Characters: Laurence, Gehrman, Maria, Micolash, Rom, some OCs
Word Count: 6.947
Summary: Laurence tries to make new friends. It doesn't go well at all.
(Author's note: I played more of the video game and there I learned something. Something rather important.
Lyza grew up in Balchero! Why would you put this important information in the fucking VIDEO GAME?! She is like a major character, the reason why Riko went into the Abyss and kinda the goal of the whole journey!
Anyway, so my Lyza obviously didn't grow up in Balchero, but my fic is a Bloodborne AU anyway and I know outside of the weapons and characters there haven't been much things about it in it yet, but I am getting to it, I promise. I just have too much fun building the world and let Laurence be Laurence.)
The next few weeks turned into a comfortable routine for Laurence. He would spend the mornings with Dr. Zoe and learn how to treat injuries or how to mix antidotes along with learning the symptoms of the different poisons and venoms in the Abyss. Then he would meet up with the others for lunch and either take care of some business for the orphanage or he would do the tourist tours to earn some extra money. In the evenings, Maria would do combat training with all of them. Rom finally had decided on what kind of weapon she wanted. She had always been fond of the standard bow that Blue Whistles were allowed to carry as a weapon, but was worried about running out of arrows, so Gehrman fashioned a weapon that was a blade which could transform into a bow.
That left Micolash as the only one who didn't wield a weapon yet, but he insisted that his explosives were more than enough and if he ran out, he could just headbutt his opponent.
"Micolash, if you don't wear your helmet, you crack your skull and even if you wear it, you will get multiple concussions.", Laurence had reprimanded Micolash, the new medicinal student in him coming through.
"Then I just have to find a helmet that is long enough that it won't shake my brain.", Micolash replied.
"Your brain has already been shaken enough or you wouldn't say such nonsense.", Laurence had said and then left. He just never knew how to interpret Micolash. He never seemed to be joking. Sadly, he also seemed to be the one who was the closest to actually get the Abyss. Laurence assumed that everyone who would do the last dive had to be a little bit crazy. He had started to assume that since he had met Ozen and Lyza. Lyza probably would like Micolash. He kinda hoped the two of them would meet, then he would have his peace for a while.
The weapon that Gehrman wielded, the burial blade, was still a prototype, as was Laurence' threaded cane. They couldn't build it with the best materials, so they also broke quite often and soon their weapons were littered with duct tape which held them in one piece. They would need better materials from the deeper layers so that they wouldn't wear off so easily.
Maria's weapon was more sturdy, thanks to her weapon being swords, which mostly consisted of a blade and only a small hilt, unlike the weapons of Gehrman and Laurence, which both had long wooden sticks they were attached to. Laurence had once tried to wield Maria's weapon, which she called the Rakuyo, but had quickly deemed that it was far too difficult to handle. He really admired how dexterous Maria was.
Of course sometimes their routine was broken up by delving, they all still were cave delvers. Expeditions into the second layer were rare however, because they would need several days to reach it, search for relics and leave again. Also, while Blue Whistles were allowed to delve on their own into the second layer, almost nobody did it and they always went down in groups. Laurence mostly delved with at least two of his friends. In the first layer he often went alone in the meantime, searching for food or materials they could use at the orphanage. His friends also sometimes joined him on these little expeditions.
Much to Master Willem's disdain, Laurence also had developed a taste for the booze in the cellar. Of course he didn't get as drunk as the first time, instead, he snuck down there and took only a little sip to build up a tolerance to the stuff and it worked. This, together with Laurence sneaking into the Abyss unofficially and him scaring the tourists with horror stories of the curse had earned him a new room. The room was the old torture chamber of the prison the orphanage once had been. Master Willem probably hoped that the sight of all the leftover instruments in there would scare Laurence, but he just kept staring at them and wondered if Gehrman would make weapons out of the design and then proceeded to cut open and sew together animal corpses to practice sewing wounds shut.
It could have stayed like this forever, but Laurence started to miss something in his life.
"You know, I always delve with you, Micolash, Maria and Rom.", he said one day during breakfast to Gehrman.
