He took Lukas through the streets and onto the porch of a short but wide home. It had a few windows that Lukas could see into, especially due to the fact that the sun was just about to wink away from the sky and the candles were lit inside. Lukas saw children's faces of both sexes peering out as they watched the actions of the two boys that were trailing river water behind them. The rescuer of the two knocked on the fitted wooden door and a rather plump woman opened it.

She had a kind but stern face, her once-dark brown hair was streaked with grey and was pulled into a loose bun. Wrinkles were beginning to form on her cheeks, eyes and forehead, and her eyes were a vibrant blue. Her dress was faded and had stains from years of wear and an apron in the same condition tied loosely around her waist. She furrowed her eyebrows at the sight in front of her- one of her orphans and a stranger, both drenched and rather filthy. The woman opened her mouth and inhaled some air to start bellowing questions, but that was before she saw Lukas's many bruises, cuts and scrapes. She ushered the boys in, shutting the door quickly behind them. As soon as Lukas entered the main room of the home -it was more of a remodeled nursing home than anything- he felt at least forty pairs of eyes focus in on him. He tried to pull in on himself, but the boy who had pulled him out of the river was urging him onward as they followed the woman. He spoke to her so quickly and in such a hushed voice that Lukas could not hear, nor understand any of what they were saying.

"I can handle it, it's not that bad."

"Arnesen, he needs more help than just bandaging."

"Na, you take care of everyone else and then come get him."

The woman, "Na" sighed. "Alright, Arnesen. I'll be back in thirty minutes." She then stalked off, ringing a small, hand-held bell as she walked among the children. All of them protested going to bed when something so interesting as an injured stranger was in their presence as they were herded into the hallways. The boy, Arnesen, did not leave, however. Lukas wished he would, it was awkward for him already, seeing as he felt embarrassed at this point.

"My name's Arnesen, by the way." The boy said as he pulled a small box out of the wall. Lukas nodded curtly.

"I assumed as much," he whispered. Arnesen froze when Lukas spoke, but resumed whatever he was doing rather quickly.

"Is that so," he muttered in response. He now exposed what was inside of the box; numerous cloth pieces and a jar of poultice. There was more inside the box, but Arnesen had not seemed to find the rest important at the moment. "Shirt," Arnesen said sternly, holding out his hand. Lukas shot him a baffled look. Arnesen smiled a bit and repeated himself. "Your shirt, take it off. I need to clean your wounds."

Lukas was hesitant, but he slid the shirt up and over his shoulders, handing the rags of what had once been a decent shirt to Arnesen. Arnesen set the shirt down next to him before he put some poultice on his hands and began to rub it on his hands. Lukas winced at Arnesen's hands touched the wounds on his arm, the poultice stinging the cuts and bruises. Lukas bit his lip and did not complain, however.

"So, what's your name? I told you mine, so it's only fair if I know yours too." Arnesen stated as he put more of the poultice on his hands and rubbed it onto Lukas's other wounds. Lukas waited for the immediate pain of the poultice to subside before he answered.

"They call me Lukas." He responded quietly. Arnesen smiled.
"Well, Lukas," he started, pausing as he applied more poultice, "you got yourself beat up awfully good. What did you do to anger them so much?" Arnesen was asking questions to pass the time, but also because he was curious. Lukas, on the other hand, had no initial intention of answering, but it seemed that his answer jumped out of his mouth before he could contain it.

"I never did anything to them." It was a true statement, but what Lukas never mentioned, and never would, was that this was not the first time he had been beaten as such. As soon as he had moved to this country he had been separated from his blood brother and left friendless due to his horribly shy nature. This had led to the feeling of hunter and prey from the small pack of boys that wandered the streets. They felt that Lukas was an easy enough target to attack and defeat every time.

There were a few instances when Lukas fought against them and had won. The next day the group would simply bring such a taller or stronger ally to beat him up. Eventually he stopped resisting and learned to take it. If his skin ever scarred, he would have lines cut into his back and arms from every angle and in every length.

Arnesen froze again when Lukas put voice to his answer, but returned to his nursing care of Lukas as quickly as he had left it. "They never have a reason," Arnesen whispered angrily. He looked at Lukas's bare arms and examined his work. "Your arms need time to dry before I put the bandages on them. Can you turn so your back is facing me?" Arnesen asked politely, and Lukas nodded, wincing as he adjusted his seating position. He hadn't realized how stiff his muscles had become or how tight his skin was until he moved. Arnesen saw the wince and put his hand on Lukas's shoulder, in a rare space that wasn't bruised, scratched or bleeding, and moved himself and his supplies to Lukas's backside. "Don't strain yourself. All you'll do is reopen your wounds."

