Hello!
To any new readers, chapter 3 and onwards are being re-written, as this is an extremely old fic that I started writing, and I want to improve it after reading it over and realising just how badly written all my old chapters were, so bare with me while I do this!
To my old readers that might be reading this, I hope you like the new chapter!
Don't forget to leave reviews, I'm always happy to hear what people have to say!
It wasn't until both the boys realised how low the sun in the sky was that they noticed how much time had passed since they started talking; and that Yuri knew everyone in the Lower Quarter will have settled down by this time – and that they would realise that he wasn't actually there. He didn't exactly have boundaries on whether he could go there or not, and if there was, then they weren't voiced too well.
A part of Yuri was glad that they had finished playing due to the time; in all honesty, he was a sore loser and didn't want to admit it.
He turned to face his newly acquired friend and began noticing qualities he hadn't seen before. It looked like he hadn't seen a clean change of clothes for a few days, or even a decent meal. It made Yuri feel a little bad for him, not even people in the Lower Quarter looked like this. It made Yuri wonder just how long he'd been living on these streets, how no one made a fuss, and how the guards didn't notice. But, then again, no one in the capital seemed to care about anyone but themselves, it was blatantly obvious. Thinking about things like these made him even more determined to grow up and become a knight so he could work his way up the ranks and make a change. He wasn't exactly a fan of the knights, but he wanted to make that change, and he was counting down the years until he could.
After a few moments of silence, which was neither awkward nor pleasant, Yuri finally spoke up. "I should be getting home... You should too." He said, an apologetic tone hidden in his voice as he waited for the response. It was clearly obvious the boy, who turned out to be called Flynn, had no home, and if he was anything like Yuri, he would do his best to hide that fact to get out of hand-outs and people trying to help. Thinking about that made a small part of Yuri want to cry out and beg Flynn to come back to the Lower Quarter with him, because it was so obvious he was not okay, another part of him just told him to back off: it wasn't his business.
This time, the silence was awkward, as Flynn's head dropped slightly at the mention of the word 'home', which was a clear enough answer for Yuri, who now had sympathy written all over his face. He couldn't help it, and now he knew why everyone back at the home looked at him like that; he'd been through more than a kid should've, and chooses to make it more difficult for himself. He couldn't complain about people doing it to him now – he finally understood their point of view.
"Look... Why don't you come back to the Lower Quarter with me? They won't mind..." Yuri said, breaking the silence once again, sighing before he did so. At least he actually got some form of response from what he said this time. The other boy lifted his head slightly, looking a little shocked, and lost as well. Poor kid.
Despite feeling sorry for him, Yuri really couldn't have the patience to wait around for him – just like Giselle didn't have the patience herself. "Well, I'm going to go. See you tomorrow, I guess." He shrugged and waved as he began walking away, leaving his blonde, baffled friend behind.
As Yuri began walking, he heard a small voice calling after him.
"I'm coming too!"
He smiled to himself at that and slowed down to a stop to wait for Flynn. That was the answer he was waiting for. The faint smile slowly turned into a grin as Flynn approached him.
"Last one down there's a rotten egg!" he called, and instantly set off running. Maybe he would win a game against him this time.
...
Of course, Yuri didn't win against Flynn. For a kid who was actually getting weak from starvation and living on the streets, he still managed to be pretty quick. And strong. If anything, Yuri was a little jealous, he could already see a lot of his friendship with Flynn face issues with his jealousy, but hey, if it was a good enough friendship, he'd stick around.
They both reached the Lower Quarter, equally out of breath; although Yuri looked a little more grazed than Flynn ended up. He quickly brushed himself down before looking around the almost-empty street. A couple of people noticed him and motioned over to the Inn, which meant that Giselle had obviously had people on the lookout for him. Yuri nodded and headed straight over, Flynn in tow.
"I think you'll like Giselle." Yuri started, making sure that Flynn was actually following him before he carried on talking. "She's a little, well, very strict, but she's been taking really good care of me since..." he trailed off slightly and stared at his feet, collecting his thoughts before he lifted his head and carried on talking. "Otis is cool! He's really, really nice! Nothing like Giselle, but I like them both the same!" he finished with a grin.
He opened the door to face a couple of terrified-looking customers, Hanks, and an unimpressed looking Giselle. Otis didn't look too pleased himself, although he seemed like a cuddly teddy bear next to a pissed off looking Giselle – anyone would.
What followed was slightly expected – although Giselle being a little more gentle than usual wasn't; Yuri figured he'd have Flynn to thank for that later. He was dragged over to the bar by his arm and sat on it while she looked at the cuts and grazes he got from earlier, shaking her head and sighing, asking how he got them this time. Turned out Yuri coming back to the Inn in this state wasn't possible.
Flynn was stood by the bar, twiddling his thumbs and staring down at his feet. He seemed to go unacknowledged for a few moments, and was perfectly okay with that; seeing as he didn't want to draw attention to himself, and he heard about the Lower Quarter from everyone else. It sounded like they struggled enough to get by and look after themselves without having another mouth to feed.
It was once Yuri was brought down off the bar and sat down at the table with both the Inn owners and Hanks that Flynn was noticed and invited to join the table, although it was more of an order than an invitation.
"Who might you be?" Hanks turned to face Flynn, a soft smile on his face. The last thing he wanted to do was scare the poor kid. "Never seen you around here before. You certainly look like you belong here, though."
Flynn smiled softly. He decided already that he liked Hanks. He didn't seem to be too in-your-face like Yuri, or the woman who was called Giselle; according to Yuri's protests. He was also a lot more welcoming than what he had seen so far. "I'm Flynn, and I'm not from here, I used to live..."
"Upstairs." Yuri finished for him, avoiding the gaze of all the other adults at the table, and letting his legs swing, as he was never the kind to sit still.
As soon as Yuri spoke, both Otis and Hanks shook their heads, and Giselle sighed.
"I hope you weren't any trouble..." Otis muttered; he was all too familiar with the mischief Yuri caused, especially to the guards who came through the Lower Quarter.
"He wasn't." Flynn piped up brightly. "He kept me company. Said I could live here."
A few more sharp looks were aimed at Yuri, who just shrugged, not flinching or showing any kind of emotional response to how all the adults were looking at him.
"He can stay in my room. I can sleep on the floor." He said blankly, as if he had already gone through it with them all. "I should know what it's like to feel on my own, and he had it worse."
And with that, Yuri got up, leaving the others to it. He ignored Giselle ordering him to sit back down and left the Inn, going straight upstairs to his own room. He didn't want to talk any more. If they wanted answers, they should just ask Flynn; not him. Besides, wasn't it everyone else at the Lower Quarter that told Yuri to be as helpful as he could? He was simply helping a friend – a starving, and obvious orphan, to get off the street. He had no idea what he'd done wrong this time.
...
Once he was in his room, he collapsed onto the bed and sighed, curling up on it and pushing all thoughts about the past out of his head. Yuri never cried. Not when the big kids called him names, not when they pushed him over, and not even when he watched the service the Lower Quarter held for his mother. He wasn't going to cry now. That was just pointless, and stupid.
Crying was for kids.
Granted, not my best work, but so much better than what the second chapter originally was! Hope you liked it!