"And? It's normal for delvers to form cliques.", Gehrman replied, gently pushing the salt shaker out of Laurence' reach once he was done with it.
"Yeah, but that is kinda boring. I barely get to meet new people.", Laurence said, enjoying his far too salty scrambled eggs, "I mean, I can sometimes delve with Eileen or Djura, but it is a bit hard with them. Eileen always feels like she could kill me with a stare and Djura is far too protective of the beasts that want to kill us."
Gehrman had to roll his eyes, because Laurence was also infamous for being the one who never shut up, so him complaining about others was kind of hilarious. He decided to indulge him however and it would probably do Laurence good to meet a few new people.
"Then go to the guild and join a hunting party. Blue Whistles are often searching for a few volunteers to help them hunt a huge prey in the first layer. I am sure you will be able to meet new people like this."
"What an excellent idea, Gehrman!", Laurence shouted and was off to the guild as soon as he had finished eating.
Laurence found a hunting party, a group of two Blue Whistles who wanted to take down a horncrier. While certainly dangerous, he thought that two Blue Whistles should be more than enough, but maybe they were worried because the horncriers tended to appear in groups. It would certainly help to have a third Blue Whistle around just in case.
He met up with them on the designated day. There were two, a boy and a girl around his age. The boy didn't leave any impression on Laurence. His face was non descriptive and Laurence forgot his name mere seconds after he had said it. The girl was far more interesting.
She was kind of beautiful with green, sharp eyes and short, black hair. She had a small nose and full lips as well as a mole under her left eye. It certainly was a face that Laurence felt he could remember easily. Her name was Yuria. That also was kind of a unique name. If he remembered correctly, it was the spelling of the name Julia in another language. The ancestors of the people with that name were from the far east, were they not? Laurence should maybe ask Yuria about it.
He introduced himself like usual to the two: "Name's Laurence, with an u, not a w."
Yuria scoffed right away at this. "Who cares?", she said, "It's pronounced the same."
"It's not.", Laurence pouted, already not liking this first interaction, but maybe Gehrman was right and he was too sensitive about his name. He decided to not start a fight and ignore Yuria's remark.
"Are you coming or not?", Yuria shouted and Laurence saw that she and her partner already stood at the gate to the Abyss, when had they moved there?!
"Coming.", Laurence hurried over to them.
They started to walk down into the Abyss, but a conversation didn't really happen. Laurence really disliked the silence and so he decided to just be the one to talk, maybe they were waiting for him to start the conversation. Though Laurence didn't really know what to talk about, so he just started to ramble.
"Have you also been delving since you were ten years old like me? I know the first player pretty well thanks to it, all the nooks and crannies, though I fit better into them when I was smaller. Not that I am really that much bigger now, but I still hope that I'll grow a bit more, we are still young after all. I wish I could be as tall as my friend, he's gigantic, but on the other hand, the primordial beasts will have a hard time seeing me, though quite a lot of them hunt with smell or the forcefield, so that wouldn't do me any good. I am just glad that we are allowed to care more elaborate weapons with us as Blue Whistles, I always felt so naked with only the tiny knife and the pickaxe during my Red Whistle times and-"
Yuria interrupted Laurence' ramblings: "You sure like to talk." That was all she said, nothing else. Laurence even wondered if her tone had been a bit mocking. Well, maybe he could have left her a chance to answer his first question...
"...I just don't like it when it's silent.", Laurence replied. He had always talked a lot, now that he thought about it. Anyone who would listen would be exposed to his long winded ramblings. "I can talk less if you don't like it.", Laurence offered, not wanting to mess up any chances in making new friends.
"You are just alerting the primordial beasts, so yes, it would be appreciated if you wouldn't talk that much.", Yuria said. Her companion simply nodded along. Laurence realized that in order to make friends, he should maybe learn the boy's name, but he felt far too awkward asking for it when he had learned it just twenty minutes ago and forgot it like nineteen minutes ago.
"Oh, okay.", Laurence mumbled and fell silent, though it wasn't really easy. In fact, it felt like downright torture having to shut up and soon he felt himself ramble again.
