{NytexSkitz} Carry my Sorrow in Kind

He stiffened at the sound of a door he did not open. The heavy twill fabric of his heavy overcoat echoed loudly as he turned, his dark eyes searching through the darkness for the feminine voice. "A friend..." he said quietly, pushing the money further along the countertop.

His eyes closed as he attempted to recall the female. He met her once, maybe twice. He was sure they knew each other from school at the very least. She was small- tiny, compared to him at 6'2, and he was more than confident in his own fists to keep her a safe distance away if she threatened him with a knife or heaven forbid, an axe.

"Just go back to bed. I'm not here to hurt you." he insisted, backing further through the small kitchen, a hand stretched behind him to help keep his balance in case of a collision with a door or wall. He exhaled deeply as he hit a door jam, his fingers rising along the surface, until -click- a blinding light shone high above.

His eyes clamped shut, face cringing in temporary blindness. One opened slowly, the male watching the girl with a bit of curiosity. Her name was right on the tip of his tongue, threatening to spill out of his mouth in mock surprise. A light dusting of winter's snow rested in his dark locks, on his shoulders, collecting in his ebony scarf. A clock read it was nearly three in the morning- too early in his opinion.

He honestly had no idea what to expect from her. Would she charge? Scream for help? Draw a knife and launch it at him? He could empathize. He would feel uneasy had some random male burst into his home in the dead of night.

"It's not out of pity." he murmured, the corners of his lips turning up like he were laughing at a joke only he understood. "It's not about that at all. We gave everyone in the district something to help. Don't you think the Peacekeepers take too much in taxes?" he explained, hands still low in front of him, showing her he was completely unarmed.

Though he was a little taken aback at the threat. "I'm absolutely terrified of your rusty fork. What, are you gonna give me tetanus?" A low laugh escaped the male. "Look, just take it alright? The least you could do is buy some painkillers for your father."

The entire situation seemed like something he could take back to his family and laugh about- a sixteen year old threatening to attack him with a fork, threatening not to stab, but to fork. "Besides-" he added. "I can have you on the floor in three seconds flat." His cool voice echoed quietly around the quiet kitchen, and a smirk rested upon his lips. "I'm not accepting it back."

He wondered if she were the only person in the district who refused, or if any of his family lay indisposed by the Peacekeepers. The longer he stayed, the more trouble he felt the others could get into.