Chapter Four: Living Arrangements

Yuri still struggled to comprehend how much food was on the table. There was a pile of sliced roast beef, a bowl of mashed potatoes fluffy as clouds, a basket with a bakery's worth of bread, salads so green and colourful they could have come from a painting, and more sauces than Yuri knew what to do with. This was a complete feast, and yet Flynn and Estellise reacted like it was just a typical weeknight meal. Even more amazingly, it was for them.

They sat at the dining table in Flynn's apartment on soft, leather-bound chairs. There was so much silverware it boggled Yuri's mind, and he'd stared at the array of forks, knives, and spoons in utter confusion until Flynn took away all but one of each and told him not to worry about it. He drank milk from a crystal cup that glittered under the small chandelier, but even that wasn't much compared to the elegant wine glasses Flynn and Estellise had (they wouldn't let him try the wine).

Yuri spent the entire meal concentrated on eating. Flynn and Estellise were talking about work stuff and Yuri couldn't bring himself to pay attention. Besides, it was going to take a lot of effort to finish his plate. Near the end of the meal, Yuri rolled a baby carrot around a clear space on his plate as he built up the energy to eat it. Determined to get it over with, he jabbed his fork into it and took a deep breath.

Estellise looked away from Flynn. "Oh, Yuri, don't stuff yourself."

"What?"

"Don't keep eating if you're full."

Yuri lowered the fork slightly. "I haven't finished yet."

Flynn, who'd put his knife and fork down several minutes ago despite the potatoes still on his plate, said, "It's ok, Yuri. We can just send the leftovers back and the kitchen will take care of it."

"But your mom always said it was really wasteful not to finish your plate."

Flynn frowned as he shifted his weight. "Well… yes, but remember that my mom had to work very hard to afford food. We don't have to worry about that here, so it's more important not to make yourself sick by overeating."

"If you say so." Yuri stared at the food left on his plate. It just felt wrong to not eat it, but at the same time, his stomach really was full.

"So, Yuri," Flynn said, "I started making inquiries today about potential adoptive homes for you. There's nothing concrete yet, but there was some interest."

Thoughts of food vanished from his mind and he whipped his head up from the plate. "Wait, what? Adoptive homes? I thought I was staying here?"

"You can stay here for now, but I'm talking about long term."

"Yeah, here. What's wrong with staying here?"

"Weren't you complaining today about how bored you were?"

"Well… yeah, but that doesn't mean I want to go live with someone else! Who? Someone in the lower quarter?"

Flynn shook his head. "No, I'm looking at wealthier couples in the royal quarter or the upper end of the public quater."

Yuri's fist hit the table hard enough to make the silverware rattle. "You want to send me off to live with some rich people?!"

"I want to find you loving, supporting parents who can afford to give you everything you need."

Yuri stuck out his chin; he couldn't believe Flynn was even suggesting this. "I never had parents before. Why do I need them now?"

Flynn was clearly holding in frustration. "Because you shouldn't have to grow up an orphan. I'm going to find you a nice family - they won't be corrupt, snooty nobles. Nice rich people exist."

Yuri highly doubted there were many of them. "I don't even need a family. I can take care of myself. I'm already almost teenager."

"You're eight!"

"Yeah! So I'll be thirteen in five years, and I was born eight years ago, so I'm more than halfway there." See, he didn't need stupid adoptive parents. He could already do math.

"You wouldn't be able to live on your own even if you were thirteen."

"Could too!"

"Could not!"

They glared at each other across the table, both stubbornly daring the other to flinch first. Estellise awkwardly glanced between them and fiddled with her hands on the table.

"Um…" she said, "maybe we should try to talk about this rationally. Flynn, you should discuss living arrangements with Yuri before deciding anything. And Yuri, I think it would be wonderful if Flynn finds a loving family to adopt you. I always wished I had parents, so you shouldn't turn down this chance."

Flynn relaxed back into his chair and tried to calm his face. "Right. I'm sorry. We can talk about this, Yuri. I wouldn't send you to live with someone if you weren't completely happy with them."

Yuri, though, wasn't ready to give in. "Fine!" The chair skidded as he stood. "Give me away! I know when I'm not wanted!"

"Yuri, it's not like that at all. I'm trying to do what's best for you!"

Yuri whirled around and stomped to Flynn's bedroom. "You grew up to be such a jerk, Flynn!" He slammed the door behind him.

