It is very hard to know that your mother doesn't love your father, mused the teenager, but it might be worse if he were a girl. He wasn't therefore he didn't exactly care about his parents, and was content knowing that he was a self-centred and horrible human being with little regard for his personal safety.
His father was a stuffy man, but he did allow Roger to play with the Gyptian kids. Praskovia liked to run about in the streets with them, so it was slightly better for her too. His mother was hot headed and argumentative, and in love with another man who apparently lived in another world. Once a year she would go and sit on a bench at Oxford, irking his father, who, Roger supposed, must love her somewhat enough to be jealous of this man.
He sighed while he thought about this and Praskovia changed into a mouse and scuttled up his arm, frowning.
"Are you still thinking about what he said?" she asked in a worried manner, while Roger simply nodded. He'd tried to reason with his father about the bench business – where his mother was now – and his father had called him a loveless child. It didn't bother him, but it did provoke deep thought, which meant that sometimes Roger would gaze off into space for hours at a time. His namesake, he pondered, was also loveless, having died as a child at his grandfather's hands. He stood up suddenly, picking Praskovia up in his hands and biting his lip.
"I need to talk to Mother," he said, and walked towards the front door. He tugged his cap and jacket off of the hook by the door that held such items and put them on respectively, slipping Praskovia into the pocket of the jacket. She curled up and he started to walk jauntily out to the street, hurriedly shouting some form of farewell to his father.
He dodged in and out of the crowd, and Praskovia flew out of his jacket pocket, landing on his shoulder as a sparrow. "Keep going!" She chirped in his ear and a flicker of warmth hit his chest. He wasn't exactly a loveless child for he simply adored Praskovia, and would do anything for her. He was just thinking on this when a voice called his name joyfully.
"Roger!" He didn't recognize the voice until he saw its owner and his daemon, which was running towards Praskovia with a joyful bark in a husky form.
"Alek!" He held his hand out to the other boy and they shook, mockingly like gentleman. They laughed and Alek released his hand to ruffle the shorter boy's hair, chuckling when Roger swatted his hand away in a slightly annoyed manner.
"Where are you going?" he asked, curious. Roger coughed.
"Oxford…" At this Alek's expression grew sombre. He knew why Roger would be going to Oxford; everyone knew that the boy's parents had a marriage that was for the most part loveless, and the yearly ritual that was conducted by his mother. Some approved, others tolerated. When his friend was disturbed by the whole matter, Alek found himself falling into the last category with some force.
But he tried to smile at his friend, before he noticed Roger's downcast eyes. He cursed, knowing that the pause before his smile had pointed out his opinions about the whole business rather sharply. He had hoped to cover them up but Roger was unfortunately rather perceptive in things like this.
"Roger, I am sorry…" he muttered, and his daemon, Levakya, ran around Praskovia in apologetic circles. Roger gave a dry laugh.
"It's absolutely fine, Alek. Just something my mother does. Nothing to do with me, really…" He picked Praskovia up from the ground and gave a jolly wave. "See you soon?" He took off at quite a rate, heading towards Oxford without really looking at anyone.
Damn it. He knew how Alek felt about his parents, and what everyone thought of their marriage. It was the way they looked at him, wondering how a loveless marriage could produce a child, and then analysing him. It shook him to his soul and caused fear to prickle in his hands. They knew he was cold and self-centred, and blamed his upbringing and all of this happened in just a few seconds.
He was too upset over this to see the huge person he was barrelling towards.
So I only own Roger, Alek, this mystery man and respective demons. Hope you like!