It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

You drink too much. This was the first coherent thought of the morning as Reinbach stirred awake in the lower Jeuno chocobo stable where he had spent the night. His head seemed to be in a barrel of needles, the pressure of thousands of pinpricks pushing down on his head. He opened his eyes and the world was just a little too damn bright. He closed his eyes again and cursed the sun. A chocobo keened beside him, not happy to be sharing its stable with a stranger but unable to make it go away. Not even a chocobo wants to be around you. He seemed to be making a list in his head of all of his shortcomings today. He wasn't sure whether to be annoyed at himself or concede to the points. He cracked his eyes open again and saw the chocobo in his face, sniffing him. It was entirely likely that he smelled like a chocobo, which he wished bothered him, but it honestly didn't. He had woken up in worse places than this. Again this was something he wished he could be bothered by, but it just wasn't in him. The chocobo turned away and was now going to work on a trough full of gyashl greens. He felt that familiar pain in his stomach that signified hunger. It cut through his hangover and Reinbach wondered exactly how long it had been since he'd had a legitimate meal. His hunger was like an old childhood friend to him now. He almost enjoyed it. Hunger was the status quo. A world where he was hungry was a world that he could understand. Very little else made sense to him, especially these days. Even in this state, his hunger made him sharp. After he plunged his face into the chocobo's water trough his head stopped throbbing. His hangover weakened. This only made him hungrier.

Reinbach did a quick check of his gil supply. Not a lot. Certainly not enough for food. You gambled it away last night. The voice in his head was frustrated, as if he and the voice had worked out some kind of deal and he wasn't keeping up his end of the bargain. He thought about breakfast and how he could go about obtaining food. He thought of his choices. Begging? His pa raised no beggar. He was from a proud tradition of noble thieves. It was better to steal than to beg. No man should ever throw himself on the mercy of another. It occured to Reinbach that however proud and noble his so-called family was, it did them no good and they all died fool's deaths. It did seem odd to him to resort to the situation as he would have as a child. Even still, stealing was a valid method and couldn't be dismissed. He could probably look for a friendly face, maybe Sabriel or even Rabican, but he had no idea where they were. And maybe for once a little self-sufficience was in order here. He felt himself relying on others a lot recently, and he was disappointed in himself. He'd have never done that in San d'Oria.

He stood and walked out to the streets of Jeuno. He looked at the crowded auction house. Plenty of marks over there, he thought. Might be able to work something out. At the very least he could try undercutting some cheap food on the auction house. He'd try that first before making an attempt to steal. In all honesty, he hadn't stolen anything in a while and was nervous about attempting it. He made his way into the crowd so thick he could barely move through them. Many people in the crowd gave him dirty looks, weary of his apparent lack of hygeine. He fought closer to the auction house and was finally able to see the food on sale. He ran down the options in his head, but found himself suddenly distracted. There was a girl next to him. She had strawberry blonde hair tied back in a pony tail and freckles. He noticed her eyes were green. He tried not to stare, but he couldn't help it. She smiled at Reinbach politely and he smiled back, dumbfounded. She was a fairly pretty girl, probably a few years older than him. She was a little taller than he was, but that's no surprise. He had always been a runt. He could tell she had been some kind of skilled laborer. Something about her gave it away. She was probably here to sell some of her wares.

Still, even through all of this, Reinbach couldn't help but feel that she reminded him of Molly.

"Ma'am," Reinbach said to the woman. "I'll... pay you a hundred an' fifty gil for one of those pies right now."

The woman looked up and he wondered if she noticed the pleading look in his eyes that he couldn't control. She seemed to think for a minute.

"I can get three hundred if I sell it singly," she said looking at him disapprovingly. "Besides, I only have a stack of twelve. I won't break up a stack just to make a hundred and fifty gil loss."

"Right," Reinbach said. His heart sank. "I understand." Reinbach gave a sad smile, and the woman visibly softened.

"But," the woman said, "I do have some food at home. Come by and I'll see what I can give you." Reinbach went to protest, but she interrupted him. "No," she said. "Don't act all modest. You've already implied my pies are worth half market value, you couldn't be any more presumptious than that. And before you get any ideas in your head, my husband is home today. Did I mention he's in the Ducal Guard?" The woman placed her basket on the auction house counter and smiled pleasantly the attendant. "The usual price, thank you." She looked back to Reinbach. The smile was gone. "Follow."

Reinbach followed, somewhat bewildered. It was a short walk to the residential area where the woman apparently lived. The home was nice on the outside. Small, even for Jeuno, but it looked decent.

"Wait here. I'll bring something out to you," the woman said and disappeared inside the home. Reinbach stood, trying not to think how weird this day was becoming. It wasn't long before a Hume man came out the door and approached Reinbach, extending his hand. Reinbach tried not to look confused as he shook the man's hand.

"I'm Delmont," the man said. "I see you've met my wife, Patrica."

"I-Yes," Reinbach said. "She said to wait here while she gives me food?"

"There's food for you here," Delmont said. "It would shame me to have you wait out here for food. My hospitality is better than that. You're a man, not a stray animal. You're welcome in my home." Reinbach didn't know what to make of that. He was tense as he followed the man into the house.

"And your name, sir?" Delmont asked.

"Reinbach."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Delmont said. "Please, come in."

Inside, the house was warm and inviting. He could tell that they did not make a lot of money, but did what they could with what they had. It was a one room arrangement, not unlike a mog house. There was a small kitchen in the back, with a table near the door and bed and crib to the right. He noticed a baby inside the crib.

"We'll have to be quiet since the baby's asleep," Delmont said. "I hope you don't mind." Reinbach shook his head, indicating that he didn't. Patrica set down a plate of cheese on the table.

"Here, have a seat," Patrica said. It was obvious she wasn't crazy about having him there, but Reinbach's hunger was greater than his dignity right now. "All we really have to spare is some cheese," she said pointedly looking at Delmont.

Reinbach sat at the table, and Delmont and Patrica sat across from him. Reinbach's first instinct was to dive into the cheese and scarf it down. He normally ate like that, but felt it would be improper here. He took a piece of cheese and bit off a small bite. Delmont was smiling at him, Patrica was looking less amused. He swallowed, then smiled at the couple.

"Thanks," Reinbach managed to say. "I really appreciate this."

"It's nothing," Delmont said, and Reinbach could tell half of that was meant for Patrica. Patrica's face cycled through several emotions before she smiled at Delmont. Delmont poured a glass of water for Reinbach from a pitcher on the table and pushed it toward him.

"So, Mr. Reinbach," Delmont started. "What do you do for a living?"

Reinbach almost choked.