With a groan of disappointment, the teenager reluctantly obliged. He wouldn't admit it but it was true that his body was aching. There were no real, life-threatening injuries but the surface area of bruises was pretty large and he knew that there wouldn't be much space that wouldn't hurt when pressed. He slipped out of his clothes nonetheless with eagerness though and, while he wasn't going to be getting as romantic as he liked, he was more than pleased to lay back on the bed with a physical sigh.

"Oh, this is lovely..." Ricky admitted, pressing his face in the pillows. "How could you be such a night owl with a bed like this? I'd be spending a good portion of my time here if I were you. Hmm... and to have someone as handsome as you are to cuddle up with? It's lovely," he praised with a smile and, once the other had laid down beside him, wasted no time in wrapping his arms around Joseph to press close.
 
"If I stayed in bed all day, my students would suffer, and so would the medical field. I have people reliant on me and that means I have to sacrifice my sleep in order to provide them with the best education. Of course, there are days I'd love to stay in bed and read all day, but it's not possible for me," he sighed, changing into a pair of simple cotton pyjama pants, deciding that he could go topless for the night if Ricky did too. He didn't usually, but he also didn't usually spent his nights sleeping beside a handsome young man; he could make another sacrifice for that alone.

"You know, my head's getting pretty big with all these compliments, Ricky. You shouldn't compliment me so much-- even if I enjoy it," he snorted, reciprocating the affection with a quick kiss, his cheeks flushed - though thankfully hidden by the darkness in the room. "Just get some sleep, silly. You need all the rest you can get, or we won't get to... you know, do more than just kissing."
 
"Fine, fine, I'll get some sleep," he playfully huffed in response, easily kissing the other in return if only for a quick few seconds. It didn't take very long for him to sleep, what with the combination of sleeping on a horrible bed for nearly a year and the fact that he had a generally shite sleep schedule with the new job, so soft snores could be heard in only a minute after he nuzzled his face close to Joseph's neck, curling around the other easily.

It would be late when Ricky eventually woke, nearly noon. He needed all the sleep he could get, he would say, not to mention he was taken in by the warm blanket and the comfortable pillows. He didn't really have a plan to do anything that day, after all, preferring to do most of his fun at night. That being said, he groaned in the realization that he wasn't Joseph. He didn't have to teach and pretend to be a part of society which immediately caused him to feel guilty for waking up so late.
 
The day started like any other for Joseph. He got up early, with every intention to head to the school to get started on his day of work. He didn't wake Ricky, deciding that the other needed to rest and get his strength back, and they could meet up at the house later when Joseph returned from work in the evening. Except, things didn't go quite to plan; not when he woke up to find that his front door was open and a friend of his had taken it upon himself to let himself into the property. It had bypassed Joseph's mind that he had arranged an activity with his friend, having planned to travel out to his property in the country to set his friend up there for inspiration for his poetry and a novel he had been working on. Joseph had pushed it back time and time again through dedication to his work, and he knew he couldn't push it back again - but he also didn't want to just head to the country without telling Ricky first.

Which unfortunately meant introducing his friend -someone from the elite classes and with aristocratic parents- to Ricky. He had spent much of the morning thinking up excuses over tea, eventually settling on the fact that Ricky was his cousin who had fallen on bad times. It was better than explaining the truth, after all - that Ricky was digging up corpses to sell to him.

"Ah, is this the man?" His guest -Charles-boomed at the sight of Ricky stumbling downstairs into the living room, pushing himself up from the armchair to examine the other for himself. "Ah, you were right, Joe. He has fallen on hard times, hasn't he? Poor fellow. A bit of country air will put you right, good man. I'm a friend of your cousin's: Charles Hartley, pleasure's all mine."

"Charles is a poet; a novelist, too. I... told him I would take him to my country estate for inspiration, I... can't avoid it, but I didn't want to leave you here, Ricky. I... You did say you wanted to come and see my other home? And considering you've fallen on hard times, it might do you good?" Smiled Joseph, hoping his hints were landing so the other followed along with the tales. "...We'll be heading out soon, so have some tea before we do, assuming you want to come for the weekend?"
 