He began to put more of the poultice on Lukas's back, but after realizing that his earlier tactic of applying the medicine to Lukas's arms was going to take forever if he did the same for Lukas's back. "I'm sorry Lukas, but this is going to hurt." He grabbed a large portion of the poultice and lathered it onto Lukas's back. Lukas tightened his grip on his pants, withholding a yell. Arnesen sighed. "Those boys shouldn't bother you much anymore, by the way," he whispered.

This confused Lukas yet again.

"Why?" His voice was hushed and hard to hear, but Arnesen could understand what Lukas had said. Arnesen's face was, for once, emotionless as he got more of the poultice to put on a different section of Lukas's back.

"Let's just say that they were... Taken care of." Arnesen's voice was low and serious. Lukas remained still, slouching a bit and clutching his hands tightly together. He did not respond for awhile, and at that point the corners of Arnesen's mouth had twitched upward. "It was a joke. I threatened them and they ran away with their tails between their legs." Arnesen said, laughing a bit. Lukas emitted a weak "ha", but that was the extent of his response. Arnesen furrowed his eyebrows, shook his head and changed topic. "Don't you live with anyone?" Arnesen stood up and went back to Lukas's front side to check on the arm wounds. Lukas was staring blankly at the wall behind Arnesen, the emotion and feeling that should be reflected in his eyes was only vacant and cold looking.

"I... I live alone." Lukas said, turning his attention to the floor in an ashamed fashion. "I would live with my brother, but when we arrived here he was separated from me," Lukas hung his head further. "I'm his elder brother, I'm supposed to take care of him, I'm supposed to be there for him, and he gets separated from me?" Lukas's voice began to waver. Arnesen reached out and tenderly touched the poultice he had applied earlier to see if it had dried to the right texture for the cloth to stay put. Deciding that it was dry enough, Arnesen took out the roll of medical cloth. He began to wrap the cloth around Lukas's arm and asked, "What does your brother look like?" Lukas looked up and met Arnesen's eyes directly.

"He has grey hair and violet eyes." His voice began to crack and for a split second Arnesen could see the agony that Lukas suffered through due to the situation. "He was the only family I had left." Lukas said, his voice hushed again as he tilted his head away from Arnesen, and though he could not see Lukas's eyes he could see the single tear that streaked down Lukas's face. It snaked down the bridge of Lukas's nose and clung to the tip before falling onto the floorboards. Lukas made no motion towards wiping it off. Arnesen paused, sensing a sensitive moment. He reached the bottom of Lukas's arm with the bandage and ripped the excess cloth off, tucking the extra fabric underneath. He then started wrapping Lukas's other arm.

Lukas remained silent, which bothered Arnesen, but he knew better than to push someone like Lukas too far. As he finished wrapping Lukas's other arm, he leaned over to prod Lukas's back gently, checking again to see if the poultice was dry enough. He then silently indicated to Lukas that his arms needed to be raised, and Lukas gave a small nod to show that he understood. Arnesen then began wrapping Lukas's entire torso, knowing it was better to cover the whole back than cover parts and leave some wounds open. As he finished he once again ripped the cloth and tucked it under the tightly woven bandage, patting it for a sense of finality.

It was at this point that Arnesen noticed that Lukas's ribs showed through his skin. Everything about Lukas seemed to be thin, now that it was brought to his attention. Arnesen bit the inside of his cheek and stood up, leaving Lukas alone for a time span of about two minutes. When Arnesen came back he had a small muffin that had been set out for his breakfast and held it out to Lukas. Lukas looked at the muffin and tilted his head, but reluctantly and painfully held out a shaking cupped hand. Arnesen dropped the muffin into Lukas's hands, and Lukas took a small bite of the muffin. As he chewed, he muttered a small "takk," and took another bite.

