He didn’t often power up, he didn’t really see the point, but tonight he’d done as much. It wasn’t that he didn’t whatever it was he should do, or that he’d been told, but Liam had used it as a way to get home from across the city. It was a quick and rather efficient way to get home, and that he liked.
Powered down he was heading for the fenced off grounds of the Blackwood Orphanage which housed over a dozen children in need of loving families, something he’d never gotten. It wasn’t that people hadn’t wanted him, plenty had, but as a child he’d turned them all down. He’d wanted to wait for his own mother, sure she’d return, and since no one had adopted him before he was old enough to have a say...well he got his way. His way that had him living and working here now, something he hadn’t foreseen for himself. He’d always thought his mother would return, he’d only been a newborn when dumped here.
Hands stuffed into the pockets of his hoodie, a bit old and somewhat worn, it was comfortable and still warm though he did need to huddle down into it some. The hood was pulled up over his golden blond hair, hands going right back to his pockets, as he approached the fence and where a tree, growing right outside the fence, was easy to climb and get up and over the fence.
---
It hadn’t been hard, per say, but it had been long. And it was all spent in the back office sifting through paperwork as Rhona got ready for her first tax season of owning a business. Jett had given her a hand and more than enough pointers on how to file during the year leading up to filing her taxes, and she’d stuck to it as best she could. However, as with all firsts, there were holes that things had fallen through and she had to go back into archives on her computer to search for invoices and receipts.
A long day of staring at screens and papers, sitting in a small, closed room, trying to stay sane.
The claustrophobia of her day had sent her directly home and into the warmest running clothes she could get into and back out the door, much to the chagrin of the black tom cat who was very used to belly scratches when Rhona arrived home. Alois could wait. Right now Rhona’s legs were itching and clawing in a way that they hadn’t since before she corrupted, and she had to heed their needs. Almost as soon as she began her run, the feeling of discomfort vanished.
Normally, Rhona had a circuit that she ran when she was out, but tonight she chose to just run. She turned at random, jogging down streets that she normally wouldn’t until she ended up in a part of town that she’d never been in before.
Orphanage
Rhona furrowed her brow, certain that such a term had gone out a vogue a while ago. Weren’t they called group homes now? Not that it mattered, it was called what it was called. Honestly, Rhona hadn’t even known that Destiny City even had group home or an orphanage or whatever the stylish thing to call it was.
Seeing it tugged on her heart, painfully aware of herself in that moment. Her breaths came out in staccato billows of something like steam. In those curls and twists she could swear that she saw herself, alone and frightened in brand new skin. An orphan in her own right even if she was too old for something like this. Even if it was of her own making.
Rhona sniffed suddenly, wiping her nose in a very unlady-like way as she turned to continue her run, and came face to face with a young man.
“Oh… gosh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.” A bolt of recognition hit her suddenly and she snapped her fingers. “Liam, right? We met at the debriefing after the obelisk thing, remember?” She stuck out her hand in greeting, smiling as warmly as she could given the heartache that still wrapped itself around her.
---
It wasn’t often that he ran into people he knew, aside from classmates and they didn’t much count, so to run into someone he knew was a bit unsettling and unexpected. But he knew Rhona, had met her once, and so when she ran into him, almost literally, he nodded his head once. “Yeah...I remember you.” But he couldn’t remember her name when powered, or much else. He’d only met her once and he only just remembered her name, since it was one which stood out.
“Can I..help you with something?” Because he certainly couldn’t go and climb that tree, and get over the fence, right now. Not where she could see..he didn’t want anyone knowing about his personal life - it was personal for a reason.
---
“Hmm,” she asked in a light hum as Liam asked what she needed. It took her a moment, either from the oxygen deprivation running tended to cause or the high from the same activity, to realize that she had been asked something that needed more than a simple hum.
“Oh, gosh no. I’m just out for a little run. Well… not a little run. I guess my legs needed more than a stretch than I thought.” And they still needed more, she realized, as they began to tingle with inactivity. She’d continue her run in a minute, but it seemed rude to leave her new companion so soon.
Even if it seemed like he wanted her gone very suddenly.
Rhona was many things, but she was not unaware, so when the vibe shifted, she noticed, even if it took her a moment. She glanced from Liam to the orphanage beside them. The pieces were there, she could tell, but she wasn’t able to put them together. Like she had 1 and 3, but two was still out there somewhere.
“But no,” she repeated, watching him with suddenly very curious eyes, her former congenial tone gone, replaced with something a tad more scrutinizing, “no I don’t need anything. Do you live around here?” The question leaped, unbidden to her lips, as so many before it had. She knew this feeling. Something was stealing her voice, some unnamed force, and was using it in a way that Rhona never could.
