Rivean: Away from Home (18+)

7

"I'm gonna be alone forever," she slurred.

He casted her a glance. "I'm gonna be alone forever," she said again, her lips quirking up sadly. "I thought I was used to the thought."

He touched her face, wiping away her tears. "Maybe you're not."

She scoffed, sitting up. "Why are you here, Rivean?"

He stared up at the sky next to her. "Oh...you...well," he said softly. "You came to earth. I thought you would do something so I followed you. But you just got drunk."

She scoffed, her eyes on the night sky. You could barely see the stars. Hadn't been able to in forever. A starless sky held its own charms she supposed.

"Are you really comforting me right now?" She asked.

Rivean shrugged. "You looked like you needed it."

She smiled sadly. "Aren't we enemies?"

He purses his lips as he thought of what to say. Enemies? She was too sad for a designation like that. Her eyes reminded him of his fathers. Of his.

Just...tired. Sad. Disillusioned. Betrayed.

"No," he said. "We just don't always see eye to eye is all."

"I shot you."
"I was fine."

She chuckled. "I didn't know that."

He laughed with her. "What happened? Your scar, I mean?"

She touched it, the one under her neck. "What do you think?"

He sighed, saying nothing.

"So...what do I owe you?" She asked. "Don't tell me you're doing all this to screw me. It's pretty convoluted. I don't know if you noticed but I don't have any qualms about making myself feel good."

Rivean heaved a heavy sigh, sitting up. "This isn't about sex, Nadia. And you don't make yourself feel good. You just give yourself reasons to feel bad."

She frowned, looking away. "Fucks sake, kid. Then why?"

He shrugged. "To be kind for kindness sake? Because you look like you need kindness and I have it to give? Because you remind me of myself? I'm not sure. Maybe all the above."

Nadia put her arms around her legs resting her head on her knees.

"I'll still do what I do. I'm a bounty hunter. You know?"

Rivean nodded. "I know."

She couldn't come to terms with it. Be kind for what? If not change her, or have sex, or get something? It didn't make sense. But he was weird. Maybe he just had a hero complex.

"It's different," he said suddenly. "Sad but beautiful."

She glanced at him.

He looked at her before explaining. "The sky. Dark and starless. It's wrong. Pollution and whatnot. But in a way...it's pretty too."

She nodded. "Yeah..."

Rivean stood. "When you do something against others, I have to stop you, Nadia. But...I don't...hate you."

Nadia swallowed standing too. "Yeah? Cuz I hate you."

His lips quirked up. "Do you now?"
She nodded. "Yeah," she said softly.
He chuckled. "That's okay."

She flopped back down, putting her hands behind her head.

"What are you so protective over this place for anyway? You're blue?"

Rivean shrugged. "It's part of me. One of my homes."

"Heh. You're one of those half-breeds? With what was it? Iohirian? They turned all you guys quick." She sighed. "Why would you care about this shit hole?"

Rivean looked away. "Like your drinking I guess. Can't help myself. Don't know what else to do."

She looked at him as he stared at the sky sadly.

"Heh, I get it from my dad. I can't help caring until it destroys me. And it will destroy me. Because no matter what I want to believe, some people can't be saved. Some people are just...bad."

She swallowed roughly. He glanced back at her with a grin, tucking his hair behind his ear. "No you though. You're just...hurt. And maybe I can't save you. But you're strong enough to save yourself Nadia and I think you want to."

Her eyes widened before she looked away roughly, getting her to her feet.

"You're right about one thing,"

He looked up at her.

"You can't save everyone. And thinking you can will just destroy you. So stop wasting your time, Rivean. Focus on number one. That's what everyone else does."

She stalked away.

"And everyone is miserable," he called from behind her softly. "So that can't be the answer."

She closed her eyes. "There is no answer," she said. "You just live for however long and you suffer. And that's it. That's all."

He looked down. "Maybe you're right. But gods, I hope not."

She opened the hatch of her ship, stumbling inside. "Fucking kid is what you are. Grow up. Smell the rotting corpses. Nothing is beautiful in this world nothing is worth saving and no one wants to be saved. Just save yourself. It's hard enough."

He stood, as she closed the hatch.

"Well...I disagree. And I know at least one beautiful in this world," he smiled, catching a glimpse of her shocked expression as the hatch closed.

He turned around, as her ship took off.

"Even if you are sad," he finished.