Re: Outside: Clementine & Rudy
He had had hundreds of years to learn, but the ins and outs of currency, as both a concept and a medium of exchange, continued to elude Rudy. He understood quid pro quo as any creature did. He understood favors to be repaid, debt, interest even—, but the paper bills and the minted coins, assigned value by collective agreement—it was all made overly complicated and he didn't like dealing with it. The bills he had wadded in his pocket now, he didn't know the denominations of. And, though another man might have amassed a fortune over such an extended lifetime, pinching pennies, or perhaps selling goods as they became rare, Rudy had never considered it. He had enough to get by and that was fine by him. So it could have been he had no real, personal understanding of wealth's influence on behavior, but he had seen how it changed people. He could see too, now, how it affected this woman.—Clementine and her stinger, the imposition of manners, were genteel.
The wolf's life was not about appearances. Perhaps once, a show of being the biggest and the baddest, but no longer.
He had run before too. Tail between his legs, fleeing home and country, seeking to live, and that was the way of all animals. It was instinct to survive. There was drive to protect, but if yours was the only life left, you ran. Rudy had no pride attached to that. And he was somewhat relieved to be outside once again. He struck up another cigarette as Clementine settled against that beam on the porch. The door banged itself shut, closing the rectangle of light that fell out onto their feet. Smoke filled his nose and he swallowed it down with bourbon, wordless, as the woman told him about her fear.
"Arranged marriage. Sounds medieval." It was an in-reference and he gave that roughshod chuckle again, his own eyes yellow on hers. "Still, real as any." Not a question. Rudy faced Clementine, and he swallowed down what was left of his bourbon. A sardonic lift of an eyebrow. "Not for a long time. Seems like a lifetime ago." He almost smiled. "Can't say I know the books you mean either."