"Do you know about all the bait you can find in the Abyss? Demon fish bite especially well with crystal caterpillars and you don't believe how many kinds of worms you can find if you dig up the earth a bit. Sometimes I completely forget to excavate relics because I am too busy collecting bait. I am always getting scolded then, but food is important, I mean, we are literally on our way to get meat. I always take my fishing rod with me into the Abyss, you never know when you have the opportunity to go fish and I like the fish you can catch here a lot more instead of having to eat sardines once again. Why are there so many sardines around the island?! I am sure other fish exist in the sea and-"
This time Laurence interrupted himself. "Ah, can you wait for a bit?", he asked and approached a wall, "I need to pray before I descend further."
Laurence had the feeling that Yuria rolled her eyes, but she waited while Laurence touched the wall and asked his parents for protection like usual. He then returned to his companions for the day. "Thank you for waiting. We are moving down to the Stone Ark, right? I haven't been there in a while, I mostly go to the tree abode lately because it isn't that deep and-"
"You are kind of annoying, you know.", Yuria said and that shut Laurence right up. Had he overdone it? Laurence normally felt confident and secure, but right now he felt a certain anxiety bubble up in his chest. Day one of trying to make new friends and he had messed up right away.
"S-sorry.", he said, staring at the ground, hating how his voice suddenly stuttered. He didn't talk again and instead followed the two Blue Whistles with a little distance, hearing how they whispered to each other.
Thirty minutes later Laurence was forced to talk again however, because the laces on his boot had opened up. "Ah, could you wait a minute, I need to tie my boot.", he said, not looking up, instead kneeling down and tying the boot. Once he was done and looked up, Yuria and the other boy were nowhere to be seen.
"Huh? Where did they go?", Laurence said to himself, hoping that they didn't wander into the territory of a silkfang and got themselves caught or killed. However, he had only been busy for a short time, so they couldn't have come far.
Laurence really found them in a small cleft further down the road, already ready to wave to them and call out, when he managed to overhear their conversation.
"That guy was so annoying, it was the right idea to ditch him.", Yuria said.
"Yeah.", the boy said, "He never shut up. And when you told him to his face, he looked like he didn't even know how nerve-racking that is."
"Let's move on before he finds us.", Yuria said, "I really don't want to delve with him again."
Laurence was left standing speechless, this time for good. He knew he talked a lot, but this was just mean. Even he knew that ditching someone in the Abyss was dangerous, even in the first layer. He certainly didn't feel like catching up to them anymore, so he decided to call it a day and return to the surface, even if it meant that he wouldn't get paid for the delve. Maybe he could do another tourist tour, but for the first time in what felt like his whole life, he didn't feel like talking.
He was just glad they hadn't made it that deep down. The first layer curse wasn't making him puke anymore, but it still could be the reason for a lingering headache. Maybe Laurence should stay in the Abyss and collect different food items, but he kind of felt like he didn't want to stay in the same place in which Yuria currently was, even though she was about to descend down much deeper.
"What do I care what this bitch thinks about me?", Laurence grumbled on his way back, "She doesn't know anything. I bet she's just like that because she's pretty and nobody calls her out on her bullshit. Gehrman calls me out on mine all the time."
Once Laurence had made his way back, surprising the guards that he had already returned, he decided to make use of the day and go fishing at the beach. Sure, he would most likely just fish up sardines, but sardines were better than no food at all, and he had time to kill. If he went back to the orphanage, the other orphans and Master Willem would just ask questions and he wasn't in the mood to answer them right now.
The trip to the beach was a quiet one, even though Laurence had to cross the whole town to actually reach it. The Abyss was pretty much the centre of Orth and with Belouska being an island, it was only natural that the beach was found on the outer rim. Laurence found his usual spot and cast his fishing pole into the water, waiting for a bite.
Half an hour later or so Laurence had already fished up a few sardines which now swam around in his bucket until he would kill and gut them, when he heard a very familiar voice calling out to him.
"Laurence? What are you doing here? I thought you went into the Abyss to hunt with a group of Blue Whistles.", Gehrman asked. He was carrying a bucket as well, but it didn't seem to be for fishing. Figured, because he was not carrying a fishing pole.
