The streets were worn and dusted liberally with sand. The sun beat hot overhead, stifling and bitter in its light. A wreck of a boy lay in the shadows, staring fearfully at the world around him from underneath the sill to a broken window. His hair was so dirty it could hardly be recognized as blond, and it lay in tangles of curls. He wore torn rags, and despite the heat he lay shivering. His face was gaunt and far too worn for a child looking to be his age.
Amongst the sepia of sand, sun and sundered buildings, he stood out no more than any other street rat, any other unfortunate child. Yet his eyes shined a brilliant amethyst, standing out like gems, and he was unnaturally pale for a desert dweller.
The child curled up in himself, choking back whimpers at the memories flashing before his eyes. Pain, fear and loneliness. Being struck so hard he saw stars.
Footsteps crunched in the sand and he peered up, terrified.
What he was met with was a hand being offered to him, as well as a smile that warmed more than the sun. Blue-grey eyes studied the boy intently.
"What brings a child here, looking as this?" A low voice murmured softly. There was no pity in the man's voice, only acceptance that life was the way it was. "Tell me, little phantom child... Did life frown on you?"
The child stared up at the hand in his face, tears in his eyes with how parched he was. All he wanted was water.
"Wa...ter," He murmured hoarsely.
"Come."
The blond boy took the proffered hand. And as he stood, the world went black. His body met a larger one harshly, and he heard a sudden swear before everything went numb.
...The child awoke to precious liquid trickling down into his throat. The water was sudden, however, and he wound up coughing most of it back up, hurting his already sore throat. His eyes fluttered open, the world blurry around him before his vision cleared and settled on a man.
The man had blue-gray eyes and blond hair. His skin was tan, and clipped onto a scarf tied around his head was a mask, shaped like a raven's beak. The man wore ornate, flashily colored clothes, of reds and blues and golds, that looked quite expensive.
"You're awake," The man acknowledged with a nod of his head. "Tell me, what's your name?" He asked curiously.
Silence. The child did nothing but stare up at him with wide eyes. He was met with patience.
"Mute, are you, little phantom child?" The blond tipped the water bottle back to the child's mouth, and he gulped it down greedily. "Ah, that's it. I'll call you Phantom," He announced cheerfully. "What am I to do with you, then, Phantom? Can't just dump you back onto the streets," The man murmured to himself, the palm of his hand resting against Phantom's hot forehead briefly. The boy was feverish.
Phantom could feel the worn flesh of the stranger's palm, every bump and callous, and it was strangely soothing. The man touched him as if he were a wild animal, unpredictable and afraid.
"Well, I'll give you a choice," He hummed. "Go home, wherever that is. Or..."
"Come with me. Learn about the world. Be my apprentice."
And Phantom said yes.
It would turn out to be the best decision of his young life.
Three years from that day and Phantom was fourteen, as well as a pain in the ass.
"Old geezer, I'm telling you, we should steal the diamond, not the sapphire," Phantom threw his hands up in the air exasperatedly, letting out a soft huff.
"No."
"But Raven," Phantom rolled his eyes childishly, glaring at his mentor.
"Phantom. Do you know why we're stealing the sapphire rather than the diamond?"
Phantom stared up at the taller man. "...No. It makes more sense to go for the more expensive jewel."
"It will make more of an impact," Raven smirked. "Imagine. You wake up and go to have your servants brush your hair, and you discover that the sapphire in the handle of your favorite brush is missing. Which would infuriate you more- a personal insult by stealing the sapphire, or simply stealing a diamond ring which could quite easily go unnoticed, seeing as the queen has probably hundreds of them?"
Phantom grudgingly lowered his gaze, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're right," He admitted.
"Of course I am. I'm the legendary master thief, brat," Raven chuckled, and Phantom was fascinated by the crow's feet dancing about the corners of his eyes. Raven, in actuality, was by no means old- he simply smiled a lot.
"Geezer," Phantom called him anyway.
"Are you done whining yet? Yes? Good."
The two spent the next half hour planning out their heist, arguing over different aspects of the plan. They drew it out in the sand piece by piece, building a masterpiece of lines that created the image of the queen's palace. When they were done, Phantom's pale hand swiped across the ground, erasing the evidence of their plans and scattering sand all about.
"Don't try to rob a kingdom with a box full of bobby pins," Raven cheerfully reminded his apprentice. It was something the man often said, a reminder that even the best of thieves needed the best of supplies. Phantom made sure to check that he had all his supplies- lockpicks, daggers, poison and so on, and then they set off.
It was all quite routine; picking locks, ducking around corners, waiting for Raven's signals. While Phantom acted as bait- "Why do I get to be the bait?!" "Because I said so, brat," Raven went in to get the sapphire from the brush. Phantom was a blur, moving from spot to spot and ducking into side halls, resisting the urge to laugh as foolish guards ran past, shouting angrily. The queen herself could be seen out in the corridor in naught but her nightgown, ordering them around furiously. It was all rather comedic.
Raven met up with the younger man, sapphire in hand, and they made their get-away, laughing into the night in thieving comeradery. They were still chuckling to each other when they made it 'home' (a hidden away cave). "Oh, Goddessses, did you see their faces?" Phantom snickered.