---
“You’re a bit out of breath, your legs must have really needed that stretch.” And she needed more air as she seemed a bit out of breath. This was good though - this was good. They weren’t discussing him or anything about him. He was good with this.
Oh, well maybe it wasn’t so good. It was a simple thing to answer though, without being specific. “Yeah - I do. Not too far from here.” Like right over the fence and a bit across the open area where the younger children played in the warmer weather, they didn’t often get let out in the cold. It wasn't that they didn’t have warm, winter, clothing but it was that no one wanted to risk anyone getting sick. Colds tended to spread rather quickly when everyone lived in the same place, like a normal house when someone got sick it spread. Just here it was a lot more children and sick children wasn’t fun to take care of, it also could get expensive with cold medication.
---
Cagey. That was the word that sprung to life in Rhona’s mind as Liam spoke. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why, but it did. And not the shifty kind of cagey. More like… he was trying desperately to hide something. His tone from talking about her breathing was different than the one he used when he talked about where he lived. And beyond that, he didn’t offer any more information. Normally, the answer included a general area, like over by this street, or that road. But Liam offered her nothing of the sort. Just that he lived close.
How close?
Rhona took another step forward, her brows knitted into a line over her brows as she concentrated on the image floating behind her mind like a magic eye picture. She kept twisting and shifting her brain to make the image behind the nonsense appear, and she was so close she could feel it. Was he ashamed of where he lived? Looking around, the area looked fairly good. Not ritzy, but nice. Safe. Something someone wouldn’t normally be ashamed of.
Yeah I do. Not too far from here.
Finally, Acubens forced her expression to soften, very aware of how intense she tended to look when she was focused on something. She had to trust whatever had a hold on her voice. Trust whatever was speaking for her to help her find the truth.
“Yeah? Not too far from here like… where exactly? I mean it’s a nice area. Where’s your usual haunt? In case I had some extra muffins I wanted to drop by or something.”
---
“I don’t go out much...just to school. I’m going to the university.” Thankfully the state covered it ,or he wouldn’t be able to attend, but what else could he tell her? He couldn’t just say she was standing right at his front doorstep, or close to it anyway. It was a secret he’d kept his whole life from anyone who tried to get close to him, some classmates in the past had found out, and he figured he’d thus far done a good job of it.
“Muffins? You go handing out food?” Even if they weren’t that close? That seemed like something you did with a person you knew well, since it took, time and what not to make them. Right?
“You can just find me on campus...it’s easier.”
---
Rhona shrugged at the question of her generosity.
“I look after me and mine. If you belong to the Mirror, then you belong to me too. Plus I bake when I’m stressed and well… I'm always stressed so… And I mean yeah, I could look for you on campus, but I mean that place is so big…” She pulled a face as she finished like maybe that wasn’t the best idea they could come up with. Never mind that she always somehow found Xi-Wang when she headed out to find them. She considered that to be maternal homing.
She looked around again, up at the imposing structure of the orphanage and then both ways down the street. Shops lined the way with what looked like little apartments up top, but there was no way for Rhona to be sure. The picture was finally beginning to take shape. There were no houses on this street, and Liam was very definitely heading this way. More than that… she had happened upon his pointed directly at the orphanage.
He should have aged out by now but…
Everything was lining up too well for this not to be the answer.
“So you live close? I would ask what shop you live above, except,” she looked at the wall around the orphanage, “you were heading directly this way when I happened upon you.” Rhona shoved her hands into the pockets of her leggings, the sensation of finding that second puzzle piece dawning on her slowly.
“Liam, do you live at the orphanage?”
---
“Baking isn’t cheap…” How could you afford to bake as much as it sounded like she did? To be able to give out all kinds of baked goods and to bake when stressed, then state your always stressed. It sounded like a lot of baking and a lot of money spent. For someone who kept track of money, because he didn’t have a lot, he was aware of these sorts of things and they were often the first things which came to mind. If he saw someones clothing...he thought on price...if he saw something he wanted...price came up and what he had on him and could afford to spend. Money was rarely far from the forefront of his mind. It was a part of living as he had.
It was, as she said, a big campus but it was safe. That way she wouldn’t know where he lived and would never find out. He didn’t figure she was from around this area and wouldn’t be here often ,if ever, so he could get away with her never finding out...so long as she only met him on campus.
He’d hoped to hide it, though he could, if she never came here and looked for him on campus she would never know. But she had figured it out, despite his evasive answers. He should have figured she’d figure it out...people weren’t stupid...at least most people weren’t. Some liked to be though, which worked out for him.