He heard Flynn call, "That's not even your room!"

Yuri didn't care, though. He didn't have a bedroom of his own to slam the door of, and sometimes you just needed to storm off and smash a door to feel better. He clambered onto Flynn's enormous bed and threw himself onto the pillows.

Stupid. Flynn was stupid for wanting to get rid of him, and Yuri was stupid for thinking he could stay here forever. What he wanted was for things to go back to normal and go back to living with Mrs. Scifo in his own neighbourhood. He couldn't stay with her, obviously, but he'd like to go back to the lower quarter. Yeah, life was tough there, but it was home. Flynn should go home and live there and share his money and food and clothes with everyone else and then things wouldn't be so tough! But even that wasn't going to happen, so as a last resort he could handle staying here in the castle with Flynn. Even Estellise was nice and he could be happy here.

Flynn didn't want him to stay, though. It made sense; Flynn had a super busy job and he thought Yuri needed to be taken care of all the time. Flynn was making the Empire a better place and that was important. Yuri didn't want to get in the way and he didn't want to go live with some rich strangers, so he'd have to go live on his own. There were plenty of places in the lower quarter he could live, and maybe he could take some things from the castle just to get himself set up. When Flynn came to find him, he'd see how independent and grown-up Yuri was and realize he didn't need to find a family for him. It would be perfect.

After his bedroom door slammed, Flynn leaned forward and rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry."

"Huh? What are you apologizing for?"

"I was shouting childishly." He raised his head and sighed. "Talking to Yuri sometimes makes me feel like I'm eight years old again."

"It's ok. I think you're handling this pretty well considering how surreal it is."

"I'll say," Flynn muttered. It was still so hard to believe this really was the Yuri he'd lost. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing? I mean, what right do I have to decide how he lives? I'm not even related to him. We were friends when I was a kid, but does that give me the right to tell him who his parents are going to be?"

"Um…" Estellise bit her lip in thought. "I think you have to. As much as I love the idea of freedom of choice, I don't think that freedom necessarily applies to small children. I know if I could do whatever I wanted when I was eight, I would have eaten nothing but cake and run away to start a pony farm. Kids need an adult to make them go to classes and eat their vegetables and things like that. So, I think you're right for deciding these things for him. After all, he doesn't have anyone else to do that."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." He just hoped he wasn't agreeing with her only to ease his conscience. "I had to work so hard to make something of myself. He shouldn't have to if he doesn't need to."

"It's scary to imagine complete strangers being declared your parents. He's probably really nervous about that."

"Plus, Yuri has always been fiercely independant. I understand why he's unhappy, but in the long term he'd be so much better off in a stable family."

"I bet he'll understand and appreciate it once everything is settled. But what about sending him home? Have you told him we're going to try that?"

Flynn turned his eyes to the door. "No…. I don't want to get his hopes up. It's a very small chance."

Estellise nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. Well, for what it's worth, I think you're doing a really good job!"

He smiled at her. "Heh, thank you very much. Now what was that about you wanting a pony farm?"

She blushed and hunched her shoulders. "I was eight. I thought they were cute."

"I could buy you a pony, if you want." He had to admit, he still had a bit of a thrill at the idea that he was now wealthy enough that he could buy someone a pony if he wanted to.

She giggled. "I don't know what I'd even do with it. Besides, I'm the empress. I could have a whole stable of ponies if I wanted to!"

"That you could."

"And I'd name them all after my favourite characters."

Still slightly distracted by thoughts of Yuri, he said. "Of course you would."

She pouted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

This was one of the crossroads where a conversation could either end swimmingly or drowning-ly. Flynn saw the riptide coming and put on his most charming smile. "That you're endearingly passionate about literature."

Estellise gave him a skeptical look, but seemed to accept this save. "Do you want me to stay over tonight? I mean…" she glanced over her shoulder at the door, "do you think it would be awkward with him here?"

"You know I'm always fond of your company. We can have a quiet night." He rose to his feet and pressed his fists against the table. "Now, though, I'd better go talk to Yuri before he sulks all night. Or, worse, climbs out the window in a bid for freedom." Based on what he remembered of Yuri, the latter option wasn't entirely unbelievable.

Flynn knocked on the door, feeling slightly silly for knocking on his own bedroom, and entered after Yuri failed to respond for ten seconds. Yuri sat crosslegged on the bed with a pillow hugged to his chest, his chin resting on the top.

