Notes: Just to make this perfectly clear, I don't know where I'm taking this story. I'm just going with the flow so it will no doubt, become a long one with many-a-chapter. Hope it's enjoyed by all who read it.
Warning: SLASH!-Yaoi. Whatever you people call it. Male/male relationships! Mild-angst. AU! I'll add more if I think it's necessary.
Two: Introduction Revelation.
"Duo!"Helena cried as she rushed over to him. "What's the matter Duo?" He felt the hand on his shoulder and reluctantly turned around. Though as soon as he was facing the Sister, he realised he was also facing his future-possible-adoptive parents. His eyes hardened once again.
"I'll just go pack my things shall I?" He ground out before bowing his head slightly at Sister Helena and exiting the kitchen.
"Duo!"Helena called him back, but the youth didn't respond.
"Oh dear, what is the matter with him?" Mrs Charlatan questioned.
x-x-x-x-x
Duo growled as he threw his clothing into the first of two large duffel bags. He hated being told what to do. And he despised being told what he was 'going' to do – as if the person telling him had already made the decision for him. He only listened to Sister Helena's requests because they were always kind and polite and he respected her greatly for all her work here.
Once the first duffel bag was full, he moved onto the next one. He shoved in his remaining two pairs of jeans as well as he underwear before piling photographs in from around his room as well as the laptop he'd bought the week previous. Ten minutes and a number of other items later, Duo was sat at the bottom of the stone steps outside the main entrance of the orphanage.
"Hey, Duo." The teen recognised the voice as that belonging to Morgan-Roe's from before and scowled.
"What?" He demanded.
"Listen, I'm sorry for pissing you off earlier." Despite his foul mood, Duo couldn't help but crack the merest of smiles at the language Morgan used.
"I don't do well with being told what I'm going to be doing." He offered as an explanation to his outburst. He knew he had to at least try get along with these people, and since he didn't exactly start on a high note with them, he may as well try and make it up. "I choose what I'm doing, where I'm doing it and when I'm doing it. When I'm asked to do something, I'll choose whether or not I'll be doing it. I'm not trying to act like I'm a spoilt brat who always gets his own way, because I'm not. Hell, I'm far from it. I just don't react in a positive manner when told for example where I'm going to be living till at least my 18th birthday." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Morgan nod silently, a thoughtful expression on her face.
Her hair was short and was streaked a number of colours. Her eye make-up was dark but didn't seem to take over her face. Her skin was slightly pale; her cheekbones were high with soft curves. And to finish, her nose had a nose-stud in its left side and her lips donned a lip ring as well as a light coat of rose lipstick.
"I think I can understand." She said finally. "You might enjoy it at ours though. Mom and Dad are great, the neighbours are fantastic. We have this next door neighbour with two children. Well, two twin teenagers. They're my age, 16. The girl is called Hilde. She's-" But before she could continue her explanations, the door behind them opened. Morgan looked back to see her parent's and Sister Helena step out onto the porch.
Duo lowered his eyes to the ground and slowly got to his feet. "I'm going to say bye to the kids. Back in a few minutes." He said before disappearing around the corner and towards the back garden. When he reached his destination he stopped to just watch them. They looked happy with each other. Happy playing with each other.
He sighed and whistled loudly, gaining their attention. He motioned for them all over to him. When they were all around him he crouched down so he was at eye level with some of the youngest of the bunch.
"Listen guys." He began, trying to find appropriate words. "I've got some news for you all. You see I'm… Sister Helena has found me a home to live in." Gasps and cries of anguish were heard from the group. The three year old Kim, rushed forward and threw her arms around Duo's neck.
"Duo no!" She cried and he hugged her close to him.
"I'll be back. I'm going for a week and seeing if I like it. After that I can either come back here or stay there." He pulled away from the child and kissed her forehead. "But if I stay there, I'll be coming back here anyway. There's no way I'm leaving all you here on your own. I'll visit all the time, I promise you." He looked at them all in turn and saw various levels of sadness and hurt. The oldest among the group was 13 year old Tara. She had her arms folded over her chest and was looking at Duo with a small smile on her face.
"Good luck Duo." She said to him before walking back around to the front of the building and in through the front door. A second of silence passed after her departure and he was attacked with hugs and tearful goodbyes.
Five minutes later, Duo walked from the back garden, down the side of the house (the path beside the drive way) and stopped at his bike. He saw that his bags had already been taken to the Charlatan's car and offered the couple a small smile of thanks. He kicked up the stand of his bike and steadied it with one hand whilst he picked up the helmet he'd left on the back, hooking it over his wrist.
Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Sister Helena walk towards him with an almost regretful look on her face. He turned to face her and grinned brightly in spite of himself.
"Sorry about earlier, I was upset." He offered and she smiled as she hugged him.
"Take care of yourself Duo. I'll see you in a week."
"Will do." He kissed her cheek and rolled his bike down the drive way and onto the road, halting at the curb side. He looked at the Charlatans and smiled slightly. "I'll follow you on this… If that's alright" He said, a minute trace of fear lining his voice. He didn't want to leave his bike behind and although Sister Helena had told him they had approved of him having it, he still was cautious.
"That's perfectly fine Duo." Mr Charlatan said before he and his wife got into their car. Duo figured Morgan-Roe had already slipped into the back seat and had been waiting for them. He slipped on his helmet, secured it tightly and started up his bike.
