Work Text:
Jon was enjoying a quiet night out. Well, not really a night out. More like a brief walk to the convenience store which turned into a longer one to the grocery store when he realized it was closed. He didn’t know if he needed food to survive, per say, but his fridge was barren, and maybe by eating his other hunger would be sated the smallest bit.
He only came home on occasion, whenever the clothes he wore became unmanageable or he just needed one night in a comfy bed. This time, he just became too claustrophobic. He needed out of that forsaken Institute.
So he found himself walking about through some park on his way. It was a little detour, but he preferred it to the perpetually busy sidewalks of London. There were a few parents and children out, but not many, as the sky was beginning to turn dark.
One child, he noted, was sitting alone on a park bench. He Knew that her name was Julia Barker, 9 years old. She held a book and looked at it with confusion.
He Knew it was a Leitner.
And he knew that he probably wasn’t human anymore, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to help. So he walked over to her.
---
Julia liked the park at dusk. It became quiet after a while. Her parents didn’t call for her till it was nearly bedtime, and sometimes not even then! She knew that other kids might’ve called her a weird loner for it but she really didn’t mind it.
She read, sometimes. She thought the whole ‘reading take you to another world!’ thing was a load of crap. Julia just wanted to be alone so she didn’t do it often. She found one book, though. It was old, and had a lot of big words that she didn’t understand, but just enough short ones to know that she might be able to read it one day. Just looking at it made her feel better. Like the world faded around her. She always got too bored to read more than a page but she always came back to where she had stopped.
So when a strange man came up to her and snatched the book right from her hands before she could even begin, she was rather angry.
“Hey, I was gonna read that!” She shouted, even though he was still quite close.
He gave her a pitying look. “I’m sorry, books like these are dangerous. I know how to take care of them.”
“So why do you get to have them, huh? Keeping all the good books for yourself, huh? Well I don’t buy it! Give it back!”
“Fine, them.” The man seemed to have given up, but Julia became even more agitated when he just plopped down beside her on her bench, sliding the book between them. “What is it about?”
She was surprised, but told him the truth. No reason not to. “I don’t know, I’m not that good at reading yet. But it makes me feel happy to read.”
He had a pitying look on his face, which she didn’t understand one bit. “Do you know that being around other people can be better than being alone? Not all people are bad.”
“You must not know a lot of people, because they are all bad and mean. They laugh and scream and tease and look at me weirdly. I don’t want to be around them. It’s so much better to be on my own. I’m very mature for my age!” This statement was rendered a little redundant when the word ‘mature’ sounded very childlike, with round syllables as if the word didn’t quite fit in her mouth.
The man listened intently. That was new. He didn’t seem to be mean. He talked to her like a grown-up. He almost looked as though he understood.
He sighed. “I know what you’re feeling. I was a lot like you when I was a kid, and I always preferred to be alone. But that only hurt me more. There will come a time when you wish with all your heart that you had more people around you, that you had been kinder and more open when you had the chance. I’ve always disliked people, but give them a chance.”
“So can I not have my book back?” She wanted it back. It was the only thing that felt safe anymore.
The man gave her a sad smile, and said “No, I’m afraid not. See that girl over there?” He pointed to another child, swinging alone on the swingset, who looked about Julia’s age. “She could use a friend, too. Go talk to her.”
“What if she’s mean like everyone else?”
“You’ll never know if you don’t try. Everyone needs someone, right?” He smiled softly at her. It reminded her grandpa. She missed him.
Julia huffed. “Fine, but if I do it, can I have my book?”
“No.”
The man patted her hesitantly on the shoulder, clearly not used to any kind of affection. Julia understood. She watched him leave (with the book clutched firmly in his hands) but still felt his gaze. She walked to the swingset and began speaking.
---
Jon was such a hypocrite.
Well, at least he had gotten a Leitner out of it.