His eyes turned up as Flynn entered and wrinkled his nose. "What do you want? Is it time to auction me off to the highest bidder already?"

Flynn sat on the side of the bed. For a long moment, he said nothing. It took him some time to pull his thoughts together and figure out how he wanted to approach this. Yuri had been his friend and in his memories they were always equals. Flipping that around took some getting used to, and no doubt it was even harder for Yuri, who'd hung out with child-Flynn only a day ago. When he'd finally settled on a course of conversation, he said, "Do you remember that time we 'made' bread when we were five?"

Yuri dropped his disgruntlement in surprise. "Huh?"

"You know, when we found those weeds that we were sure were wheat."

"Oh, yeah, I remember. So we picked them all and brought them home and asked your mom to show us how bread gets made from wheat."

"Then we put them in that big bowl and ground them up with some salt and pepper, poured the mess into a pan, and stuck it in the oven."

Yuri laughed. "We wanted to sit and watch it cook but your mom made us go play outside. When we came back in an hour later, there was fresh bread in the oven!"

Flynn smiled at the memory. "We were so proud."

"I know it wasn't real, though." Yuri pulled his arms up and rested them on top of the pillow so it nearly bent double. "She just want to the bakery and bought a fresh loaf, then put it in the oven to trick us."

Of course Yuri remembered. It had only been three years ago for him. "We really thought we were professional bakers for a while, though. We didn't figure it out until Dad spilled the beans when we were seven."

Yuri cracked a smile. "Man, you shoulda seen your face. You were so betrayed!"

"You were, too!"

"Was not!"

"Were too! You thought we'd really baked it, too."

Yuri folded his arms. "Maybe, but that's just 'cause you said we did and I trusted you."

This was quickly going off topic so Flynn reeled it in. "But we really thought we knew how it worked when we were five, didn't we? Three years later, you think you were pretty silly for believing that, right?"

Yuri shrugged. "I guess so."

"You learned stuff in those years. You learned more about how the world works. You can make much more informed decisions now than when you were five, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, do you think it's possible that in the thirteen years I've been alive longer than you, I've learned a lot, too?"

Yuri's face froze as he realized he'd been caught in agreeing with Flynn. "Well… uh… I guess… maybe…."

"Someday when you're twenty-two, you'll know all sorts of things and no one will tell you how you have to live your life. But for now, maybe you can take my advice? You said you trusted me about the bread… so can you trust me about this?"

Yuri squirmed to find a way out of this. "But why do I have to go live with strangers?"

Promising him he'd like it wasn't going to get anywhere. "Sometimes we have to do things we don't want so that we can become stronger. Like practicing with a sword. All the practice is really boring, but you have to do it because it's good for you."

"Are you good with a sword?"

"I like to think so."

"If you make me go live with other people, can I still come back here and you can teach me how to sword fight?"

Flynn smiled. "Of course. And I won't make you live with people you won't like. I really want to find a good family for you."

Yuri moaned. "But why do I need one? You don't have one, either, and you turned out ok!"

"Yes, but it was very hard. After I lost my mom, I very nearly starved on the streets. I care about you, so I don't want you to suffer like I did."

"But I wouldn't suffer. I could handle it."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. I'm tougher than you."

Flynn folded his arms. "Now where did you get that idea?"

"Ha! I've always been!"

"You think so?" Flynn pulled himself the rest of the way onto the the bed and tackled Yuri. He pinned him to the mattress and then pulled the blanket over Yuri to trap him below.

"Ah! Get off me!" Yuri tried to kick Flynn through the blanket, but Flynn held it down too tight.

Flynn laughed as Yuri struggled. "Who's tougher now, huh?"

"No fair! You're bigger than me!"

Yuri kicked and squirmed for nearly a minute before Flynn released him. The blanket was pulled back and Yuri emerged, tousle-haired and red-faced. Flynn smiled innocently at him.

Yuri shoved him as hard as he could. "Jerk."

The next morning, Flynn kissed Estellise in the doorway before she headed to her own apartment to get ready for the day. Flynn turned back to the kitchen, but there was a pair of eyes staring at him. Oh. Yuri had woken up. "Good morning."

"Hi."

"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah."

"I'm having cereal." He reached the kitchen and fumbled in the cupboard. "Do you want some?"