"I could ask you the same question. What are you doing here?", Laurence asked.
Gehrman lifted his bucket: "I am picking up the trash from the tourists. The guild pays really well for it. I wish they could pick their trash up after themselves, but you know how they are. Most of them are filthy stinking rich and aren't used to not having someone carrying their ass around."
Laurence nodded, he handled the tourists on the tourist tours and knew how entitled some of them were. And it was usual for Blue Whistles to take side jobs, to prepare living on their own. Gehrman was almost eighteen and would have to move out soon.
"You haven't answered my question.", Gehrman said, "When I remember correctly, you were headed for the Stone Ark. You are back far too early for such a deep trip."
Laurence sighed as he pulled in another sardine and tossed it into the bucket. "I got ditched.", he said, feeling that it would make no sense to lie, Gehrman knew him too well.
"Ditched?", Gehrman repeated, a certain case of incredulity in his eyes.
"Yeah, but don't worry about it, that was just some entitled bitch who probably is used to everyone acting on her whim just because she's pretty.", Laurence said, "I don't have the desire to ever see her again or try to delve with her again."
Gehrman sat down next to Laurence: "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I am? Why do you ask?"
"I don't know... you seem a bit... down."
It was true. Laurence really felt down over this. He tried to tell himself that Yuria wasn't worth it, but her words had hurt.
"Maybe.", he muttered, "I just want to forget about this, that's all."
"...Has she... said anything or so?", Gehrman asked, "Before she ditched you, I mean."
Yes. You are annoying. And how nerve-racking he was. For some reason, now Laurence felt compelled to lie and he shook his head: "No, they just left me alone when I had to tie my boot and they weren't carried away by a silkfang or anything. I thought it would be stupid to catch up with them when they didn't want to have me around and returned to the surface."
"If you say so.", Gehrman said, getting up and picking up his bucket, "Just... tell me if you need to talk, okay?"
"Yeah, I will.", Laurence said, though he took his feelings of today into bed with him and didn't intend to ever talk about this unpleasant experience again.
Over the next few days, Laurence managed to join a few other hunting groups and while none of them had been as mean as Yuria, he didn't really manage to make friends. Everyone seemed to be eager to get home when they were done and when Laurence was brave enough to ask them to hang out, they never had time. Laurence didn't doubt they told the truth however, he knew how hard it was to find time as a Blue Whistle in Orth, with all the delving and the side jobs.
However, something strange happened. After two weeks or so, all the hunting groups he had applied to were suddenly disbanded. Apparently because there weren't enough Blue Whistles to actually form them. Laurence wondered if they had gotten sick or injured and really hoped they would be fine.
However, two more weeks passed and it kept happening. Every hunting group that Laurence had applied to got disbanded before the planned day of delving. Laurence couldn't help but feel that it was a little strange, but he didn't dwell too long on it. He was sure that it probably had a perfectly good reason and he shouldn't agonize over it.
Besides, Laurence could still delve with his friends and that was what he did. Sometimes they did longer delves into the second layer, but mostly they just searched for materials or food or formed their own little hunting group. Thanks to Maria's training and Gehrman's weapons, they were pretty popular to be sent into the first layer for hunting creatures.
It was Rom who approached Laurence during one of these delves while he was changing the line on his fishing pole.
"Laurence, what happened to you joining other hunting groups? Lately I have barely seen you go into the Abyss without us."
"They all got disbanded before they could get formed.", Laurence replied, stopping his activity to look at Rom, her face scrunched up in slight worry, "Why do you ask? Is something wrong?"
"It's just... don't you think that is a bit strange?", Rom said.
"Yeah, of course, but I am sure there is a perfectly reasonable reason for it.", Laurence said, "They probably just have all been busy or got sick or something."
"You don't look like you believe your own words."
That gave Laurence to think. It was true that he didn't want to agonize over it, but it was because he had feared that there indeed was a reason for it that wasn't perfectly reasonable. However, the thought scared him and so he buried it deep inside of his head.