“I do.” He wasn’t sure how else to answer...what was expected. He was hoping to play it off and be casual about it. There was no need to know how long he’d lived there or why he’d never been adopted. There was no need to know that he’d stabbed himself in the foot...or that he lived and worked here now because he had nothing else - nowhere to go. He had no future really. That was the truth...whether he was in college or not didn’t matter he saw it as himself having no future outside of the orphanage. He couldn’t afford to take loans and other things in order to do more than a two year degree. He never saw himself with a job making enough to get an apartment...and he used most of his money to help the orphanage. So he’d never be able to save enough. It just wasn’t going to happen.
---
Rhona nodded at Liam’s answer and kept her moss green eyes on him as the silence stretched between them. He hadn’t lied to her, per say, but he had purposefully omitted information to the end of misleading her. That wasn’t was concerned her, however. She was concerned about why he had mislead her. She looked back at the wall and sighed, the force that had taken over her voice now leaving her to her own devices, but she knew what to say. What to ask. She clicked her tongue and nodded again, trying to keep the focus from creasing her face, because even if she knew what to say, wording it would be the trick.
After all, Liam was clearly over the age that would require him to remain. Aged out, Rhona was pretty sure the term was. And if she was being honest, it broke her heart. She had a blood family, once, and now she wondered what would have been worse. To know family and then lose it, or to have never known it at all.
But this wasn’t about her. It was about Liam. And with Lieko mysteriously gone along with Jack and Kit her nest had been… empty. Painfully so. She had the room and the resources, why not offer them? After all… she took care of herself and her own. And if he belonged to the Mirror then he belonged to her.
“Do you… want… to live at the orphanage?”
---
That was the question - wasn’t it? Did he want to live there...he liked the children, had known them all his life. He’d known the workers there his whole life as well. One had left, old age, even and yet he’d remained. It felt like he’d out last the adults who worked there and took care of everyone...that he was the next generation of those who would work there. He would have to learn to take over their duties and he’d live there his whole life as well...till he was old and a burden once more to those around him in the place.
He’d had the thoughts before, pessimistic as they were, and it wasn’t how he’d wanted to go through life. But it had always seemed like the only thing to him...a black hole with no real future at the end.
“It’s what I have and all I have. I work and live there.” He had in fact aged out and he only lived there because he worked there. If he were to move out he’d miss the children, but not the place. Maybe he’d still help….
---
He hadn’t thought about what Rhona had asked him. She could tell by his silence and the look on his face. And it made sense, she supposed, that he hadn’t thought about it. If it was all he knew, why should he question it? And she might have let it go were it not for what he said and the tone in which he had said it.
It’s all I have.
“I didn’t ask if it’s what you had, Liam. I asked if it’s what you wanted.”
Maybe he didn’t know if he wanted this or not. Maybe his wants had gotten crossed with his fate and he hadn’t been able or even known that he could untangle them. Rhona had been there once, when she answered to a different name. Though the stakes were different, they were no less dire.
“Do you want to live in the orphanage, Liam?”
---
“It’s all I know.” What else could he say? If he gave the proper answer he figured he’d wind up with pity, and sympathy, from the other. It was his choice though, he’d sealed his fate, and he didn’t want either thing from her - or anyone else. But why was she asking? People only asked questions like that if they planned on helping others out. It was what some couples asked the children before adopting them, because they wanted out. Was that why she was asking him?
“I can’t just leave...they need help. There are a lot of children there who need help.” But he could move out of there and come in to help. That was an option, and he knew it, but would it be one right now?
“I took my first steps in there.” Gesturing to the building in front of them. He’d been left there when he was days old, give or take. “After this many years my mother isn’t ever going to come looking for me…” That was why he’d stayed and waited...and hoped. He’d showed far more loyalty and devotion, to someone he’d never met, than she had ever shown him. It was why he stayed away from people...he knew his own nature and he needed to keep himself safe and from making the mistake again.
But maybe...maybe if he worked there and took up this unspoken offer...maybe it would be ok?
---
Confusion had moved to fear and Rhona could see it transmuting. He talked because if he didn’t, the answer that she knew he had already decided to give her would fly from his lips without his consent. More than that, she realized, he felt that by not living there he was abandoning the children that he saw as dearly as if they were his own.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” she said simply. “You’ve answered every question that I haven’t even asked, and while I thank you and am humbled by what you have trusted me with… it wasn’t what I asked. So I’ll stop asking.
“Instead I’ll make you a deal. I’ll wait here for half an hour after you get inside. During that time you can either realize that you’ve already made the choice, pack your things, and come with me. If you do that, I’ll give you a bed and a room of your own. I’ll give you a job, if you want it. And from there you can make your own future. Or you can refuse my offer. If you do that, I’ll leave after 30 minutes and we’ll never talk about this again. There won’t be any hard feelings, and I won’t tell anyone else. Scouts honor.” She held up three fingers, very aware of the irony in her promise, and grinned warmly at him. Then she pulled out her phone and began setting a timer.
“Time starts in five minutes, Liam.”
