"Thanks," Beau answered quickly, a small grin tugged the corner's of his lips up. He looked back down at the cigarette in his hands, mentally yelling at the blush to go away, the pink tint prominent against his pale hair. Deciding to busy himself with something, he tugged on the jean fabric next to the wound in his leg, but immediately stopped as it began to sting. "You put up a good fight with those Social guys." Beau finally said as he glanced back up at Argo.
"Oh, um. It was n-nothing really. Just threw a few p-punches is all," Vien mumbled, rubbing at his cheeks as he tried to convince the redness to go away. He glanced down at the wound in Beau's leg, grimacing slightly in sympathy. "I've got painkillers and s-stuff too at home if you want them. But I'm warning y-you now we'll probably have to go up the fire escape since my current p-parents are assholes who like to yell at me."
Current? Beau thought, but didn't press on. A lot of the Greasers had rough backgrounds, most orphans like himself or in foster care. All questioning did was bring back unpleasant memories. "Thanks for letting Lucky and I come," He answered, motioning towards his brother. "Sorry that we're putting you through all this trouble, Argo."
"It's okay, r-really. You seem too nice to let bleed out in a d-drive in movie's parking lot," Vien said. The bus slowed to a stop in front of a jumble of badly painted houses and rickety apartments. "We're here," he said, moving to stand up as the bus stopped
Beau nodded and looped his arms under his brother's shoulders as he lifted him up once again, ignoring the stares he received from the rest of the bus. After a few moments, he stepped out, tugging his jacket closer to him as the wind picked up. Compared to his own home, these apartments were amazing.
Vien walked slowly towards the end of the block, the apartments and homes becoming more and more rickety and run down as they walked. He eventually stopped at a tall brick apartment building that looked like it hadn't been lived in in years other than the odd broken window or light here. He made his way to the small alley next to it, hopping up and pulling down the fire escape ladder quietly. "Come on," he mumbled. "But be very, very q-quiet. The old lady who lives on the floor beneath us w-will tell my dad I came home l-later than I should have if she hears us."
Beau nodded mutely and adjusted his grip on Lucky as he walked towards the ladder quietly. Grasping one of the metal rungs, he hefted himself up, biting his bottom lip so he wouldn't make a noise from the stinging in his leg. After a few moments, he had already made it quite far up but didn't look down. Heights would always make him dizzy.
Vien led them up the fire escape, stopping at a mold-covered door with a broken doorknob. He put a finger to his lips before slowly opening the door, careful not to let the hinges squeak too much as he stepped inside. He waited for Beau to walk in with Lucky before shutting the door behind them quietly. He walked a few doors down before stopping at one that was missing a number and had a "Do Not Disturb" sign hung on the doorknob that looked like it had never been removed. Vien reached into his pocket, pulling his key out and opening the door silently
Beau followed after Argo silently, glancing around the hallway as they continued to walk, eventually pausing at an old door. Maybe if he could find some more jobs, or get some more shifts at work, he could possibly move Lucky into an apartment like this. His brother deserved better than what they had now.
Vien gestured for Beau to follow him, stepping inside the apartment silently. He felt a pang of fear go through him at the sight of his current foster dad asleep in the armchair, a bottle of beer in one hand and a burnt-out cigarette in the other. He tiptoed around the armchair into his room, which was extremely clean compared to the rest of the apartment. He went to shut the door, but a loud voice from the living room startled him so badly he almost jumped. "Vien? Vien, is that you, you little shit? You were supposed to be home hours ago!" a sleepy, half-drunk voice yelled from the living room. Without a word Vien shoved Beau and Lucky onto the bed, throwing the covers over them before grabbing a book off his nightstand and sitting on the floor
Beau furrowed his brow in confusion as he fell into Argo's bed, feeling the cover's slide over his head. Before he could move, he heard an older man's voice and froze, laying down still instead. He steadied his breathing, tilting his head to the side in order to hear more properly.
"Vien!" the man from the living room called angrily. He threw the door of Vien's room open forcefully, spilling his half-empty beer this way and that as he stumbled into the room.
"Yes, sir?" Vien asked monotonously, repressing his condition as he spoke.
"Little shit, when did you come home?" the man snarled.
"About an hour and a half ago, sir. Roughly twenty minutes before curfew," Vien replied, hiding his finger's twitching behind his book. The man scowled at him, taking a swig of his beer.