"Maybe, but why should I agonize over it? I can still delve with you and I am sure I can join another hunting group soon. At the latest once winter is coming up and we need more food from the Abyss because nothing will grow in Orth."
"Are you sure you are okay, Laurence?", Rom asked, twirling a strand of her long black hair around her finger.
"I am okay. Thanks for your concern though.", Laurence said and that ended their conversation. Rom went back to gathering fruit and Laurence fished up a few more demon fish. At the end of the day, Laurence almost had forgotten about it, only almost. He sank into bed with a slightly uneasy feeling in his chest.
The next day Laurence met up with Dr. Zoe as usual to learn about first aid. He was busy sorting sutures and needles when she suddenly spoke.
"You have a lot of free time lately, huh? Have you given up on the delving business?"
"Huh?", Laurence looked at her with wide eyes, "Of course not. I am still carrying my whistle as you can see."
"I just was asking myself.", Dr. Zoe hummed, "There has been a time where you have been on a lot of delves. And for a month or so I see you here in my office almost every single day. I was just wondering."
"Ah.", Laurence said, putting his attention back on the medicinal supplies that needed to be sorted, "The hunting groups I applied to always got disbanded."
"And that has happened for a whole month now?", Dr. Zoe said and Laurence felt her gaze on him, it felt like he suddenly had additional weight because he wanted to sink under the table. The only woman who was more intimidating than her was Ozen.
"Yes? Is that a problem?", Laurence said, "They may have gotten sick or injured, that's all."
"Then I really wonder why I barely had any Blue Whistles here to treat lately.", Dr. Zoe said, which made Laurence stop.
It was indeed strange. Had he lied to himself? Was there another reason for all these hunting groups not forming?
"I think I might need to go to the guild later.", he murmured. For some reason, Dr. Zoe seemed to be very pleased with this decision.
Once Laurence was done with his shift in the clinic, he grabbed some lunch at the marketplace and then went straight to the guild. The clerk there recognized him instantly.
"Hello Laurence, have you come to apply to more hunting groups?"
"Actually no.", Laurence shook his head, "I wanted to ask why all the hunting groups I applied to have been disbanded before the day of delving."
"Hmm... let me look.", the clerk said, flipping through a thick folder of paperwork. It took quite a while, but Laurence waited patiently for her to be finished.
"There actually haven't been any reasons.", she said, "The other Blue Whistles just came and said they were not interested in these hunting groups anymore. I think some of them applied for other hunting groups? There are many delvers here every day, I can't remember it in greater detail."
"Alright, thank you, you helped me already.", Laurence said, feeling the uneasy feeling in his stomach from yesterday rising again. It was indeed strange. He had found it strange, but only after Rom and Dr. Zoe had pointed it out had he thought to actually investigate it. So, the other Blue Whistles hadn't been sick or injured. They simply didn't want to delve anymore. Of course they were teenagers, like him, and Laurence knew from himself how moody they could be, but that none of them wanted to delve with him over the entirety of a month felt a bit too much like it couldn't be a coincidence.
Laurence went to the job board and studied it. He found another hunting job where nobody had applied to yet and put his name. Just as he put it back, he heard voices talking next to him. Juvenile voices. Blue Whistles.
Laurence fell a bit back so that they wouldn't notice him overhearing him. Maybe he could find out what the issue was by listening to them. The two Blue Whistles were staring at the job board and it was clear they were searching for a hunting group to join. One of them took the hunting job he had applied to and showed it to their companion.
"What about this one? Three Blue Whistles and someone already has applied. With us two we would be complete."
Their friend took the hunting job and then scrunched up their face, at least it looked like it from Laurence' position. It wasn't too easy making out their expressions when he was hiding behind a rather tall Black Whistle.
"Ugh, no, Laurence applied to it. You don't want to delve with him, trust me."
Wait, what?! Had Laurence heard this correctly. The other Blue Whistle asked the exact same question that sat on his tongue.
"Why?"