Arnesen smiled at the hunched figure, but his was an empty smile, no joy or happiness behind it, but instead perhaps pity. Arnesen walked to the fireplace, of which had a dying fire's embers glowing dully. He grabbed some firewood from the side of the fireplace and threw it onto the embers, poking it and reviving the fire until it was emitting a momentous amount of heat for such a small fireplace. Lukas made no movement towards it, but his eyes darted to the fire in an animalistic way. Arnesen realized, at that point, that had Lukas been living in the streets he most likely hadn't been around a fire for quite some time. Sighing, Arnesen motioned to Lukas that it was okay to move by the fire. Arnesen also noticed that Lukas had already finished the muffin. He noted that Na could make him something special to eat tomorrow morning.

Arnesen left once more, but came back with pillows, blankets, and fresh clothing. He began arranging a makeshift bed. There was no mattress, but the pillows would aid to making the floor not seem so hard. Arnesen tapped Lukas's shoulder, of which was turned away from him. He held out the dry pants to Lukas. "Here, these are some of my sleeping pants, you can borrow them for tonight." Lukas looked at Arnesen strangely, as though the concept of someone being generous to him was completely foreign. Arnesen reminded himself that to Lukas, kindness most likely was a foreign notion, and this saddened Arnesen's gentle heart enormously. Lukas took the pants slowly, but after watching him struggle with changing for five minutes, Arnesen offered to help. Lukas did not protest, and while Arnesen changed Lukas's pants his face reddened at the embarrassment of being reduced to needing help with such a simple task. Lukas nodded to Arnesen in gratitude once Arnesen had changed out of his own sopping clothes. Lukas's eyes diverted to the fire and he became fixated on the leaping flames. Arnesen sighed and tenderly gripped Lukas's shoulder.

"Come on, get some rest. I'll stay out here with you," Lukas looked over his shoulder at Arnesen's hand, snaking his eyes up to meet Arnesen's. Reluctantly, Lukas began pulling himself over to the makeshift bed. As Lukas neared the bed, Arnesen pulled the blanket upward so that Lukas didn't have to lift it. Lukas laid down on his right side, the side that he had been able to protect better and was therefore less injured. Arnesen tucked the blanket from Lukas's toes to his chin, making sure that Lukas was well covered. It was not long before Lukas's eyes were shut and his breathing steady. Arnesen pulled himself under the blankets and rested his head on the other pillow. He could feel Lukas's body heat from where he laid and waited until he was absolutely sure that Lukas was asleep before he closed his own eyes.

Na came in ten minutes later only to find both of the boys sound asleep. She smiled to herself and went to her own bed, knowing better than to wake them.

The next morning Arnesen woke up before Lukas. Na was already awake when he rolled over, so he decided to help Na set out the food for the other kids. As the smaller children filed in they were loud and obnoxious as children usually are, but one followed behind the rest, holding a worn blanket to his chest. He held the blanket up to his chin, loneliness and fear echoed in the little one's eyes. Arnesen noticed this and walked over to the child. The little boy blinked up at Arnesen, his violet eyes seeming to stare right through Arnesen and at the wall behind his head.

"Hey there, buddy. Something bothering you?" Arnesen asked, bending down so that his height was more similar to that of the boy's. The child sniffled, but that was all. Arnesen sighed and turned to face Na. "Hey Na, what's this one's name?" He asked her, and she spared paying attention to the other kids for a second to look over and reply "Oh, his name's Emil, apparently. I found him by the docks crying all by himself in the middle of the night."

Arnesen's eyebrows furrowed as he turned back to Emil.

"Do you have a family, Emil?" Arnesen asked, knowing it was probably a sensible question, but that it had to be asked.

"I have... A... A big b-bro...ther..." Emil muttered back, tucking his face further into the blanket he carried as his eyes began to well up. Arnesen raised his eyebrows, looking over at Lukas's hunched, sleeping figure.

"Your big brother, eh? What does your brother look like?"

"B-blue eyes and b-blonde hair like our daddy had, and a nose l-like our m-mommy." It was at this point when Emil's tears overflowed and spilled down his cheeks. He almost threw the blanket over his eyes in an attempt to conceal his crying. Arnesen noted that Emil was a silent crier, no moaning or whining as the tears fell. However, Arnesen still felt obligated to do something for the little boy. Arnesen walked over to Lukas, shoving his shoulder a bit. Lukas's eyes flew open, but soon they relaxed and were as usual.

"Morning Lukas," Arnesen whispered, and Lukas groaned a bit. "I... I just have one question, and then I won't ask any more on the topic, but what was the name of your brother?" Lukas pulled himself onto his shoulders slowly.