"If Mrs. Lucille says otherwise, I'm going to kick your ass out a week before your sorry ass is supposed to leave, got it?" the man snarled before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him. Vien breathed a sigh of relief, getting up from the floor and taking the covers off of Beau and Lucky.
"S-Sorry about that," he mumbled quietly
"Hey, it's okay," Beau answered gently, a rare tone that he barely used around anyone. He swung his legs over the side of the bed as he glanced over at Lucky then back towards Argo. Was his name really Argo? The man had called the boy Vien, now that Beau thought back towards the conversation moments ago. "He sounds like a dumbass. . ."
"He is a dumbass. A drunk d-dumbass who leeches off his wife and m-makes me steal shit for him," Vien grumbled. The worst thing was that he had said his real name. He didn't mind it normally, but when his foster dad said his name it suddenly sounded like a curse, or a threat. "I'll get you the b-bandages and stuff," he said softly, walking to the tiny closet and reaching up to fish a first aid kit out from the stacks of books he kept next to it. He sat down on the bed next to Beau, opening the kit and rummaging through it
Lisbet finished her milkshake and hopped onto her Vespa, driving away from the diner. Maybe Mikka got hurt and he's patchin' himself up in an alleyway or something. She made it to old bell tower and started climbing up the flights of stairs until she reached the top.
The view was beautiful. Sometimes she'd just sit on the ledge and stare at the tiny rows of buildings down below, wishing that the moment would last forever.
No one really went into the bell tower anymore, since it was hardly ever in use. The bell had gotten rusty and it didn't move at all. Lisbet had found this place and set up camp, throwing a few blankets in the corner and her clothes into a box.
She curled up on top of the blankets and popped a lollipop into her mouth. Mikka will be fine.
"Thanks," Beau answered gently as he glanced over at Lucky, noticing that most of the bleeding had stopped. "My dad used to be like him. A drunk who was always high on something and would constantly yell at me. Just don't listen to them. . . they're idiots." He sighed, shaking his head faintly as he looked down at his lap. He had never told anyone much about his past, and even a few sentences about his dad was a lot.
"Yeah. I've only been living w-with him for the past three weeks, and he said that if I don't pay him a t-thousand by the end of the week I'm getting kicked back to the o-orphanage," Vien mumbled, pulling out a bit of gauze and some bandages. He began to bandage Lucky silently, finishing like he had done it multiple times before. He finished with Lucky, grabbing some more gauze as he looked at Beau's leg. "Do you mind if I l-look at your leg?"
After a few moments, Beau finally nodded, a usual feeling of distrust washing over him as he moved his leg hesitantly. He bit his bottom lip at Argo's comment about what their father had said, his blue eyes sympathetic. "So, uh, should I roll the pant leg up. . .?" He asked after a pause, looking up at Argo as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Vien nodded, resisting the urge to let his condition twitch while he was trying to help Beau. He didn't need to slip and accidentally hurt him. He fumbled with the bandages, making sure he had enough gauze to take care of the wound if it was bad
Beau rolled the jeans up, moving his leg towards Argo as he looked down at the wound. It seemed pretty deep from the way the knife had dug in, and the extra movement had caused blood to seep everywhere again. He grimaced at the sight as he glanced up at Argo, biting his bottom lip nervously.
"It's okay," Vien said soothingly. "I'm gonna clean this u-up now, okay?" he said before reaching for a pack of antiseptic wipes. He dabbed at the wound gingerly before taking a piece of gauze and setting it gently on top of the wound. He held it until he was sure the bleeding had stopped, then he wrapped it in bandages. He took a new wipe and cleaned the blood that had dripped down Beau's leg off before folding the wipes carefully and hiding them in the envelope of an old bill before throwing it in the trash
(I'm back!)
(sup! Wanna interact?)
(welcome back.)
Beau watched Argo's hands as he carefully wrapped his wound, looking back up to meet his gaze once he was done. "T-thank you," He stammered, suddenly feeling nervous as he rolled his jeans back down. "For everything." He added, motioning towards his brother.
"It's no trouble, r-really," Vien said softly, putting the spare gauze and bandages back in the first aid kit and getting up to set it back into his closet. He sat back down on the bed, fiddling with the hem of his sweater absently. "Do you have to go home s-soon? I can hide you until my dad leaves for the casino tomorrow m-morning."