He gave the car a ten second head start before following. He realised with no surprise that he wouldn't be finding the route back to the orphanage a hassle. He knew these streets like the back of his hand. The surrounding areas were a hobby that each time he went out for a ride without any particular purpose in mind, he'd create more lines on his mental map.
It was actually a 20 minute drive to his 'new' home and he filed the information away to 'inform' Sister Helena at the next opportunity.
When he arrived at the Charlatan's house a full 25 seconds after they did due to him slowing a little to view the neighbourhood, he saw Mr Charlatan removing his bags from the boot of the car.
The street was nice. It wasn't too posh, prim nor proper… it was peace and ease all rolled into one. It looked like the area the Orphanage was in and that thought alone made Duo smile. He cut the engine to his bike when he stopped directly behind the Charlatan's car in their drive way.
He unclipped his helmet and pulled it off, shaking his head a little to loosen up his hair. He kicked the stand down and removed himself from his bike to go over (after he clipped on a complex three-tier bike lock) and relieve Mr Charlatan of Duos own bags.
"It's alright Mr Charlatan, I'll get those." Duo said quickly as he picked up the bags.
"Are you sure they aren't a little heavy?" The man asked in concern. Duo just looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he effortlessly picked both bags up. "Not too heavy then." Mr Charlatan grinned. The braided youth grinned back and followed the family into their – his house.
Once inside the house Duo was immediately shown to the room he'd be using. It wasn't big but it was big enough to fit a double bed and a desk in comfortably. There was a wardrobe built-in to the wall opposite the wall his bed was placed against. He put his bags on the bed and opened one of them. He then fished out his laptop and set it atop of the desk.
"Are you alright?" Mrs Charlatan asked from her position leaning against the open door frame. She smiled as he started a little.
"I'm dandy Mrs Charlatan. It just takes a bit of getting used to, that's all." He explained with a wry smile. "In the morning I'll be expecting Kim and Charlie to be bounding into my room and jumping on my bed, waking me up to play with them before breakfast is ready and they have to go with Sister Helena to school to drop the rest of the kids off." Mrs Charlatan laughed at the thought.
"Please, call me Annie or if you don't feel you can… call me Mrs C. It really doesn't matter to me as long as it's not Mrs Charlatan. It makes me feel older than I actually am." Duo chuckled and leaned back against his desk, folding his arms over his chest. "Duo, about earlier. What was the matter? If you don't want to answer, its fine, I just wanted to know. I mean, it wasn't anything to do with me or James was it?" She asked almost tentatively.
"No, it wasn't anything to do with you or Mr Charlatan. It was just the way Morgan-Roe worded something she said to me. It just had me riled up the wrong way. I know she didn't mean to say it how she did but it just got to me. It's nothing big and we've both apologised." Mrs C remained standing leaning against the door frame as Duo started to place various framed photographs around his room. Her interest was piqued when she saw his eyes lingering longer than the others one of the two he put on his bed-side table. She slowly walked over to it, making sure he knew she was there but remaining quiet all the same.
"His name was Solo." Duo offered when she picked the image up to get a better look. It was Duo obviously, his laughing eyes and long braid gave his identity away straight away but there was an older boy stood behind him with his arms wrapped tightly around Duo's chest. The boy had shoulder length black hair and had grinning bright blue eyes. His skin was tanned and that fact seemed to be made more prominent by the fact that he wore a brilliant white shirt.
"Was he your brother?" Mrs C asked the youth as he unpacked his clothing. When she received no answer she shook her head. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that. I didn't mean to pry."
"No, it's fine. Solo was like a brother to me. He was… he was the best friend I could ever have." He let out a low chuckle. "He saved my hide many-a-time. We'd run rings around Sister Helena and Father Maxwell. They'd sometimes lecture Solo on how old he was and how it was his job to set a good example for the younger children at the home. The truth was, both Father Maxwell and Sister Helena didn't mind the messes we used to get into. It livened what could have become a very dreary place up." He paused and took a deep breath.
Mrs C seemed to get that Duo either couldn't go on talking about his friend any more at this point, or he wasn't ready to let it out to a stranger just yet so she smiled and placed the photo back on the bedside table.
"It's alright Duo. Do you fancy coming to see the next door neighbours with me?" The youth thought about it for all of three seconds before he found himself nodding an affirmative to her. "Great!" Mrs C said enthusiastically. "Come on then, let's go. You can finish unpacking later on and we can see about fixing the net through to this room if you like." He stared at her in shock. He had expected a welcome, of course he had. But he hadn't expected this level of kindness.
Before she could question him on his silence however, he shook his head and smiled at her as he held an arm out for her to take. Giggling like a school girl, she took it and led him out of the room, down the stairs and out of the house.
"We'll be back in ten minutes James! I'm taking Duo to meet Kei and the twins." Mrs C called out as she closed the front door behind them both. "I think Kei will like you, I know Hilde will absolutely love you if not for the fact that she can pout her way into getting a chance to play with your hair." She laughed at the scowl working its way onto Duo's face. "Come on Duo! You've got hair most girls would die for and most hairdressers would give their right leg to work on. You have to feel good about that on some level." She chuckled at the light blush working its way across his cheeks.
Written by Diluted Industry.