"You don't know him yet? Lucky you. He's this redhead that never stops talking. Never ever. Often does the tourist tours in Orth and he feels right at home there. He should consider doing that full time because he is doing nothing else but annoying other delvers. I didn't want to believe it at first once Yuria told me, but it's true, the guy is the most annoying thing ever. You'll probably regret it if you delve with him."
Laurence had heard enough. It was the moment that Yuria's name fell that he had started to see red.
"Yuria has done what?!", he shouted, stepping out of his hiding to confront the two Blue Whistles, "Oh, that ibitch/i, she better not appear in front of me anymore...!"
"Why, what are you planning to do? Talking to her until she dies from boredom?", the Blue Whistle that had mocked him behind his back said, apparently not feeling threatened in the slightest. Damn him and his small height and featherweight.
"More like calling her a bitch in twelve different languages.", Laurence hissed, but then his mood shifted. Annoying. The Blue Whistle had said it again. That he was annoying.
"Am I... really so annoying?", he murmured, feeling tears well up on his face. Before the Blue Whistle could answer him, he turned around and ran out of the guild, really not wanting to break out in tears in front of two unknown Blue Whistles and worse, Yuria sympathizers, who apparently had told rumours about him around town.
Laurence only stopped once he was sufficiently far away from the guild, but now he was in the middle of the shopping district while tears ran down his face, tears he couldn't stop. That was so mean. They had excluded him on purpose, apparently because he was too annoying. And it also really had hurt him that this asshole of Blue Whistle had said he should go full time on the tourist tours and give up on delving. Delving was his life, the stupid tourist tours were just a side job to earn some money.
"Laurence, what is wrong? Are you in pain?"
Laurence recognized the voice. That was Uncle Ryba, the owner of the fishing supply store. Laurence was a regular there, so of course they knew each other by name. And it was very common in Orth that familial relationships were formed between the shop owners or the older delvers and the orphans.
Laurence shook his head, feeling unable to talk. How ironic, because that apparently was the reason why he had gotten shunned and excluded.
"But something has happened?", Uncle Ryba prodded further and Laurence managed to nod between his sniffling. He felt how Uncle Ryba laid an arm around his shoulders and led him towards the fishing supply store. "Come inside, so that you can calm down.", he said.
Soon Laurence sat in the back of the store, having a steaming cup of tea in front of him, put there by Aunt Pisk, Ryba's wife. He also had been supplied with a handkerchief so that he could wipe off his tears. The two of them had waited patiently for him to calm down enough to actually talk.
Once Laurence' tears had somewhat dried, the first thing he did was downing the tea because he felt so parched. The warm liquid was nice on his burning throat. Aunt Pisk soon filled his teacup anew.
"Are you ready to talk?", Uncle Ryba asked and Laurence slowly nodded. He still needed a while to gather his thoughts, but then he slowly managed to speak.
"I overheard some other Blue Whistles in the guild and they said I talk too much and that is annoying. They even shunned and excluded me because of it."
Laurence paused to take a sip from the second cup of tea.
"Am I really talking that much? Is that so annoying?"
Uncle Ryba and Aunt Pisk shared a look, a look which Laurence didn't like.
"Ah, how should I put this.", Uncle Ryba started, "You know... you really like to say a lot of words. At once. Without pause. It could be called rambling. That can be... off-putting for people who don't know you well yet."
Laurence looked at Uncle Ryba and put his tea cup down. "So you are saying... I am annoying."
He could see how colour vanished from Uncle Ryba's face: "No, that is not what I said, just, uh..."
Aunt Pisk tried to help him out: "We aren't saying you are annoying, only that people can get a bit... overwhelmed if you talk to them, especially if they just met you."
Laurence had heard enough. He stood up and murmured: "So you really say I am annoying, no matter how much you try and sugarcoat it. And here I thought you would be on my side."
Laurence dashed out of the store without hearing the pleas of the couple for him to come back. He didn't want to talk with them anymore. He felt like his trust in them had been completely and utterly broken. How could they have lied to him like that?!
On the way back to the orphanage, Laurence wiped more tears out of his eyes. He really had enough of crying now. He was sixteen and not ten anymore. He hadn't even cried that much when he had fallen down a cliff in the first layer and broke his leg. (He had been lucky to have been found by the search party back then, or he would have died for sure).
