I Don't Have to See You to Know I Don't Like You (Finch & Bishie)

[Finch]

Jean was already in a foul mood when his sister had decided to drop by, without calling him first, for a quick visit before heading off to work. Just like the rest of his family she did not trust he could survive on his own. So here she was to check up on him, and he hated her for it, she seemed determined to make his life as miserable as possible.

 

“How many times do I have to tell you?" The dark haired male exclaimed. "I don't need you checking on me every single day!" Slender jaw clenched tightly and he fought off shaking hands, adrenaline making every movement tremble. Every day was a challenge, even something as simple as getting dressed in the morning may prove too difficult, especially when engulfed with rage. The sudden rush of adrenaline was making his fingers far too clumsy as he pulled on his shirt, though it was first when he got to the buttons the real struggle began, the end result looking like something done by a mere child yet to attend school. It was all his sister’s fault for making him angry, if only she would leave him alone. "I can take care of myself!" He spat, enraged. "What is it about it that you don't fucking understand??"

 

As for his sister all she did was sigh. “Jean,” she began quietly. Her neatly trimmed brows furled when he did not respond. She knew he could hear her just fine. His hearing had improved big time since the loss of his vision, he could even hear a needle fall from across a crowded room, his hearing was far better than the one of a seeing person. Yes, if there was one thing he wasn’t it was deaf. Her lips pulled together firmly until they formed a thin, annoyed line. Clearing her throat she tried again. “Jean..!” Her brother was going to be the death of her..

 

Why couldn’t he see that she was genuinely worried about him? Sure he was competent enough even with his handicap, but there were times that proved he needed help. Look at what happened just a week ago, he had almost gotten hit by a car for god’s sake. The man needed someone to be with him, which brought her to the next point on her list and the real reason as to why she was here..

 

“Do you remember I told you about Gavvin a while back?” She started hesitantly. “The thing is, he just recently moved out of where he lived before, and is currently looking for a place to stay. Also, you got that spare room you never use..” She trailed off, knowing her brother would very quickly realize what she was getting at, so she reluctantly carried on. He'll pay rent and everything, I promise. I was thinking he could keep an eye on- I mean, keep you company.” Trying to get it all out and over with Jean’s sister rushed on with with her words, not quite giving her brother a chance to protest. “Please,” she begged. “Give this a chance. I already told him he could move in today, he should be over any time soon..”

 

Jean was fuming, the blood was quite literally boiling in his veins. He had known where this was headed from the moment she had mentioned her friend’s name and he did not like it one single bit. Why the hell had he let her inside? As if her micromanaging his life wasn’t enough she was now renting out his apartment. Didn’t his opinion matter any longer? He would most likely have said no, but still! That was no excuse to go behind his back and give away his room to some stranger. Just what the actual fuck, he wasn’t going to be sending her any birthdaycard this year. This day had gone from bad to worse and that in a couple of minutes. Jean was having a hard time keeping it together, he would have blown up in her face had she not decided to speak up again.

 

"He's a really nice guy, you won’t even notice he’s there,” she added in a patethic attempt to quell her brother’s building rage.

 

"That's not the point!” Jean exclaimed from the top of his lungs. “You can’t just invite complete strangers to come live in my apartment without my permission! I haven't even met the guy for god's sake! For all I know he's going to strangle me in my sleep!"

 

"Don't be silly," his sister mumbled and rubbed her temples. "Why do you always have to blow things out of propotion?"

 

The reason why his sister had gone behind his back and rented out the spare room was because she had been offered a new job which meant she wouldn't have as much time as before to visit her brother. The thought of him staying out here in the middle of New York all alone scared her. She was going to sleep better at night knowing there was someone there with him to keep an eye on him and ensure he didn’t injure himself.

 

“I thought it might be nice to have someone to talk with,” she continued after a brief pause. “You have barely been out of the door since you decided to move here..”

 

"That is because you won’t let me without someone babysitting me!” Jean interrupted brusquely. I've said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t need anyone to look after me, I can take care of myself just fine.” He snarled and turned his back to her. “I wish you would get that into that thick skull of yours and leave me the fuck alone!"

 

"Jean, please," his sister began before she was cut of. While he was glad his sister wouldn't be able to visit him as often he wasn't exactly happy about the prospect of having to share his apartment with a stranger. "You can tell your friend that I don't want him living here!" Jean barked.

 

Before his sister had the chance to respond it knocked on the door and they both fell still. A quick look at the clock made her realize it had to be her friend. She prayed to god that Gavvin hadn't heard them arguing. Her brother had no interest in answering the door leaving her with no choice, but to do it herself. She pushed her brother's words to the back of her mind and put on the biggest, brightest smile she could possibly manage as she opened the door.

 

"Gavvin! It's so nice to see you! How are you??"

[Bishie]

The apartment had taken every last bit of his money, and now he was moving out already.

 

Gavvin regarded it with one last look of distaste as he hovered near the entrance, waiting for the right, unspoken moment to leave and never come back again. It's walls were bare, and it's floors were bare, having been stripped clean long before the time to move. A thin layer of dust coated the counters, gathering over a long period of disuse, and if you were to breathe in what lingered so visibly in the air, it was quick to make your nose and eyes itch with irritation. There was not a single piece of furniture in sight; it was as empty as his pockets, except perhaps even less so, considering the pile of debt resting on the man's broad shoulders and pulling him far and deep into the negatives. He had graduated a few years back, with a degree in Psychology which has went entirely unused, but it's almost as if he were still going to college what with all the bills he had yet to pay off.