He fully expected the home to be empty bar a few servants to do the usual cleaning, hence why he wandered down the stairs in his underwear and his buttoned-up shirt that was unbuttoned. His plan was to warm up the stew from that night to eat, make himself some tea and maybe just take in the property, perhaps take a trip to the pub, and to meet up again with the other. He was frozen at the sound of voices, creeping into the living room warily. Almost immediately did he regret it, especially when this stranger approached so closely to take him in. Shooting a clearly angry glare towards Joseph, he offered a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, ah... a cousin," he confirmed awkwardly before taking a step back. "I wasn't... expecting this if I'm to be honest. Joseph mentioned some mates of his but I - well, I guess I didn't really know what to expect," he replied, still clearly groggy from forcing him out of bed. He kept just how angry the 'fallen on hard times' spiel made him, especially coming from some stranger that hardly knew him, and instead offered an uncomfortable smile. "Yeah, I'll come with you to the country. 'It'll do me good' or what have you," he added, his attempt at a posh accent sounding more like a joke than genuine.
 
Sensing the inevitable anger only made Joseph flinch, unable to really stop himself showing the guilt on his expression. In fact, he felt it so strongly and so suddenly that he began to make excuses for the other, uncaring if they came across as strange o out of the blue. Like hell did he want to drag the other hours into the countryside if he was going to a) hate it and b) be mad at him the entire time. He didn't ant Ricky being uncomfortable; he'd probably prefer to stay in the city where he didn't need to pretend to be something he wasn't in front of Joseph's friend.

"...On second thought, Ricky ought to stay here. He needs a supportive group and his friends provide that and... being in the country might be a detriment to him, Charles," he weakly began, smiling to Ricky. "I don't want to force you into something you're uncomfortable with, I'm sorry... for this. I... It slipped my mind that Charles was... visiting like this."

"Oh, nonsense. The boy would do well in the crisp country air-- and he's a good fellow. He's spirited, hm? I like him, Joe. Bring him along, the more, the merrier! I might find inspiration from him for one of my characters. Ah, yes. I might make one of them Irish, base them on you. We'll see how things go," laughed Charles, the natural extrovert clapping his hands together. "Now, let's get a shuffle on, shall we? I intend to get there before night falls; I need the image of the sunset to get my mind working properly, or else I'm utterly useless and write drivel."
 
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“No, no, I want to come with you,” Ricky replied flatly. “I’ve fallen on hard times, right? I’m in such a horrible state, visiting the country will give me more motivation, right Joseph? As someone who is down on their luck, I need to borrow some clothes,” he quickly spoke, all the while keeping his smile to at least keep the air of him being eager for it all. Looking away, he headed back up the stairs with murmured words under his breath.

He wasn’t in the best financial state, Sure, but he was trying. He had a job, sort of, and he was paying back all his debts. He wasn’t some drunkard on the street peddling money. His face grew red the more he thought of it as he hurried up the stairs, sniffling.
 
Leaving Charles to finish the breakfast he had made himself, Joseph headed after Ricky in the effort to make it up to him. It didn't take him long to realise he had messed up, even though he didn't regret making up an excuse. It was either make something up Charles would believe, such as a cousin falling on hard times, or struggle to adequately explain why he had someone from the lower classes staying in his home. He could explain that he was simply charitable, but Charles would know better than to accept that as the truth. Frankly, the excuse he came up with was the only one he felt would be believed, even if it happened to piss Ricky off. It was just an unfortunate consequence he had to accept.

"...Are you awfully mad with me?" He asked quietly as he leaned in the doorway of the bedroom, smiling tentatively. "Ricky, I... that's not what I think, I... don't think you're... I... I just needed an excuse, it was the only thing Charles would accept without too many awkward questions. Don't be mad at me, please? The journey's a long one, I could do without you being... awkward with me. You don't even need to come, you could stay here. I just... selfishly don't want to be without you, I suppose."
 
“Hard times? Hard times? Don’t - you don’t understand how furious I am, Joseph,” he replied quickly, his eyes focused on the other’s dresser as he pulled out a cohesive outfit. “I haven’t fallen on hard times, and... and the fact that you would say such a thing - it hurts. I’ve been doing better financially than I was, I’m... I don’t sleep out in the streets begging, do I?” He asked, his voice wavering, his eyes rimming with tears.

“No, I’m coming. I’m just frustrated, Joseph, that you would say all of that before confirming anything with me. That’s embarrassing. I’m certain your friend sees me as some pathetic lower class garbage, doesn’t he?” He murmured, shimmying out of the shirt to quickly begin to get dressed in Joseph’s clothes. It was the least he deserved, after all.
 
"I said it, but it's not something I meant. I understand why you're angry, but I refuse to apologise for... saving us from the uncomfortable truth. Charles is someone I've... been with, in the past, so while he might understand us being together, he wouldn't accept it. You're from your class and I'm from mine; he'd create a fuss about it. Besides, the man can't keep his lips shut. He'd find the gossip to juicy to keep to himself, and it'd get us both into trouble. I was saving us from inevitable punishment and consequence, so no, I won't apologise for what I said. I feel bad about doing so without your agreement and consent, but... it had to be done," he murmured slowly, taking issue with the extent of the other's anger toward him. He expected but, but he didn't think it would continue for this long and without any understanding of what Joseph had actually provided; an excuse that explained Ricky's presence with little to no suspicion.

