeaway. He pays for the order and gives his name for them to call before leaning against a wall to wait. His phone buzzes in his pocket, and he pulls it out to see a text from Kaboodle.
Kaboodle: hiiiiii ^-^
Pyro: hello :]
Kaboodle: did!! you see!! the news on that Ash guy??
Pyro: Ash?
Kaboodle: the one with the lab thing
Kaboodle: Clown made a statement about how he apparently like. disregarded all the safety protocols and fell?? in?? to one of the projects???? he’s paying a ton of money to whoever finds him and brings him back to the lab
Pyro: why is there a *reward?* it makes it seem like he’s a captive or something
Kaboodle: that’s what i thought too!! the whole thing is rlly weird, esp. with how intense safety protocols r with anything lab-related now
Pyro: yeah,,,
Kaboodle: anyways do you know what Ash looks like?
Pyro: why would i
Kaboodle: if you see him! not even for the reward or anything, but just so like. his family knows he’s ok n stuff
Pyro: okay. yeah. sure. you just want to tell me more about it
Kaboodle: ;-;
Kaboodle: yeah
Pyro: go ahead
Kaboodle: OKAY SO he’s like 22 or so? he was probably wearing a lab coat or something when he fell in, or i guess not if he ignored so many safety practices
Kaboodle: he’s Indian, a little over 6 foot and he has black hair with a purple streak in it
Kaboodle: and he always wore gold?? like. a lot of it for some reason?
Kaboodle: there’s a couple theories about why but they’re all super science-based so.
Kaboodle: if you’re interested in that stuff you can look it up but im a theatre major so
Pyro: yeah no i get it
Kaboodle: OH and there’s another guy! Branzy Craft, and he’s like Clown’s assistant?
Kaboodle: but it’s also kinda weird bc
An employee calls Pyro’s name for his order, and he shoves his phone in his pocket, resolving to read Kaboodle’s rant later. She does this a lot where she finds a new topic or story she’s interested in, learns all she can about it, and wants to tell everyone she knows about it until the next new story comes along. For all Pyro’s complaining, he really doesn’t mind, though. He’s mainly just happy she has something that makes her happy, especially after how upset she was after Maddy’s death.
He grabs the bag with the man’s food in it and the one with his water, thanking the worker, and leaves the restaurant. It’s only a few minutes before he’s approaching the alleyway again, pausing at the entrance until the man sees him.
“You’re back,” he comments, and Pyro tries to ignore how he still sounds surprised.
“I said I would be,” Pyro answers, starting to walk the length of the alley towards where the man was curled in the corner. He tries to move slowly, noting how the man watches him the whole time. He supposes he can’t blame him-- it would be foolish to trust a random stranger, after all.
Pyro stops in front of the man, holding out the bags until the man takes them. He steps back after, moving to the side so as not to intrude on the man’s personal space.
The man unties the food bag’s handles, peering inside, then back up at Pyro. “This is for me? This isn’t a trick or anything?”
“I swear to you it is not a trick,” Pyro replies solemnly.
“Thank you, my friend,” the man grins, looking relieved. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Pyro smiles. “I’ll leave you to it, then. Although-- may I know your name?”
The man looks up at him again before turning his attention back to the bag, and for a moment Pyro thinks he won’t respond before he hears,
“Ash. My name is Ash.”
“I’m Pyro. It’s nice to meet you, Ash.”
“The same to you. Oh, the same to you.”
And with that, Pyro walks away. It’s only when he’s back in his apartment reading through Kaboodle’s messages again that he realizes; Oh, shit. He’s Ash.