"'S name's Emil," Lukas looked up and straight into Arnesen's eyes, "and he means the world to me." Arnesen nodded, going back to Emil, whose sniffling was now heard. Arnesen grabbed his plate, of which had another muffin on it and grabbed an extra, placing the two side by side. Once he did this he reached down and tapped Emil's shoulder.

"Would you like to eat with me this morning?" He asked gently, and while Emil gave no response, he pulled his blanket down so his eyes peeked out. Arnesen pretended to look around for a place to sit, and started walking towards Lukas. Emil followed and sat down next to Arnesen after Arnesen had gotten comfortable, and Emil looked at the plate curiously. Arnesen picked up the extra muffin he had taken and handed it to Emil, who promptly broke it in half and gave the bigger half to Arnesen. "Thank you," he said, nodding to Emil. "You know, Lukas, your brother sure is sweet." Arnesen said, smirking to himself as he sunk his teeth into the muffin. Lukas jolted upward, looking first at Arnesen in bewilderment before his eyes rolled down to the small figure of Emil.

"E-Emil?" Lukas gaped, the blanket that had covered his bare and bandaged skin falling away from his shoulders. Both of them stared at the other in disbelief. Emil dropped his own blanket before he launched toward Lukas, and time seemed to slow down as Emil's arms wrapped around Lukas's neck while Lukas caught and returned Emil's embrace. Lukas fell back and onto his pillow from the force of the hug, but he did not mind as he dug his head into Emil's shoulder. Lukas had a few tears running down his face, and Emil was bawling. Lukas pushed both of them into a sitting position, and when he lifted his face from Emil's shoulder he had a grin plastered across his face as he whispered not so quietly "I missed you so much," into Emil's ear. Emil nodded, but was too busy crying to respond. Both were shaking as they clutched at each other, smiling madly as their faces dug into each other's shoulders. The scene warmed Arnesen's heart; knowing deep down that he had done the right thing.

Later on, Na checked Lukas's wounds and stitched up the deep cuts. After explaining what had happened to Emil, Arnesen adding in a few details, the three looked at each other in a different way than before.

When school started that fall, it had been about four weeks since Lukas had joined Na's orphanage and was able to call it home. Arnesen was close enough to Lukas's age that they were put in most of the same classes, which led to them getting to be rather close. Na taught Emil in her miniature preschool, along with the rest of the children his age.

When enough kids got adopted or came of an age where they could live on their own, Lukas, Arnesen and Emil got a room to themselves. Most nights after Emil had fallen asleep, Lukas and Arnesen would talk. They talked about random things, such as other kids in class, a funny memory from the day, or even something that happened in a book they were reading. One night Arnesen's nightshirt's sleeve was rolled up and Lukas could see a dark bruise on his elbow. Lukas snatched Arnesen's arm, knocking Arnesen off balance. "What the-" Arnesen exclaimed quietly as his arm was snatched from underneath him.

"When did this happen?" Lukas asked as he examined Arnesen's arm. Arnesen flushed.

"Well, you see, uh," Arnesen knew better than to try and talk himself out of this one. This time, it was all about the delivery. "Those kids that used to pick fights with you and hurt you, they were saying stuff behind your back," he said, not looking Lukas in the eyes. Lukas squinted at Arnesen, put the palm of his hand under Arnesen's chin and forced the other to meet his gaze.

"Like what? It's nothing worth getting yourself hurt over." Arnesen let his eyes drop to the ground as he whispered his answer.

"They were saying that we act like a couple all the time and that you acted too much like a girl."

Lukas furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't see the big deal," he paused and let Arnesen's arm drop onto his ribcage. "What's it to them anyway? Not that big of a deal even if we were a couple." Lukas shrugged as he turned away for a moment, and when he faced Arnesen again there was cloth in his arms. What Arnesen didn't know, however, was that Lukas's heart was racing. "Because you don't like me that way, right?" Arnesen blushed slightly but shook his head.

What Lukas didn't know was that Arnesen really, really liked Lukas, even though Arnesen knew that he wasn't ready for a relationship. Arnesen didn't know that Lukas really, really liked him back, but Lukas knew that he wasn't ready as well. As Arnesen shook his head, he unintentionally crushed both himself and Lukas. Himself from having the opportunity and blowing it, Lukas from being rejected.

What neither of them knew as Lukas began to bind Arnesen's arm, was that a very awake and eavesdropping Emil had heard the entire conversation and was smiling to himself, silently knowing what no one else at that time knew.