"...I won't travel with you if you're going to be upset the whole way there. I told you that I'm sorry. If that's not good enough for you, I won't try and win you around. I'm not going to pander to you and beg forgiveness when what I've done is the right thing. I think you're being... well, childish, actually. And immature. I suppose you are young, but that doesn't excuse you throwing a tantrum like this."
 
“You made me sound pathetic,” he whispered, gripping the clothes tight. “I’m not pathetic. I’m not some uneducated garbage. I know you don’t understand how that feels, to be looked down upon. You’ve always been put up on a class pedestal, you’ve never had to deal with being put down for something you had no control over. I’m going to revel in this posh outing, Joseph. You can’t take that away from me.”

As he spoke, he dressed quickly. He wasn’t much different in height from the other bar a few inches and while he was skinnier he looked fine as long as no one commented on how loose the jacket was on him. Turning to face the other, his eyes were stern before he headed down the stairs to meet up with Charles.

“I’m ready to go now if you are,” he declared, forcing a smile. “Come on, then. The longer we wait, the more sun we lose.”
 
Joseph hadn't talked about his childhood in great length, because going over memories of the abuse he had suffered didn't strike him as entertaining conversation. Thus, he knew Ricky had no idea that, in fact, Joseph had been put down, countless times, for not being good enough for his father. He was essentially put down for being himself, so while it wasn't exactly the same situation as Ricky, he still understood how it felt. While Ricky had no knowledge of that, Joseph did find himself growing angry at the insinuation that he hadn't experienced judgement. Just because he was born into the higher class didn't mean life was perfect. It was easier, but he had had his fair share of struggles and pain, emotional and physical.

The bickering did put him in a bad mood, though he forced a smile to avoid suspicion from Charles, nodding towards his eager friend when the other required if they could finally leave.

"So, Ricky. Joseph's never mentioned you to me, and he and I are very close," the poet began once settled in the comfortable carriage, glancing at the teenager opposite him with a polite grin. "I'm glad to hear you're on the right path, my good man. You seem awfully young. You've plenty of time to get your life together, yes? Well, you can call on me should you need my assistance for anything. A friend of Joe's is a friend of mine."
 
“Thank you,” he replied quietly, a small smile on his face at Charles, though he was hiding just how annoyed the other was making him. This whole situation wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Charles, though he kept that to himself.

“I’m... doing better though, thanks to Joseph,” he admitted as he nervously fiddled with the edge of the coat. “Oh, yes - well, I haven’t been in Scotland since I was young and I... lost my family recently, Joseph is all I have left,” he lied. He didn’t do it often but when Ricky had to, he could be quite the liar - he had learned to be from his older brothers. “He’s a very understanding person, he’s been helping me find a proper job.”
 
"Oh, he's always helping, isn't he? Well, if your search remains fruitless, I'll be glad to lend you a hand. I'm not sure if you'd enjoy the world of publishing, but there are always a few jobs going at the offices. Or you could take up the literary art and dip into penning your own novel, or poem anthology. Everyone has a book in them, that's what I believe," drawled Charles, the man a keen talker, especially if it gave him a chance to talk about himself and his love of his work. He only stopped when noticing Joseph dramatically roll his eyes at the lengthy explanation, grinning wide at his friend's annoyance.

"You're awfully rude to me, Joe. I'm a published novelist and my poems are taught in schools around the country. I'll have you know that my work is nothing to disregard so rudely - but I'll forgive you," he smiled, patting Joseph's knee with a wink, subtlety not exactly being his strong suit. "...Why can't you work with Joseph? He's under so much stress at that school, he puts too much stress on himself. You could work there, couldn't you? Just to clean up a bit so he can focus on real work?"
 
“Be an author? Oh, I couldn’t...” Ricky quickly replied, his cheeks growing pink nonetheless at the idea. He was no scholar and he knew that even if he did publish a book, it would probably be garbage. That being said, Ricky was never the type to give up easily. Despite the idea bouncing about in his head, he turned to look at Joseph. “I don’t know, I... I mean, I do sort of work with Joseph. I do some work here and there so it definitely helps, right?” HE confirmed, his brows raised.

He kept quiet at the sudden touch from Charles, that immediately grabbing his attention. It made him jealous, though he clenched his fists to hide it. Charles was able to do that while he had to lie under the guise of being a ‘cousin’. Charles must have been pretty dim to accept that as the truth since the two looked nothing alike. With the whole ‘cousin’ narrative it would be catastrophic for Jiseoh’s Career of he and Ricky were found out to be having sex.
 