---
He knew he hadn’t answered her question - and she knew it also. She made sure he knew what she knew. He’d done well all these years of people not knowing, not knowing how he lived or how he saw it. He’d kept a lot to himself - he was good at it. People got good at things they needed in order to survive and his ability to omit things, and lie, were good. They had needed to be...so was his ability to generally not appear to care about things, and keep to himself. She knew his answer though even before he was willing to acknowledge it.
As she set her timer he shook his head. “I can’t leave here - not entirely. I’ll still volunteer here to help. I’m closer in age to the children.” They saw him as an older sibling .He helped with school work and he sang to them and read to them. He did what an older sibling should do, and more.
“I’ll get my things...it won’t take half an hour.” He didn’t own enough for it to take that long. They didn’t get enough money and he certainly didn’t money to spend on flights of fancy either. Whatever he had was needed stuff and that was it.
“You won’t tell anyone though?” About where he’d lived and why? He didn’t need pity or anything from anyone else. He didn’t want to get close to anyone in fact...but this would be an acceptable exception to that.
---
“No one’s asking you to leave entirely,” she agreed. “And I won’t tell anyone.” She held up three fingers again and stopped her timer. She trusted him. What did he have to gain from lying to her anyway? He was many things, she surmised. Loyal to a fault, guarded, frightened, probably angry somewhere in all of that too. But he wasn’t malicious.
“Take the time you need.” In case a kid woke up and stopped him. Or a night-worker. Or if he just wanted to linger and say goodbye to the walls. Rhona recalled her last night at home. How she had stood at her brother’s door for what felt like hours before she went off to fight Bischofite one last time.
Maybe that was what she was doing this at every turn. Maybe because she knew, on some level, that she had thrown her own family away -- even if it was for the right reasons -- that she worked so hard to make and clung so hard to this family here. That was why she was here now, offering a bed to a boy she didn’t know very well, promising him a future that was not hers to promise. Because she had thrown away so much… too much not to.
“I’ll be here when you get out. And if anyone asks us, we’ll just say that you needed a place to crash. That should be enough.”
---
“I should be fine. The little ones sleep well and I have a room to myself since I work here also.” Though he should write a note. Mention that a friend had asked him to move in...but he’d be back to help. He’d have to figure that out with the older workers tomorrow perhaps, or maybe the next day. He didn’t want to scare the children though. He cared a bit too much for them all, more than they’d ever know. It was why he couldn’t make a full break from the place. He wouldn’t abdonome them like his mother had done to him. He would be something stable for them - they needed it surely. What orphaned child didn’t?
“Ok...I’ll be back.” And with the ease of doing it often, perhaps too often, he made his way to the tree and jumping he caught a low branch and swung up and into the tree. Letting himself drop to the other side he headed for the building and the one entrance he knew of into the place when it was closed down for the night. He had a way to get in, and not just because he worked here, it was a way he’d known since he was little. One of the windows that led to the basement was weak and could be manhandled into opening...it just took a bit of work. But he was able to slip his frame into the window and down into the basement. From there it was a silent, tip toed, walk up to the first floor and then up to his room so he could pack his things.
He didn’t own much, mostly books and sheet music and books that were blank music pages. He owned some university books, the state covered them with the grants. He wrote out a note and left it on his made bed. He didn’t take the bedding, someone else could find use for it, his clothing was grabbed as well. Everything was, after some thought, put into a bag. He didn’t own luggage, it was something no one here could afford and there was no reason for it either.
Everything was inside it as he made his way out the way he’d come in, from the basement and making sure the window was as secure as possible, he headed back towards the tree and the over hanging branches. He’d have to toss his things over the gate, not too hard and nothing he worried over too much, but he did motion for Rhona to catch his bag anyway. “Don’t worry if it drops. I don’t have breakables in there.” Thankfully really.
---
Just like Xi-Wang had come to her all those months ago with his meager belongings in a garbage bag, Liam came to her with the same thing. She sighed, calming the heat in her eyes as she caught the blank back and small backpack as best she could. When would these children come to her with more than a garbage bag?
Liam dropped down shortly after the bags he tossed over and she shouldered them both without asking. She jerked her head in the direction she lived, stating, “I’m about a 45 minute run form here. Who knows how long it’ll take walking. It’ll give us time to get to know each other a little more, though.” What he liked to eat so she could stock her kitchen. What he liked to do so he could stock his room. “We’ll get you some things for your room tomorrow. The last guest took his furniture, so you’ll be needing some yourself.”
And then in the coming weeks she’d get him set up at her Market with a job if he needed. Work his schedule around his volunteer work. Things of that sort.
“You’ll stay as long as you need, of course. Until you feel confident enough to strike out on your own.” She tossed him a bright grin and began leading the way home.
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