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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The fact that Poe had to pause and think was a little worrisome, but eventually he seemed to latch onto something. "Oh, of course! Just like how I was keeping tabs on those bitches back in high school! You had to stay on top of the rumor mill if you wanted to survive."

"...Honestly, it is the same basic principle." He couldn't even be annoyed at Poe for that. "You're good at organizing information. That's a good job skill for anyone organizing paperwork or answering phones."

"So, I'd be a secretary." Poe surmised. "Minus the short skirts and long nails, presumably."

"Basically."

Though honestly he could see Poe wearing a mini skirt and acrylic nails just to spite someone.

And he'd work it.

"It'd drive my parents insane to know I'd fall so low." Poe chuckled. "Sounds perfect to me."

Scrooge chuckled. "Sometimes spite is a good motivator.

"I take it you don't have any spare clothes, so we'll have to stop by a thrift store or some other second-hand shop."

Poe's shoulders sunk. "A thrift shop." he repeated. "I pray I don't instantly vaporize the moment I step foot..."

"You'll survive." He nodded towards the blanket. "That came from a thrift store, and it didn't burn your skin."

Poe almost jumped. "It did?! ... Ew. How do you... handle... knowing someone else touched this stuff?"

"For starters, I washed it at the coin laundry before I ever used it. I'm cheap, not unsanitary."

"Even so... it's gunna take me a while to get over it." A small shudder.

"Unfortunately until we start making a lot of money, we make do with what we have. Most of my paycheck goes back home, after all."

Eyebrow raise. "What? Back home? Did your parents lose their jobs?"

"No, but I want to make their lives more comfortable. They finally managed to move into a somewhat nice apartment. A fleatrap by your standards, but at least they have more room. If I could, I'd earn enough to at least let Matilda go to Duckburg Community College so she could get a better job."

Scrooge didn't look at Poe for more than just driving. He hated admitting just how bad off his family was.

Poe was again surprised, yet wondered why he was. Back in high school, Scrooge was devoted to his family in all sorts obvious ways. Magica and Poe were loyal to one another, yes, but they were special! Why Scrooge was like that was confusing. It made more sense to care about yourself and only yourself in a dog eat dog world... then again, his parent seemed to give a damn about him.

"And they're... all right with you sacrificing this much for their sake?"

Scrooge was quiet for several minutes.

Then he finally answered, so soft that it could've been easily-missed, "They don't know."

"What!"

Poe sat up abruptly, almost angry on their behalf. "What do you mean they don't know?!"

"They know I travel around a lot, that I go from job to job, but they don't know just how big of a cut of my earnings I give them. I can make do without it on my own."

Poe ran a hand down his face. "And can you make do with an extra mouth to feed, until I know what I'm doing? Scrooge, this is insane."

"I only have one meal a day normally. I've got more saved up than you think. Just not enough to cover fixing this blasted truck. Besides, you might find a permanent position soon and decide to stay while I move on."

One meal a day. He had to be joking.

"You're going to starve to death before Matilda ever spends a day at any college!" Poe snapped. "How long do you intend to make yourself suffer for everyone else's sake!"

Scrooge's grip on the wheel tightened. "Why the hell do you even care?! Besides, you think this is the only time a McDuck ever went without food?!"

He viciously turned the wheel and stopped by the side of the road, shutting off the engine the moment it stopped. Then he turned in his seat to glare hotly at Poe.

"My parents skipped meals for my sisters and me. When Mummy was pregnant with Matilda and Hortense, Daddy would skip for days at a time so she'd have that little bit extra so the eggs would be okay so Mummy wouldn't have to lose another egg to starvation. You have no right to get angry about what I do for my family! It's not like I'm taking anything from you!"

... Well. This was certainly different than the arguments they used to have back in high school. Maybe that's what Poe had been hoping for on some level, as a desperate attempt to get some sense of normalcy back in his life. Poe wouldn't have been surprised if any second now, Scrooge demanded Poe to leave.

He hugged his knee, not looking at Scrooge.

"... Sorry." He mumbled. An extremely rare apology, but one none the less.

Scrooge turned away, viciously swiping at his eyes to stop the angry tears.

"I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was a kid. By the time I was in middle school, I knew it wasn't going to happen. All I wanted was to keep my family afloat just one more generation before Clan McDuck dies out and nobody mourns us."

"... I just don't get it." Poe said quietly, eyes downward, still holding himself. "But then, I've never cared about the Spell legacy." Sure, he boasted about it when he was in school - but only because it was his name. If his last name had been Quackfaster or McQuack or anything else, he still would have boasted.

Spell meant nothing to him, in the long run.

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