happilyeverbeginning | he's down on his luck / he's down on his knees (scrooge x poe)

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he's down on his luck / he's down on his knees (scrooge x poe)

This hadn't been the best plan, but for Poe De Spell, it was the only plan he had. He'd lost track of how long it'd been since that fateful day he ran away in the middle of the night, in a desperate escape to get away from his parent's clutches. The arranged marriage had been the straw that broke the camel's back.

What a sight he must be now, he mused. The high-class fashion he was once so proud of was basically in tatters. He had long since run out of the money he could use - he didn't bring his credit cards, that would have made for easy tracking. Anything he had managed to take had now been sold just so he could eat and maybe find a roof to sleep under, but even that wasn't made to be forever.

Where did one find work when your grades were bribed to As? Who did you trust, when his parents had a bounty on his head?

He did keep his phone, but it was off. If he turned it on, his parents would find him. But it was a last chance deal - if truly all else failed, he'd use it. He prayed it never came to that. Even if it meant selling the last thing he had - himself.

He sat on the side of the road, ignoring his stomach growling for the umpteenth time, eyes distant and not really staring at anything.

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Scrooge almost drove right by. However, something prompted him to take another look at the other man who didn't look much better off than him.

After all these years...who would've thought...

He slowed the beatup old pickup down before coming to a stop. He put it in park and leaned across the worn bench seat to open the door.

"Need a lift?"

Poe exhaled deeply, not realizing who the driver was. All right. So it came to this... so be it. It wouldn't really be different from all the sleeping around he did in school, right? Even better, he'd get money out of it this time. He just wish he knew how much people usually charge for this sort of thing. He'd have to guess, and barter if need be.

"This is my first time doing this sort of thing, so I'm not going less than a hundred." He said as he stood up, starting to open up his shirt, and looked up hoping that at the very least the driver was attractive -

... Ah.

Ah...?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH - !

"Scrooge McDuck?!"

"A hundred what?" Scrooge asked, thoroughly baffled. He then jerked his chin upwards as he sat back up. "Get in, Poe."

Very awkward. What had Poe been talking about anyway?

Poe swiftly closed his shirt. "What in the world are you doing here?"

Though he couldn't really look a gift horse in the mouth, and as such, reluctantly began to climb in.

"On my way to the next job, hopefully," Scrooge said, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for Poe to get settled in and secured. "You?"

Another incredulous question. "You have a job? More than one?" In abruptly ten seconds, Scrooge had accomplished more than Poe ever did. Their positions were now completely reversed since high school.

"Nothing too glamorous," Scrooge said bluntly. "I go where there's work and then when it dries up, I move on. I've been a construction worker, ranch hand, dishwasher, and a dozen other things since I graduated."

He popped the car into drive.

"What about you?"

"People pay you to wash dishes?" What a concept!

Though Scrooge's own question brought back his bitterness. "What did it look like I was up to?"

"Do you know how many dishes, pots, and pans a restaurant goes through in a night? I do," Scrooge muttered, grimacing at the memory of plunging his hands over and over into near-boiling water. "As for what you were up to, I get the feeling you'd rather I not have seen it."

Poe looked away, preferring to look at the woods and roads instead of Scrooge.

"... Do you want the long version or the short version?"

"We've got three hours until the next town," Scrooge said dryly.

"Long it is." He settled back, closing his eyes.

"Three days after I graduated high school, my parents took us all out to dinner to celebrate. In reality, it was there I was going to meet the woman my parents chose for me to marry. Like... we're in some third-world, fairy-tale country. Over appetizers, they began listing everything out - where the venue would be, who to invite, what I'd wear... they even had started planning how many children I was supposed to have, and when, and what genders..."

A hard, almost crazed laugh. "I might as well not have even been there. What did I want counted?"

"So you left." He could already see where this was going. "I can't say I blame you given the situation."

Honestly, after finding Poe passed out drunk that one time and realizing there was no evidence that he even had a twin, Scrooge had pieced together that the De Spells were the worst type of parents.

"That same night I packed everything I could into a suitcase and bolted." Poe continued. "I couldn't imagine life out here being worse than anything they had planned for me... and, who knows." A bitter chuckle. "Maybe now that the heir is gone, they'll finally treat the spare better."

"I wouldn't know. I hadn't seen Magica since graduation when I set out to find work." He glanced momentarily sideways at Poe. "Did she know what you were going to do?"

"No." Poe looked down, actually expressing shame for one of the rare moments in his life. "I couldn't... I just couldn't even face her. I've done everything I could to not even think about her all this time." Which had been next to impossible.

Scrooge made a sympathetic sound, not knowing what else to say on that matter. So he decided it might be best to press on.

"Looks like you hit a wall at one point."

"... I don't suppose you know anyone who could hire someone who's no good at anything?" He couldn't believe it. He was asking Scrooge McDuck for help. Practically begging.

"You're exaggerating." Scrooge gave a sigh. "Besides, you and I are in the same boat now: looking for work with high school diplomas but no college degrees."

"At least your diplomas is legitimate." Poe sighed. "Do you have any idea how many teachers my parents bribed to make sure I had straight As?"

Scrooge glanced at him. "You know you would've gotten those grades yourself if you'd applied yourself. It's not like you've nothing between your ears."

When they'd been partnered up for that first English assignment, Scrooge hadn't let Poe just slack off. He'd made sure the lazy, pampered rich boy had done his full share of the work.

"I don't even know what I earned!" Poe snapped back. "I wasn't allowed to even have a B! Anything less than perfection would have gotten me a smack across the face and..."

Oh, what was even the point? Poe rubbed his face. Argument wasn't going to solve matters.

"... Thanks. I think."

"We got a legitimate A on it. I know this because that's what I got on my half."

Honestly, the teacher had written a note on Scrooge's copy of their grade saying he'd been shocked that Scrooge had managed to get Poe to apply himself.

"Regardless, my point still stands. We're most eligible for grunt work based on the lack of degrees, but there's the possibility of finding somewhere to work our way up to something that pays better. Even if it is starting off on the night shift washing dishes."

"Something is better than nothing... I'd be grateful for anything at this point." No matter how low he had to go.

Still... being praised and encouraged by Scrooge was... weird.

"... Why are you helping me?"

"Because you're actually trying for once in your bloody life," Scrooge stated bluntly. "You could've lived the life your parents had planned out for you, just coasted through on your money and good looks. Hell, your planned wife probably wouldn't have minded you having lovers on the side because she would've been doing the same.

"Yet here you are: On your own, struggling to make your own way. I can respect that and want to see you succeed at it."

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