Rancid lifts his skewer and takes a huge chunk of food in his mouth. He chews as he tilts his head down at Palik, his dirty blonde strands of hair falling in front of his heterochromic eyes, one green and one blue, "What for?"
"A hunter collection card." Palik mumbles. His skewer of sweet cakes and meat is still left untouched, and Rancid frowns.
"Didn't I already get you one?" He asks after he swallows.
"They're collectables." Folly says in exasperation. She holds up her own food in one hand, the other going to her hip as she shifts them to the side. She arches an eyebrow at him, as if she can't believe he's actually asking, "Hence, you collect."
"Shut up smartass." Farron smacks the back of her head, his cheeks puffed up as he eats. "Just stay out of it." Folly rubs the spot he hit and glares up at him. Her brother ignores her, his focus on the skewer in front of him.
"I'll get you one next week." Rancid says as he finishes the last piece of meat he has. He scans for a nearby trash bin, not wanting to worsen the mess on the streets.
"Awe come on." Folly scoffs, "What's the difference between now and next week? That's the worst logic ever."
"It's fine." Palik says, he glances at Rancid and smiles, though it looks forced on his ashen face, "I don't mind waiting." He turns Folly by her shoulders and steers her a few feet away to do their own thing.
Rancid watches the smile fall from his brother's face and frowns. Damn it. He doesn't really have the coins to spare, they're needed for something else, something much more important than the stupid flimsy cards of hunters.
He can't say that to Palik, though.
"Come here." He gestures Palik closer with a nod of his head, reaching up to scratch the skin behind his ear. When Rancid gives him a silver coin, Palik's smile returns and without wasting a second, he drags Folly to a stall a few feet away that sells miscellaneous things.
Dumb hunter cards, Rancid thinks. They don't even visit Sekacity, so what's the point of them?
"He'll get spoiled if you keep caving in like that." Farron chuckles. After tossing away their skewers, they both climb up to sit on the top of the wall.
Rancid props up his knee and rests his arm over it, his boot scuffing against the brick. He can see further down the road, along with the street behind him. He also has a good view of his brother, who still hasn't finished off his breakfast, and Folly talking about the high ranking Precinct Hunters.
As the sun continues to rise, the streets grow more crowded. Some people who pass by wave at him and Farron in greeting, but don't come up to start a conversation.
Rancid scans the rest of the market circle, dozens of small stalls shouting out their goods to catch the attention of the crowd. He thinks if someone from the northern part of the city saw this, they wouldn't call it pretty. Everyone in the southern side is covered in some kind of filth or dirt, not that Rancid is one to judge, when he is too.
Not to mention that despite there being bins that line the streets, they are so few and far between that trash ends up on the dirt road.
"I think Palik is sick." Rancid says as he watches his brother across the road. "He's not the normal kind of sick."
He eyes the untouched skewer in Palik's hand. "It's a sickness that hides." He glances at Farron, his thick and pale eyebrows furrowing as he reaches up to scratch the skin behind his ear. "It doesn't matter how many times I get him something to eat, he just isn't gaining any weight. He looks more tired everyday."
"He does look pale." Farron admits as he gazes at the boy. He leans forward with his hands on the edge of the wall, his block hair blocking the side of his face.
"I've been taking extra jobs during the night to save enough to take him to a doctor." Rancid admits. He brought the idea up to Farron before, but his friend only warned him away from it. Back then, Farron didn't know why Rancid wanted to do it.
Now he does.
"Are you insane?" Farron leans towards him and rests his elbow on Rancid's shoulder as he glares, "You'll wither yourself out like that before you get him to one. No wonder you look like death incarnate the past few weeks."
Farron ruffles his dark hair with his other hand and sighs. He glances over at Palik, his frown deepening, "I'll help you." He says, his voice firm. He turns back to Rancid, "Folly and I have been saving up too, just in case there's an emergency."
"No way." Rancid scoffs. He shoves Farron's arm off and then kicks him in the shin, "It's for emergencies. Save it."
"Ran," Farron scoffs and shoves Rancid back, "If Palik's sickness isn't an emergency, then what else would I use it for?"
The question catches Rancid off guard, and he blinks before he turns away. There's a lot Farron can use it for. He can buy more clothes for Folly, or if he really wanted to, he could buy a small trailer on the other side of the tracks. The northeast zone isn't as bad as here.
Farron knows that.
Rancid spots a rat scurrying along the bottom of the wall before it burrows into a hole. Rancid scans the busy market circle and then shrugs. "Well, don't come to me afterwards to pay you back."
Farron laughs and smacks Rancid's shoulder, "If I ever do, you have permission to punch me."
"Hey!" A voice catches their attention. Below, a woman a little older than them waves them down and the two guys jump off the wall.
Aly has brown curly hair tied up into a bun at the top of her head, her blue jean overalls faded and torn from over use. Her skin is burned red from being out in the sun for too long, but she doesn't seem to care. "Mr. Tendo has a job for ya's." She says.