"Good job, kiddo," Raven grinned and ruffled the blonde's pale curls of hair.
All of a sudden, Phantom felt cold.
"I'm not a child," He snapped, marching off into a corner and pulling the blankets (stolen, of course) over his head.
Confused as ever by the young man, Raven shrugged and let it be.
Phantom was, to his own chagrin, blushing for the next half hour over remembrance of the affectionate hand in his hair.
It made sense.
It made a ridiculous, twisted sort of sense, but sense was what it did make. Of course Phantom would fall in love with the only one who had ever shown him kindness and warmth. Of course he would fall for an attractive man like Raven. It was inevitable.
Because that was what that feeling was, wasn't it? Love? He felt short of breath around Raven. Every touch made him die a little inside, or maybe just live a little more. His chest felt heavy all the time when he thought of the man, and he couldn't imagine parting from him. Even the stupidest of men could figure out what this was, and Phantom was no idiot.
Damn Raven and his stupid... Ambient charm, that he had about him. Damn Raven. This was all his fault.
As far back as Phantom could remember, his mentor had been there. The first memory he had was of a hand reaching towards him, of a light offering comfort and security. He remembered a yes that changed his life. For all he knew, before that he could have been a royal. Raven had changed everything.
The two celebrated their victory with fine wine- Raven really didn't care if Phantom indulged, fourteen or not. After all, they already broke the law on a regular basis. "As long as you don't become a drunkard," Raven warned. "Some habits are hard to break."
The alcohol burned on the way down, but it left a pleasant, warming sensation in his chest that stayed, even when he expected it to disappear. The two spent the night laughing and talking, Phantom's mentor sharing humorous stories with him. Raven truly was an amazing man, with many stories to tell. The fellow blond had much worldly knowledge- at heart, even though he had stayed with Phantom in Ariant for the past several years, he was a traveler. The fire they huddled about reflected in his grey-blue eyes, but they were already warm and kind, soft in their gaze towards Phantom. Even when he was giving the harshest of scoldings, the thief's eyes were still gentle to the teenager. Phantom had to admit that he loved those eyes more than anything.
Phantom raised his glass with a warm, tipsy smile. He slurred out, "To my amazing mentor, the old geezer."
"To your amazing mentor," Raven snickered, their glasses clinking together over the fire.
"Narcissist," Phantom snorted, downing the drink. It had become easier to drink as he went along.
"You know you love it," Raven grinned cheekily, flashing an amused crescent moon of lovely white teeth. Phantom imagined them digging into his skin and his already flushed cheeks dipped darker.
As if on cue, Raven hummed. "What are you thinking of?"
"Fucking hell," Phantom swore under his breath. "Nothing in particular," He lied badly.
"Thinking about any girls?" Raven snrrked.
"Nope."
"Thinking about any guys?" Raven didn't miss a beat.
"Thinking about settling into a retirement home?" Phantom shot back.
Phantom's mentor settled his cheek into the palm of his hand, an interested and amused expression gracing his face. "Who is it?"
"Does it matter?"
"It's my job as the closest thing you have to a father to ask about these kinds of things."
And Phantom froze, feeling as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head.
"Don't say that," He whispered, anguished.
"What?"
"Don't say that!" The blonde shouted, standing abruptly and clenching his fists, eyebrows knit together.
Raven was bemused, and found himself looking up at his apprentice. "Calm down."
"No," Phantom hissed. "Don't you get it?" All of a sudden, the pleasant and friendly atmosphere was shattered into pieces.
"No, I don't," Raven answered patiently, if not a little frustratedly. And all of a sudden, he had a lapful of Phantom.
Phantom glared determinedly into grey-blue eyes before inelegantly shoving his lips against his mentor's.
Raven's lips were soft and a little bit chapped, and Phantom could feel the warmth in his chest grow and begin to flutter.
The blond drew back with a soft sigh, amethyst eyes opening once again to meet the startled expression on Raven's face.
"You probably shouldn't have done that," Raven warned simply, before gently guiding Phantom to the floor and straddling his waist, leaning down to kiss him properly. Their lips slid together and the amethyst-eyed young man's heart pounded dizzyingly. His ears felt hot and as if they were clogged with cotton, and oh, Raven's tongue was probing at his lips, soft and wet, and Phantom's stomach was doing messy flips.
Their tongues met and it was strange but wonderful. Phantom groaned as Raven's knee slid between his legs, meeting his growing erection.
The sound seemed to break the older man out of some sort of trance, because he pulled back, a trail of saliva briefly connecting their two mouths. "That's enough for now," Raven breathed with a soft grin.
All Phantom could do was lay there and nod breathlessly, his brain practically fried.
"I don't think you can take anymore, anyway," The blond chuckled.
"Oh, fuck you," Phantom murmured, turning his head away and blushing.
"Not yet," Raven laid beside Phantom, holding him close to his chest, and the world was alright. Phantom had yet to know and remember heartbreak. He had yet to lose the most important people in his life.
Yet.