"Oh, hush! My father had nothing to his name; he was a peasant, to be honest. He decided that he would write a poem one day to pass the time inbetween shifts at his workplace, and he had success. He died wealthy and passed it all down to me; but the message is more important, I think. Anyone can do anything, and all that. I firmly believe in that. It doesn't matter where you are on the ladder; you can do what you desire if you work for it. Of course, there are considerable privileges for the upper classes, which is -excuse my French- balderdash. It's so unfair," admitted Charles, grimacing to himself. He might have been fortunate enough to be born to wealthy, respected parents, but like Joseph, he wasn't fond of the way their society ran. However elitist Charles seemed based on his appearance, but beneath that, he was surprisingly understanding.

"I could talk about this all day, it really does anger me - but let's not get into politics and issues of our society. I talk far too much as it is," he snorted, dramatically sighing to himself with a glance out at the passing scenery. "...You know people are talking about you in wider circles, don't you, Joseph? About your unmarried status. All those rumours are starting to rear their heads again--"

"About my sexuality? They're bringing that up because I've yet to marry? Is it so difficult for them to believe that I'm married to my work?" Grunted Joseph, though, beneath his anger, there was an evident sliver of fear running through him. Both men in the carriage knew the real reason he hadn't married, but he didn't want to expose their sexualities to the other person; it wasn't his place to out them, after all. "...It's ridiculous, Charles. I've gone over this with them so many times, I... they won't be happy until I marry, and I won't be doing that anytime soon."
 
“I’ve been told to stay out of personal business of others, but... I believe that what matters is what makes you happy,” offered Ricky, though quietly as he kept close to the seat. It wasn’t his place after all and while his position in the world wasn’t very high, I’d did have its benefits. For starters, people didn’t really care about what he did in the bedroom. If it weren’t for the fact that he was sleeping with someone of such high class like Joseph, he could eagerly brag amongst his bar friends about how he was getting laid even if that meant with a man.

I don’t plan to marry,” he admitted, “for multiple reasons. For starters, I don’t want to be held back by some woman from keeping me from exploring my dream. Secondly, I most likely couldn’t afford it. Lastly, they would most likely expect her to bear children but I don’t really enjoy children if I’m to be honest.”
 
"Oh, but who does like children? My sister -bless her heart- has seven of the whiny little brats, and she looks so much older than her years. I'm genuinely certain that children are detrimental to one's health; they produce so much stress in someone, don't they? I have no intentions of having any myself; I'd rather die alone than force myself to marry and produce some horrid little toddlers," laughed Charles, glancing towards his friend in expectation of a smile. What he witnessed instead was Joseph remain none-the-wiser, absorbed in writing in his diary to document the day's events.

"He won't hear what we're saying; he never does when he's in one of these moods," explained the guest as he rolled his eyes, placing his hands on his knees calmly. "Your cousin's in a mood; I can tell. I suppose you argued? I'm rather good at sussing these things out. Now, I'm not interested in what the argument was about. I suppose I'll just say that if it was over me, I can only apologise for ruining whatever plans you had. Joe tends to forget about the plans I make with him, and this was unavoidable - but at least you get out of town for a little while. It's always beneficial to one's health to get out to the country, hm?"
 
“See, I’m from a seaside town so I never spent much time in the woods,” he admitted, watching trees pass with a small smile. “I miss the ocean sometimes but the city is where I belong, I think. I’m a social person, I like to spend time with people. Sure, they aren’t top-class citizens but... well, neither am I,” he shrugged.

“Yes, we had a bit of a... disagreement. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you. I was hoping to spend some quality time to reconnect with my family after losing my parents. It’s nice to meet some of Joseph’s friends, though.”
 
"Oh, I won't get in the way, don't worry about me. I'll be far too busy wandering about the grounds for inspiration," the man laughed, seemingly being constantly happy. It was something Joseph both adored and despised in him simultaneously - it was nice to be around someone whose mood was upbeat all the time, but it was also incredibly exhausting. It was precisely why he had blocked the other out - he wouldn't be able to deal with Charles for the long carriage ride, and he didn't want to start another argument with another friend.

"...So, I'm rather close to Joseph and he very rarely mentions his family, I'm surprised he even has a cousin," he began slowly, turning his attention back to Ricky. "His parents weren't the nicest, though I'm sure you know that about your uncle and auntie. How close are you both? If you argue frequently, I suppose that'd explain his reluctance to talk about you - though I think you're positively charming, I must admit~"