Silver and Gold

[archiveofarethusa]

When Cliff was younger, gold was just some color poets liked to wax lyrical about when there was nothing better around, but Cliff knew now that gold was so much more than that - the hair of his sister, the metal of his father's signet ring, the color of a gentry he will never again be part of, and good riddance. Slayer life was much more rewarding, though so incredibly different Cliff wondered if he'd been given some other man's life without knowing.

Whenever someone said in the past that his attitude was reprehensible, Cliff would smirk proudly; the question mostly comes up at taverns now in the form of, "I don't think I like your attitude." Cliff's default reply now is to stare pointedly at Jaida, who could fairly reliably be sexually harassing some poor white collar with a razor, and say, "Seriously, dude?"

It was when Jaida found out he was using her for protection that he started needing gold again. Life was more rewarding now, but Jaida's inclusion in his life was something of a mixed blessing like that.