"Sure."

Flynn pulled out two bowls and busied himself with pouring the cereal. He had just started to pour the milk when Yuri asked a question.

"Did you and Estellise have sex?"

The glass pitcher clinked as Flynn nearly dropped it and splashed milk on the counter. His head snapped up and he gaped at Yuri's inquiring eyes. "Did we - what?"

"Sex. Is that why you were sleeping in the same bed last night?"

"N-no - we didn't - we were just sleeping. What do you know about sex?!"

Yuri shrugged. "I dunno, I was hoping you could tell me."

Flynn slowly rested the pitcher on the counter and reached for a cloth to wipe up the milk. "What makes you think we had sex if you don't even know what it is?"

"Well, last year I was talking about how weird it is that rich people sleep in the same bed if they can afford their own. And then Roger said it was so they could have sex."

Flynn nodded slowly, vaguely recalling this conversation. Roger had lived on their street but was four or five years older than them. He remembered the heated discussion he'd had with Yuri afterwards as they tried to work out what a 'sex' was and why grown-ups would want one while they were sleeping.

"Roger refused to explain because he said we were too little. I think he didn't actually know. But now you're a grown-up who was sleeping in the same bed, so does that mean you know what it is?"

"I… yes, I know what it is…."

"Cool! So, what is it?"

Flynn just stared at him. Yuri was still too young for this, wasn't he? He was only eight. Flynn hadn't known when he was Yuri's age; he distinctly recalled his mom giving him a talk a year or two after Yuri vanished. What was he even supposed to say? He had to go to work soon. "It's… well… you know how people kiss and hug when they're in love?"

Yuri nodded. "Yeah."

"Sex is something like that. When adults love each other a lot, they do it together."

"Do you do it?"

Were his cheeks actually bright red or was he overestimating the warmth? "S-sometimes…." He tried to concentrate on fishing spoons out of the drawer.

"How does it work? I mean… what is it?"

Flynn stuck the spoons in the bowls and carried one to Yuri. "I'll tell you when you're older; eat your cereal."

"But-"

Flynn stuck the spoon in his mouth and then walked back to his own breakfast. Before Yuri could ask anything else, he abruptly changed the subject. "Some friends of mine are going to be in town today. One of them, Rita, is a very smart mage. I was thinking she could help explain how you got here. Can you come to my office around ten to meet them?"

Yuri nodded. "Sure. What should I do until then?"

Flynn shrugged. "Whatever you want. Just don't leave the castle grounds and don't bother anyone."

Yuri rolled his eyes. "Yes, Flynn."

Yuri managed to keep himself entertained that morning. The castle was dull, but this time he had a friend. Repede had joined him, and racing along the barren halls was much more fun when he had someone to race against. Repede chased him down the halls, nipping at his heels and barking all the way.

When an annoyed councilwoman scolded them for making noise, Yuri braved the heat and took Repede out to the garden where they were free to run and shout as much as they liked. Yuri raced after Repede until the dug whirled around, woofed, and pounced on him. Yuri fell to the grass with a shriek and a laugh and then struggled to get out from under the dog licking his face.

"R-repede!" He tried to cover his face with his arms. "Stop, you're crushing me!"

When Repede finally let him go, Yuri spat on the grass and wiped his mouth to get rid of the dog slobber. Then he fell back to the grass and relished the soft carpet. Repede lay on his side, belly exposed and panting.

"You're a good dog, Repede." Yuri lay still and felt beads of sweat dripping down his neck along his hairline. The weight of the intense heat pressed him into the grass and he felt like he could lie here forever.

But he couldn't, because Flynn was sending him away. He was going to load him off on some rich family and then Yuri was supposed to live with them forever, or at least until he was an adult, which was pretty much the same thing. Flynn said Yuri should listen to him because he had more experience and could make smarter choices.

Yuri understood that and it made sense for Flynn to be smarter than him now, but Flynn wanted him to have this family because it would be 'good for him'. The question, though, was whether what Flynn thought Yuri should grow up to be was what Yuri wanted. Flynn probably wanted Yuri to grow up to be a fancy knight like him and live in a castle with servants and stuff. The food was nice, but every time Yuri felt the texture of his clothes he felt like a traitor to his home. He didn't want to grow up as some fancy noble. He would be better off taking care of himself back home.

