"So. What kept you away all last night?"
Mark was sitting on a comfy couch, a steaming cup of tea on the sleek coffee table in front of him. And sitting at his side, the brunette pierced his skin with an inquisitory stare.
He was honestly not ready for any of this. The morning just rose but all he wanted to do was get some sleep. It was already tiring enough to keep his eyes open, let alone attend to this interrogation.
Averting his gaze from the menacing woman, he took a sip of the steaming beverage. The warming drink was strong and utterly oppressing.
"Good tea."
The idea of telling her about his recent unemployment was slightly daunting and more so embarrassing. Secrecy is always comforting when it comes to certain things.
Sadly, it seemed she wasn't willing to let anything slide.
"Why are you always like this whenever something happens to you? Suddenly dishonest and dancing around the problem. It only makes the situation seem worse than it is."
'Fair enough.'
The brunette was annoyingly keen when it came to people. As such, it was especially hard to hide things from her, even if he tried everything he could come up with. So Mark instead began to simply brush things off or show unwillingness to talk.
But she was simply too obtrusive. Displeasingly so!
It was like any dangers were not allowed to remain in the dark, and she was the revealing light that brought the truth.
Trying to fight back his fatigue, but becoming continuously more willing to fall into slumber, Mark tried to think of a way to get through her prying attitude. Alas, his mind was gracelessly failing him.
"I'm telling you... absolutely nothing is happening. No need to get so agitated. I'm too uh, alive to die anyway."
If he were to open his eyes, he would see exasperation written on the brunette's face. But the warmth of the tea was already lulling his worn mind to sleep. It wouldn't be long before he would fall unconscious- maybe a minute or perhaps a second.
To his utter displeasure, two hands found themselves on his shoulders.
The young man was mercilessly shaken awake. Yet when opening his eyes, he simply couldn't get angry at her worrying face.
'Can't a poor man get his sleep? It's not like this is an alley shakedown. I don't have a lot of money, I swear!'
It took a while for Mark's scrambled mind to fully register what was happening to him. For all he knew, this could be a dream, a series of drunken hallucinations, or some symptom. Everything looked like a blur.
He felt the brunette leaning in on him, trying to gather his scattered attention.
"I've been with you... something is happening... avoiding the problem... tell me... I can possibly help."
'Huh?'
Those words didn't sound quite right. One thing is for sure, his failing mind was the most concerning issue for him at the moment.
Suddenly, a tingling- nearly tickling sensation invaded his nose and the top of his mouth.
Mark let out a harrowing sneeze, followed by a rapid set of coughs.
'Oh right, I've been in the rain basically all night. It wouldn't be surprising if I got some sort of sickness.'
He looked at the brunette, or at least tried to.
"Right, there might be some problems going on... but could we get the most urgent one treated first? And by that, I would like some rest."
His request was met with a momentary silence.
She probably had an incredulous look on her face. Hopefully the pestering will come to an end.
A moment later, he felt the soft, cool touch of her hand on his forehead, gently pressing against his skin. He heard a delicate sigh resound through the room.
"You're hot."
Mark grinned.
"Thanks."
The hand on his head froze for a second.
"Wait here. I'll get something."
He scoffed.
'It's not like I'll be going anywhere like this... or maybe I can?'
Shivers crawled through his body when he tried to move. Staying still suddenly became much more of a pleasant idea. The tea also seemed to take on an indescribable allure.
Reaching for the cup, Mark felt his arm tremble when taking hold of the fine glass.
Unwilling to believe he was so fragile, the young man disregarded his shaking body and took the glass with two trembling hands.
As he brought it closer, the rising steam brushed against his face. The warmth made him pause all movement, keeping the tea suspended just below his head.
He lost himself in the clear, colored liquid, wondering why the brunette said he was hot when it actually felt cold.
"What are you doing?"
It was surprising to realize that the brunette was standing behind him.
"Back so soon?"
A hand brushed his hair aside before a frighteningly cold towel was placed on his face.
"I was gone for ten minutes, what do you mean by 'back so soon'? Is your sickness already affecting your mind?"
Mark had slightly been caught off guard by the sudden lapse of time. He ultimately nodded in compliance, though it was really the tea's fault.
The young man lay back on the soft seating and once again tried to fall asleep under the cold embrace of the soft towel.
And then was sadly jolted back awake with a pinch to his hip.
"Now, tell me about what made you stay in the rain long enough to get yourself sick."
Already in a helpless spot, Mark suddenly felt less reluctant to hold back on her.
"Alright, I'll tell you. But first..."
He pointed at the fine glass on the table.
"Can I have some more tea?"
With the cold towel on his head, Mark didn't want to move and disrupt the cold spell. And because he was feeling lazy at the moment. All the hard work from the night was catching up as the sun began to rise.
The hard yet delicate feeling of glass met his lips.
"Open your mouth."
Mark obliged and soon felt the radiating fragrance of the beloved drink fill his mouth once more.
But the brunette didn't stop and continued pouring tea into his mouth, to the point where he almost had the liquid pouring out of his lips.
"Now that you've had your fill, tell me."
He shook his head, irritated by her overly assertive attitude but embarrassed for having found himself in a situation that made him vulnerable to it.
"Rude!"
With that, the time had come. There was nothing left for stalling and nothing better to do against the prying woman.
Might as well get it over with quickly and concisely.
Also deceptively.
Positioning his head toward the area where he thought the brunette to be, Mark recanted.
"These past few weeks have been rough on me and Royce. We were stressed, burdened, and extremely overloaded. So tonight, or maybe last night by now, there was a little fight between us and a bit happened... so I left the bar. Because of that, I'll probably be making less than before."
He coughed a bit before continuing.
"I wandered around the city in utter sorrow of what happened, the rain helping to calm my nerves along with the tranquil quiet. During the journey, I met some cool people who were willing to hear me out. There was even a bit of entertainment happening! But I lost track of time on the way which is why I got home late. It also didn't help that I got lost..."
Mark's tale was met with an unimpressed silence.
'Ah... she probably is giving me that look again.'
The young man continued to shiver before attempting to meet the gaze of his caretaker.
"I'm not lying."
A hand pressed against his covered face, and took the towel off.
"I know you aren't. That's why it's annoying."
He felt another cold towel get placed on his head. The brunette continued to speak.
"At least you didn't get into any trouble with the gangs again."
The young man lightly chuckled.
"I've been a good person recently. Nobody would want to fight me! Unless it's for money and stuff like that."
Mark had settled into his comfortable little repose and tried to fall asleep.
"So you got fired."
And then he was brutally taken from his rest.
"Yeah, I guess you could put it like that."
A soft hand roughly coursed through his brown hair.
"And because you were fired, you ran around the city in a rush to find jobs when you know how hard that is in this city!"
He responded with a curt nod.
"Pretty much."
The brunette's annoyance could be sensed the more he continued talking.
"Why didn't you wait before throwing yourself into that mess? There are many better ways to approach this than to blindly knock at people's doors and beg them for jobs. Do you even have a plan for finding work?"
Mark stood still, frozen and stunned. The questioning was abrupt and unfair- it caught him off guard!
He looked left and right, unable to find the answers in either direction.
Ultimately, he shrugged and accepted his helplessness.
"Let me sleep on that thought."