36. Market

Seifer hated the slave market. He honestly, truly did. It was full of loud, irritating men shouting about their 'wares' and miserable, wretched people labelled as slaves. It was truly spectacular, a riotous spectrum of all that was ugly in people.

But today, as he walked through on his way to Tram Common, he caught sight of the most beautiful pair of brown eyes, filled with a dull, aching nothingness that made his heart skip a few beats. He moved closer and saw a pale, battered boy, probably not even seventeen, sitting inside one of the cramped cages. He had wavy blonde hair that stuck up and back absurdly from his head, a small, pliant mouth and lovely brown eyes framed by thick, dark eyelashes that gave him an innocent-yet-sultry look.

Those pretty eyes that he had first noticed narrowed into a glare directed towards him and there was such anger in that gaze that Seifer almost stopped in his tracks. But instead, he grabbed the slave driver roughly by the shoulder.

"How much?" He asked shortly, unable to believe that he was actually going to go against all of his principles just for this boy.

"Oh, him? Five hundred goldmarks." Seifer glanced towards the boy, knowing that even with his beautiful eyes, he wasn't worth anywhere near that much. But he'd have paid twice as much, for reasons he didn't quite understand. However, the slave driver didn't need to know that.

"Two hundred." He stated, eyes glinting.

"Four. And that's robbing me blind as it is." The dirty man complained.

"Two fifty. No more."

"Aw, no, I can't go that low, sir; three seventy is the lowest I can go without making too much of a loss."

"And how does that work out? You kidnap them from their homes or while they're out, feed them once a week if that and beat them regularly. Not to mention what happens behind closed doors. Three hundred goldmarks, take it or leave it. I haven't got all day."

"Three hundred, then." The ugly man agreed grudgingly. Seifer quickly paid him and had the man unlock the cage where the young boy was kept. He held out a hand to help him clamber out of the enclosed space, but he snapped his teeth at it, threatening to bite.

"Do you have a slave collar for him, sir?" the greasy vendor enquired. Seifer shook his head.

"I don't think he needs one. If he wants to run away, that's his choice, but if I were you," he spoke directly to the shivering boy now, "I'd stick around for at least a bath and a meal. When was the last time you ate?"

"Last night." The slave driver supplied hastily.

"I didn't ask you. Well?" The boy looked away, glaring at the ground. Seifer sighed and gripped the boy's elbow, pulling him along with him until they finally reached the edge of the noisy market. He took him a little way down an alley, so they were somewhere more private, before turning and repeating, "Well?" when there was no reply, he asked cautiously, "Can you speak?" The boy nodded. Seifer sighed and leaned back against the wall, rubbing his temples. This kid was difficult. Not that he had much experience with kids in the first place. "Look, what's your name, kid?" The young blonde simply stayed stonily silent. Seifer looked at him and asked dryly, "What, you want me to call you 'kid' forever?" The boy sighed and bent down to pick up a rock. He began scratching letters into the wall. "Hayner? That's your name? Ok, then… Wait, you can write?" Hayner rolled his eyes and Seifer felt the brief urge to throttle him a little bit. "Ok, so… How old are you?" Hayner held up two hands and then nine fingers. "Nineteen? Christ, I thought you were about sixteen… You're small, aintcha?" He hadn't been prepared for the punch that came then and Hayner managed to catch him a glancing blow on the jaw. Eyes burning, Seifer took a step towards the younger boy, whose eyes widened in shock and fear at what he'd done and what was probably about to happen. But before Seifer could even say a word, Hayner had turned and fled. "Ah, fuck…" He swore and ran after him.

Eventually, Seifer found the boy, hiding behind a pile of rubbish in Hackney Lane. Sighing, he dropped down beside the shaking boy.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, kid." He said, putting an arm around him. Hayner sat, trembling and tense as Seifer rested his chin on his head. "We'll just take it slow, ok?"