At the orphanage, Laurence didn't feel like he wanted to do anything or see anyone, so he went to his room and cleaned his weapon to at least keep his hands busy a little bit. Today felt like such a disaster. He had found out why the hunting groups hadn't been formed, but in the same breath, he had found out that he got shunned and that even the adults in his life he thought he could trust thought that he was annoying.
The comment about him being better off to just do tourist tours and nothing else bubbled up again and Laurence felt himself get mad. He shouldn't have started crying in front of these assholes, he really should have stood up for himself. But it was too late now and everything he could have said back then hadn't been in his mind during the time he had needed it.
Eventually Laurence was called to dinner. He wasn't very hungry, but he knew the others would ask questions if he didn't show up, so he sat down at a table with his friends. He only ate a few forks of the food and then mindlessly pushed it around on his plate. He didn't even engage in the conversation that was going on among his friends.
"Laurence, are you sick?", That was Gehrman, "You haven't said a single word this evening and that normally is a sign that you feel nauseous..."
Laurence didn't feel like he wanted to talk, but he also didn't want to get pestered when he wasn't in the mood. "Is it that strange when I don't feel up to talking for one evening? It doesn't mean that I am feeling sick.", he replied.
"You?! Not up for talking?!", Maria blurted out, "Laurence, you normally say enough words for all of us during a single day. If the room is quiet, we can count on you to be the one who starts talking. You probably say thrice as many words as the average human."
"I wouldn't be surprised if you already said a million words before you even knew how to properly articulate yourself.", Micolash chimed in, "You must have been one chatty toddler."
"And don't forget all the times you debate with me about bugs and their use as bait.", Rom said.
"There you have it.", Gehrman concluded, "I am in the right to be concerned when you are not talking."
"I don't know, it is nice when it is quiet for a change.", Maria said, "I sometimes forget how loud he is."
"Means I can talk more about the Abyss, but only after I ate.", Micolash added.
Laurence was starting to have enough of this. These were supposed to be his friends and here they were making fun of him.
"Guys, I am not talking that much. Really not. I am sure I am not saying as many words as you just said I did. I am not getting up and talking the ear off the first person I encounter. I haven't stood there and talked thirty minutes to Uncle Ryba about fishing while he opened the store for the day. I haven't stayed late to explain to the tourists all kinds of things about the Abyss. I haven't stood in front of the mirror practising curses in twelve different languages. I haven't ranted to Gehrman for an hour about that blondie and I haven't..."
Laurence trailed off, reflecting for the first time on his own behaviour and how it could affect others. Especially the ones who didn't know him well.
"Quot erot demonstrandum.", Rom simply said, all while Gehrman had a certain concerned look on his face.
"You normally don't manage to shut up for even five minutes.", Maria said.
"Yeah, you even talk to me while we use the bathroom.", Micolash said, "Hey Rom, shall we bet if he can stay quiet for more than five minutes again? That earlier was kind of nice."
Laurence had heard enough. Again. He hated it as tears welled up in his eyes. He stood up and hissed at his "friends": "So you all always thought I was annoying. Why the fuck did none of you ever think to tell me that?!"
And then he was off, vaguely hearing Gehrman calling after him. This time he only could run into his room however and he threw himself on his bed, sobbing into the pillow. He really had enough of crying today, but it just kept happening.
After quite some time had passed, at least it was enough time that Laurence' tears had somewhat dried and his throat felt rather parched (again), somebody knocked at his door.
"Go away, I want to be alone.", he shot back in response, trying to make it sound threatening, but it sounded a lot more pathetic instead. Damn crying.
"Laurence, can I come in?", Gehrman gently asked, "I just want to talk."
Laurence considered sending him away, but Gehrman had been like a big brother for Laurence the moment he had come into the orphanage (where he also had been a sobbing mess thanks to still grieving for his late parents). Laurence wiped any lingering tears off his eyes and sat up, hoping that he didn't look as pathetic as he felt. During times like that he really wished he had a pet he could cuddle, but of course the orphanage didn't allow him to bring in cats.
