"Oh… sorry…" Cerulean was too weak to sit up yet, so he just huddled up in the blankets on the cot with a shaky sigh. "I got really lost… I've been out all day. I think I'm really far from home…" He closed his eyes and rubbed at them a bit before falling into a coughing fit. "I haven't eat or drink anything all day… dad says it's bad if I don't drink enough because I need water more than normal people who aren't hybrid freaks do." He explained after he could breathe again, obviously directly quoting his father. He was too young to understand what the words really meant.
"Well, that makes two of us. Hybrid freaks, I mean." he chuckled. He set the bowl on the nightstand, looking at the boy with concern. Shit, was he being insensitive?
"If you're that far from home, you'd better stay the night. It's getting dark, and this is storm season."
Cerulean yawned a bit and curled up more, nodding say the offer. "Okay… I'm sure dad won't notice if I'm gone for a while. I've been gone for days before and he didn't really notice. He's very busy, you see, so he works a lot in the town, so I spend a lot of time either alone in the cave or just wandering around. The thing is, I'm real bad with directions, so I get lost a lot."
Sigurd's brow furrowed with concern. A father that negligent…
"Um, what's your name? Mine is Sigurd." he said. He was in over his head, they lived in a cave? A cave? Honestly, what was even going on? Sigurd wouldn't be one to complain, his living situation was far better, but even then it was really only suitable for one.
"My name is Cerulean!" He smiled brightly up at the man, although he still couldn't sit up. "I'm…" He counted on his fingers for a second. "Six years old!" He announced, seeming quite pleased with himself. "How old are you?" He asked. "Are you old? My dad is kinda old. I dunno how old mama is because she's a dragon and it's kinda hard to tell with them."
"Oh, I've been around for thousands of years. I've honestly lost count." he shrugged. Only six? Dammit, Sigurd, don't get atattched or sappy or any of those things.
"So, why were you out in the woods?" he asked. Keep them both distracted, so he could figure out what to do next.
"Wowww… that's a lotta years." Cerulean stuck out his tongue a bit, clearly tired. "I wanted to explore and I haven't been in woods before! The trees are real pretty, but we don't have any woods near my cave. And dad doesn't really care where I go, so I figured I could find something new today!"
Dammit, he'd gotten attached. The one thing he knew he couldn't do.
"And you're not… concerned your father leaves you so often? Don't you go to school? The Magistrate must have gotten into contact with him for that, at the very least." Sigurd reasoned, hoping desperately that this child had some other support system.
"School?" Cerulean asked, clearly bewildered. He'd never heard the word before. "Whatever that is, I've never gone… and why would I be… uhm… con sern… d…?" He asked. "Dad has to work a lot. He says I'm not allowed to talk to people because I 'shouldn't exist' or something like that, but I get lonely if I don't talk to people…"
(OM- Heart breaking inside)
(Sigurd: I am concern)
Sigurd sighed. Okay, he had to keep the kid. No matter what happened, he wasn't going to let the cycle of abuse continue, this was wrong. He stood up, leaving the bowl of broth for Cerulean to either finish or ignore, and groaned. What was wrong with him? He couldn't take care of a kid, he was an unspeakable eldritch horror!
"Hey, get some sleep. I'll wake you up when the storm passes." he said, as rain began to patter against the windowsill.
"Mmkay, sir… g'night…" Cerulean yawned a bit, his sharp teeth exposed for a few seconds. He curled up again and soon drifted off to sleep. This cot was far more comfortable than the cave he slept in, so it was really easy for him to fall asleep.
Sigurd stayed up. He couldn't sleep, not anymore, and he wanted to watch over the boy either way.
When the storm passed and dawn had broken, Sigurd gently shook Cerulean awake.
"It's time for us to go… to go back to your home." he said remorsefully.
"Mmm… I dunno how to get back…" Cerulean yawned as he stirred and looked up at Sigurd sleepily. He still looked like he didn't feel well at all and he was too weak to get out of bed. "But I guess I can try… mmm… five more minute…" He mumbled.
"You said a cave, yes? How far away is it from the nearest town? I'm sure I can navigate our way there." he wanted to get this confrontation over with, once and for all.
He just couldn't bear seeing this sweet, innocent little boy get emotionally abused and mistreated by someone who was supposed to care about him more than anything in the world.
"Uhm… I dunno… it took me like the whole day to get here, so…" Cerulean whined softly as he tried to get himself out of bed, going paler as he tumbled out onto the floor. "Nngh… owie… do you know how far away that is if I walked for a long time?" He asked weakly.
"On second thought, let's get you something to eat. As for the jorney… It won't take long, I can… manipulate us there. Now, do pancakes sound okay?" he asked, piling wood into the stove and lighting a fire, warming up the house nicely.
"What's pancakes?" Cerulean asked curiously from the floor, trying to push himself up on his elbows so he wasn't just sprawled out. "I pretty much just eat fish all the time… I catch all my own food, sir."
Dammit. "Well, they're food, and good food at that. So why don't I make some, and let you judge, okay kid?" he asked, preparing the batter. When it was finished, he poured it into the pan, flipping each side of the pancake as it cooked. When he had prepared a reasonable sized stack for them to share, he place it on the small table in the middle of the room. He carried Cerulean to a seat, poured him some water and placed two steaming hot pancakes on a plate for him.
Cerulean eyed the pancakes curiously as he gulped down his water. After he'd finished the glass, which didn't take him too long, he looked at the pancakes more closely. He considered for a few seconds before grabbing one and sticking into his mouth. "Mm~… what kinda animal is this?" He asked.
"It's… not an animal. Not everything one eats is an animal." Sigurd clarified. This poor child, he barely understood anything. It was to be expected, with an upbringing like his, bu still.
"Really? What is it, then?" Cerulean asked curiously as he shoved more pancake into his mouth. He seemed pleased with it, at least, even if he didn't really understand what it was. He soon finished his first pancake and started on another, clearly having been pretty hungry.
"I… don't know. Flour? Water? Some vanilla? It's really not much." he said.
"What's nilla?" Cerulean asked, his voice muffled from being stuffed full of pancake. "Is it an animal? Am I allowed to eat things that aren't animal? Dad says I'm s'posed to be a car nivor." He hummed thoughtfully to himself. "And when I asked him what carvinor means, he said I eat fish."
