Rekindling- Pico x Keith/BF

[consider listening to 'under it all' by kick the robot for this chapter :] this ones a long one so buckle up!]

Pico hadn't felt this out of place in weeks. He was careful to keep himself from visiting or even just dropping by the homes of those he knew, because his presence within anywhere other than his apartment felt unhinged and messy. Filthy. He couldn't shake the thoughts in his head snickering and tugging at his strings, promising him that he'd only bring trouble here. That was even more certain in a place like Keith's. A place where lazy yellow sunshine flooded in through waxy windows and open blinds, where the blankets drooped over chairs and couches and the books with spines face up looked purely intentional. It wasn't a mess like the one Pico always brought with him, but something more controlled, more welcoming. A mess that he was not, and never had been, intended to see. Still, it had an aura of comfort to it that mixed strangely with the tight knot of unease in his chest. Like it was already trying to wrap itself around him and make him his own little place within it. He supposed it was like Keith himself in that way- always trying to take in random knickknacks of people, no matter how strange.

Now, Pico just...wasn't sure what to do with himself. This definitely hadn't been his plan for the day. He'd woken up at four in the morning to go do odd jobs for the people around his block, like mowing lawns and scrubbing windows, things he always did at the brink of dawn so he wouldn't have to deal with scrunched faces confused at his presence. It was a little less nervewracking to work for those in his neighborhood, since they understood the feeling of scrounging for money, but then there were the tasks he did for people in the more concentrated areas of the city. Those people understood him so little he wasn't sure if they could even be considered the same species. Still, he'd trudged through his morning, emptying garbage cans and painting fences, stuff that was always something that anyone could do or things that he most likely wasn't qualified to be doing. No in-between. He'd then gone home, had oreos and stale pizza, and gone back to pull out weeds and rake leaves in the pale sun of noon. At least now that it was autumn he didn't have to deal with the sticky heat that coated Philly in summer, but he supposed that just meant the frigid cold was coming even faster.

Pico had been walking home after what felt like a lifetime of useless jobs when he'd spotted Skid and Pump through the window of a candy store. Eyes still heavy with that feeling of awake-tiredness acquired from getting up early and staying up late, he'd gone inside, knowing full well if they were inside it meant someone else would be in there forced to pay for their treats, too. Since last time when the two had left him practically devoid of all extra money, after giving him those pleading, round eyes that only children and Keith seemed to be able to pull off, he felt it was only right that he help whatever poor soul was in there with them. And what do you know- inside, blue hair sticking out beneath a dark beanie, was the unmistakable form of Keith.

Pico couldn't help but think it was fitting in a way, an adult that acted like a child getting stuck with real kids. He'd looked up in surprise when Pico had clapped him on his sweatshirt clad shoulder and fished out ten bucks. He would've paid for it all if it wasn't for the fact that he needed to keep his extra money to...well, he didn't like to admit it, but he needed it to scrape by. Now that he thought about it it probably wasn't a great idea to use what little he had to pay for some kids' candy, but he couldn't resist. Pico wasn't sure if that was because of his reckless exhaustion, the fact that he'd also been through a similar predicament, or the fact that Keith's amber gaze was so warm with gratitude when he walked in that he felt as if he was doing something worthwhile for once. He tried not to think too hard about it.

One thing he hadn't been planning on, though, was when somebody- Pico thought he vaguely recognized him from some album cover he'd seen before -called out and caused a panic induced escapade out of nowhere. Keith had just started...running, pulling Skid along with him, who grabbed Pump out of habit. And then- Pico wasn't sure if it was just by accident or if Pump thought he wanted to come with, but he was being clasped by the palm and pulled along with them. Pump's tiny gloved hand was small and cold, but had a surprisingly strong grip, and suddenly he was mindlessly running along with them. It hadn't exactly been a very fun experience for him, seeing as he hardly had any energy as it was and the fact that running always made the old gunshot wound in his side ache. Either way Pico hardly had a choice as he was shoved into Keith's apartment along with Skid and Pump, who didn't seem to even be affected by all of their running. Now, they were happily squealing over their candy haul on Keith's floor.