"Come in.", he murmured, still sniffling a bit.
Gehrman entered the room with a bottle of juice which he handed to Laurence. Laurence didn't need to think twice about it, his throat was far too parched and he barely had eaten anything, so a majority of the juice landed in him right away.
Gehrman sat next to Laurence and waited until he was done with the juice (for now), then he kept speaking in the same gentle voice: "Something happened today, didn't it?"
Laurence only nodded, the memories of the awful day washing over him. He wondered how he should start. Probably at the beginning.
"Dr. Zoe told me that it was strange that the hunting groups never formed because no Blue Whistles came to her for treatment lately.", Laurence said, "And then I went to the guild and there I found out that-"
Laurence had to take a deep breath before he continued.
"They SHUNNED me. They didn't want me to go on delves with them because they said-", Laurence had to take another deep breath, "Because they said I am ANNOYING. And then I started crying and ran away and Uncle Ryba invited me in and then he also said I am annoying and then I came back here and you all made fun of me and I just don't want to cry anymore, but it keeps happening and I hate it and … do you really think I am that annoying?"
The words had just fallen out of his mouth like usual, but this time Laurence had been far more aware of how much stuff he could say in such a short time.
"Are you thinking you are annoying, Laurence?", Gehrman asked instead, giving his own question right back to him.
"Not fair.", he grumbled, but he really thought about it, "I... I guess I might be annoying...", he said, "I talk a lot and I guess I can be quite obnoxious when it comes to the Abyss and people talk trash about it or spread false rumours and stuff..."
"Laurence, when you were so mad at us earlier, you weren't mad because we called you annoying, but because we kept it a secret from you, correct?"
Laurence nodded. "I can't fathom why you would lie to me. Why did you never tell me to cut it back? Why did you always let me be so annoying? Why were you never bothered by me talking so much?"
"I know we teased you earlier.", Gehrman said, "But we actually like that you talk. All of us. I talked with Maria and Rom and Micolash and they are sorry. They say that it can get a bit much sometimes, but most of the time they say that it is comforting to hear you talk. Your voice is like a nice white noise when they are stuck doing boring tasks."
"They really have said that?", Laurence murmured, feeling how Gehrman laid a hand on his shoulder and then he was pulled in a tight hug.
"We are friends and we didn't say anything because we never thought you were annoying. You always were charming. If it would have been too much, we would have called you out."
"But... but the other Blue Whistles...", Laurence started and trailed off right away, not knowing how to finish the sentence.
"Have no clue what a great friend they are missing out on.", Gehrman said, "We all have our flaws, but believe me, Laurence, if simply 'talking too much' is a reason to shun you, then fuck them."
Laurence peeled himself out of the hug and stood up.
"You are right.", he said, "You are absolutely right. Fuck them! They think I am annoying?! Well, now I will be annoying on PURPOSE. They will regret ever having met me!"
Laurence turned around to face Gehrman, his face beaming.
"Thank you, Gehrman! Finally I know where I stand!"
Laurence left the room, letting Gehrman sit there dumbfounded.
"Laurence, nooo, that is not what I meant...", he murmured, his face in his hands. Hopefully Laurence wouldn't make any new enemies. Gehrman decided to keep an eye on him in the future.
Oh, and if he found the people who said the mean stuff about Laurence, they would wish they never had been born.
(Author's note: Well, it seemed like my break was enough to make me work on this story properly again. I hope you liked this chapter. I had planned for a long time that Laurence had trouble with the other Blue Whistles. Yuria is an OC of mine, but in the Bloodborne canon she is supposed to be the leader of the choir and she and Laurence are really hating each other. I decided to use her as his bully in this story.
Ryba and Pisk are simply names for fish in different languages that I used because I thought they sounded very MiA-like. I know that the kids saying aunt and uncle to the older adults is just a japanese suffix thing, but I liked the idea of them all being like a found family, so yeah, I am keeping that headcanon.
I really want to let them go back into the Abyss for more than a few paragraphs again and establish some more stuff, so I hope you'll stick with me. I have stuff planned for the Black Whistle arc!)