Repede climbed to his feet and headed toward the door. He had the right idea; it was too hot to stay outside any longer. Yuri got to his knees, wiped sweat from his brow, and then followed Repede. The cool interior of the castle was heavenly and for a moment he dreaded the idea of going back to the lower quarter where there was hardly any relief from temperatures both hot and cold.

Back inside, Yuri wandered down a hall. He passed an ornate vase that probably cost more than Flynn's mom's house and statues that must be worth their weight in gald. There was so much money just sitting around in the castle, and it wasn't helping anyone!

He tried a door and found yet another meeting room. Why did the castle even need this many rooms? If someone wiped this room from existence, he was certain no one would even notice.

"Look at all this stuff," Yuri said to Repede when he stopped in front of a desk. There was a small figurine of a winged horse covered in gold and silver powder box encrusted with jewels. Yuri picked up the box and found a velvet-lined interior. His reflection stared back at him from the gleaming sapphire on the lid. He turned and held the box out to Repede. "How much do you think this is worth?"

Repede sniffed and then barked.

"Yeah, probably like a billion gald or something." If he sold this, he'd never have to worry about money ever again in his life. He could buy food for the other people in the lower quarter, too. It was just sitting here in an unused room; nobody in the castle had any use for it. They probably wouldn't even notice it was gone.

"Shh," Yuri whispered to Repede and slipped the box in his pocket. It wasn't actually stealing-stealing. The government was supposed to help people, and they weren't, so he'd just speed it up a little.

Still, he crept out of the room and looked around the hall when he left, just to check that no one had seen him leave. Yuri and Repede left that hallway and set off to find the biggest, emptiest room in the castle. There would be plenty of room to run around inside without the heat making him feel sick.

After turning a few corners, a voice called after him, "Excuse me! Master Yuri!"

Yuri whirled around and quickly hid the guilt that had rushed across his face. Had he been caught?! His hand pressed against the lump in his pants pocket. "What?"

The knight hurried down the hall to catch up with him and through the holes in the helmet Yuri saw a smile. "Aw, don't worry, you're not in trouble or anything. The commandant asked me to find you and send you on to his office. He said he wants to see you."

"Ack! It's ten already? I gotta go." He took off running and called back, "Thanks, mister!"

It took him a few minutes to reach Flynn's office, and then he burst in without knocking. "Sorry!" Yuri stood in the middle of the office, panting and still sweaty from expending all his energy outside.

There were three new people standing around Flynn's desk. A tall woman with weird blue hair, a shorter woman with red hair and crossed arms, and a teenager with messy brown hair. "Hi!" the teenager said. "You're Yuri, right?"

Yuri straightened up and got closer to the desk. "Yeah. Who're you?"

"I'm Karol!" He smiled and pointed to the short woman, "And this is Rita, and that's Judith."

"Yuri," Flynn said, "these are my friends. We met last year during the times I joined Estellise on her journey."

Yuri waved at the trio. "Yo."

"Is he really from the past?" Judith peered down at him.

"So it would seem," Flynn said. "I have no explanation. I know he's the Yuri I knew as a child, and obviously he hasn't aged at the same rate I did."

"Whoa…" Karol said. "This is crazy. It's like Yormgen all over again."

Yuri frowned. "Yorm-what?"

"Yeah, but this is even more screwed up," Rita said. "At least with Yormgen the people from the past were contained in their own little bubble, not running around in the real world."

Judith nodded. "It's certainly very peculiar."

Yuri looked between the group with increasing confusion. "What are you guys even talking about?"

Karol smiled at him. "Oops, sorry. We were talking about a weird town we found last year."

Flynn folded his arms on his desk. "Rita, just before Yuri got here, I asked you about the mages in the lower quarter that summer. Do you know anything?"

Rita shifted her weight. "Not really. I was practically a baby when that was going on so it's not like I had any insider knowledge. There are mages in Zaphias, though. They might have some information. I can go check it out."

"I'm quite interested myself," Judith said. "Mind if I come along?"

"I wanna come, too," Yuri put in and then looked to Flynn. "I can go, right?" He was already getting bored at the castle, and checking out the mages sounded cool.

"Go ahead." Flynn nodded once. "If they have something to do with how you got here, seeing them might jar your memory."

"Let's all go!" Karol said with a smile. "It'll be cool to see the Zaphias mages."

Rita just rolled her eyes. "Fine, just don't bother the mages or anything."