 

And the rent-- at least he didn't have to pay that anymore.

 

It was true that Gavvin barely even used the place. He was out from morning until night working odd jobs and trying to make a living; there was no time in between to... well, live. A missed hour of work was a missed meal to be eaten, and unless he was planning on letting himself starve to death, he needed to be outside and ready for any jobs that were coming his way. He doesn't even know the last time he had sat down for a home cooked meal; time passed like a blur over the course of a couple of years-- hell, when was the last time he had even gone out on a date? It was hard stopping the feelings of loneliness from caving in on him, especially during the middle of the night, when all is dark and all is quiet over at the far edge of New York, leaving him nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.

 

And God, how much time he had wasted on those thoughts, with sleep being a difficult thing to find and an even more difficult thing to keep. He would toss and turn on an old mattress thrown upon the cold floor, and maybe if he was lucky, his mind would rest for perhaps even an hour or two so that he could be ready and functional in the morning. The daylight pouring through his windows always succeeded in waking him up, no matter how long or how little he had slept, so an alarm wasn't necessary; it was just long, never ending silence, stretching on throughout the night and into the early morning until the city finally began to wake. And when it did, Gavvin would be ready for it.

 

And ready he was, for just about anything. The jobs that he worked were varied, ranging from pure muscle work to babysitting and everything in between. Most had him being paid under the table so that he wasn't tied down to anything for long, but Gavvin was more than happy to keep it that way. The pay was less, and hardly guaranteed, but it was much more satisfying to help those that needed to be helped instead of being chained to an office desk twenty-four seven for a company he could care less about. That's mainly why Gavvin graduated in Psych-- he enjoyed actually communicating with others, and helping them through their problems. Surely that was enough to warrant becoming a Psychologist, or perhaps even a therapist? Since he loved kids, couldn't he become a school counselor? These options all seemed very fair and logical considering his degree, but something just didn't seem... right. The one job that required his education Gavvin took up straight after college, and it only lasted a couple of months before he decided to quit out of the blue without any explanation.

 

And really-- he had no explanation.

 

While his life may apply to every synonym listed under the word boring, at least he was finally, finally moving out, and leaving it all behind to start a new chapter entirely. He was going to live in a place that actually involved furniture for once. God, how much he had missed furniture, and a nice bed to lie on or a TV to casually listen to. The details were a bit unclear over the phone, but he supposed the rent would be plenty cheaper than normal considering the fact that he had to keep an eye out for someone who lived there. It seemed like a good deal in retrospect, but Gavvin was worried that after a while, he may not be able to afford even a decreased, smaller rent, especially if he had less time to go out and work to pay it off.

 

There was no time to call back and decline, now. He had already given the confirmation that he would be moving there-- he needed a place to stay, anyway, and there weren't many places cheaper available. Gavvin needed to take a leap for once, without looking back; things could end up going far better than he would have ever expected, or they can end up going much, much worse. That was up to fate to decide; from here, it was entirely out of his hands.

 

And with that thought, Gavvin turned his back on the previous chapter of his life, and walked out the door and into the streets.

 

---

"That's because you won’t let me without someone babysitting me!”

 

Gavvin found himself pausing mid stride on the way to the door, the harsh sound of an argument filtering through the cracks underneath and making him question whether he had even arrived at the right place. He glanced down at the note he had scribbled earlier onto a piece of paper, and confirmed that it was indeed the very same place. That meant he was now caught in a rough spot, because while it wasn't polite to listen in, it wasn't polite to knock and interrupt, either--

 

"I've said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t need anyone to look after me, I can take care of myself just fine. I wish you would get that into that thick skull of yours and leave me the fuck alone!"

 

Well, it seems that fate has chosen the latter: things were going to end up much, much worse. The paper crinkled in Gavvin's hand as he waited, uncertain of how he should proceed. The last thing he wanted to do was to get involved, especially when the argument seemed to be pinpointed on him, but if he stood around too long, they would catch him snooping and things would escalate impossibly further. Gavvin had to knock, didn't he? He'd rather just turn around and go back to the apartment he didn't even own, but if he really had to knock, then--

 

"You can tell your friend that I don't want him living here!"

 

--Knock, knock.

 

Shit. The sound of knocking was loud to Gavvin's ears, and there was an embarrassingly long moment of silence as the argument faded into nothing and the people inside realized they had company. That friend that the man so desperately wanted to stay away was now here, and without even thinking, Gavvin had taken another leap into the unknown, making both a conscious and unconscious decision to alter his life completely. Instead of being on his own, he would now be housed with others, and instead of working whatever jobs he liked, whenever he liked, he now had the part-time job of taking care of another human being.

 

If Gavvin had happened to be a woman in this moment in time, he would have honestly believed that he was pregnant.

 

And when the door opened up to a pretty young woman, an overly bright and exceedingly polite smile on her face, he couldn't help but smile back, a small quirk of his lips, feeling strangely welcomed despite what had occurred only seconds ago. "Gavvin!" she exclaimed, and he held his hand up in a slight wave of greeting. "It's so nice to see you! How are you?!"

 

"I'm alright; could be better," he said, as if by instinct. "I'd ask how you are, but it looks like you might be in a bit of a rush, so-- you wanted me to move in and watch your brother, right?"

 

Without waiting for an answer, he maneuvered around her to enter the apartment, and he didn't even need to take a glance to confirm that the guy was livid. "I mean, I'm alright with it, but if he isn't, then..."