Chapter Text
A light fog had settled between buildings, the air crisp and scented with the rich smell of wood fires, thin plumes of smoke rising from chimney stacks. The night’s chill was slowly evaporating as sunlight steadily reached the pavement, a handful of people who’d been early to rise already walking at a brisk pace on the sidewalks to their destinations, bundled in layered coats and shawls.
A small figure was watching them, unnoticeable either from how still he was or by virtue of his diminutive size. On the street below, an engine rumbled loudly, a vintage carriage style car rolling past. The little boy’s head turned to follow its path, leaning as far as he could until he could no longer see the car at all.
“[It’s neat, seeing moving cars again.]” Mono said, perched on the roof just outside of an open window where his companion was lingering out of view on the sill. It was warm indoors and she was reluctant to leave the comfort of it just as much as that of her friend.
“Ootou?” The kid repeated his word for car, at least the way it sounded to them.
“[Other ways to say it too, like, uhm.]” He cleared his throat, “Kahr.” Mono gestured out shapes, describing wheels, signing something to the effect of ‘rolling loud thing that carries people’.
Six parroted the alternative words to the best of her ability, then offered her own, “<Car.>”
“Ch… Cheech-hua?” Mono had gotten more confident in trying Six’s words, partly because even if he messed up it would make Six smile and sometimes laugh. Six hummed affirmation and Mono beamed, feeling accomplished.
They’d been staying in the attic of some kind of business. Mono’s guess was that it was a bed and breakfast, there were multiple bedrooms downstairs on the middle floor and lots of spare bedding that’d been stowed away in the attic, which their group had been quick to dig into. The people in this town, namely the adults, didn’t seem hostile but the children were all too used to sneaking around by now that it was easier to just get to what they wanted or needed rather than attempt to ask, at least at first.
Six and Seven had been discussing ideas on how to deal with the elderly couple that seemed to own the building, not knowing that Flicker had already approached them and secured not just permission for their continued presence but a promise of hot fresh food for the next day. The older girl had relayed this to Mono, knowing how hard it was for the other two to trust in adults. It was easier to let them believe they were being sneaky and to find safety in that. Mono, in his excitement for a hot meal, had woken up very early as he wondered what sorts of food was served here. He could smell cooking already, something savory and rich wafting up from a window below where he sat.
Flicker and Seven were still deep asleep, nested with piles of pillows and blankets. Seven sprawled on top of a very cocooned Flicker, only her hands exposed where she hugged one of her friend’s arms. Neither had stirred when Mono carefully extracted himself from the nest, leaving him free to go watch the sun rise with happy anticipation for the new day. Six, for all her theatrics of arranging her own bed separate from the others’, still would snuggle close when she thought everyone was asleep. Mono waking early meant Six hurried to pretend like she had simply rolled over by mistake, her grumbling with annoyance as Mono got up and out the window. (He knew better, she was more upset at how he was cutting the cozy night short. But like with the adults of the bed and breakfast, it was alright to let Six believe they were being sneaky and safe. One day, she’d feel safe enough to not need to hide.)
“<Smells good.>” Six commented on the scent of cooking wafting in.
(Seven had been coaxing her for some time to talk more around Mono for the sake of him picking up more of her vocabulary. “<He’ll learn faster if you let him hear you.>” Seven said.
“<What am I supposed to say?>” Six asked, still unused to such frequent conversations. They admittedly often relied on Mono as an escape from group dialogues, letting him carry on speaking while Six listened and worked on internally translating with the help of signed words connecting to spoken ones.
Seven did an airy laugh, “<Anything. Whatever you want.>”
“<Sounds silly.>” Six said.
The kid nodded, “<Well, Mono does it all the time. And you’ve learned some of his words just from that, right?>”
A thoughtful hum, “<I listen to him a lot.>”
Understanding the implicit meaning, Seven gestured to emphasize his point, “<He’ll listen to you. Even if it’s silly.>”)
Mono looked indoors at Six from where he sat outside, a smile on his face as he replied, ‘Smells very good.’
——△ ▢ ◎ ✳︎——
Flicker stirred awake when the rising sun’s light spread rays in through the window. Even though she was so covered by blankets, she could feel the warmth of daylight on her arms. Seven gave a sleepy yawn as the girl stretched and shifted the bed around from under him. Flicker tried to sit up in a way that would roll her friend to the side but found herself meeting resistance, a mischievous chuckle coming from the smaller kid when Flicker attempted to wiggle free.
“Auck- SEVEN.” Flicker swatted blindly at what she hoped was the kid’s face.
Seven put up a good fight, knowing how to throw their weight around to slow the older girl considerably. But she knew his tricks too well, snaring him in the blankets and throwing him to the side into the pile of pillows. Standing to her feet, Flicker made a show of dusting her hands off, a triumphant little “hmph” while Seven was near breathless from his giggle fit.
Six’s barely suppressed snort-laugh at Seven being in an ungainly mess on the floor was met with a pillow being thrown in her direction.
“[Good morning.]” Mono hailed the freshly awake kids from the window.
“=Good morning.=“ Flicker replied, stepping past the pillow fight that had started thanks to Seven mistakenly arming Six with what he’d intended to be a one-off projectile. The girl climbed up the sill and leaned out of the window, propped on her elbows while she gazed at the sun-glazed rooftops. It was nice.
She glanced at Mono. Seeing how he was peering down at something, Flicker followed his line of sight to see a group of people walking on the sidewalk, a leashed dog with floppy ears with them. “=Oh cute!=“ She whispered and gestured for ‘puppy’ when Mono looked back at her. He copied it, the signs in a literal sense were “baby dog” and Mono found it funny as the act of doing the cradle motion with his hands made him picture a very tiny dog with a pacifier.
‘Do you think we should go down to eat yet?’ Mono asked.
Flicker sniffed, the scent of hot fresh food was pretty strong. Definitely had onions and garlic, something herbal too. She recalled her conversation with the elderly couple, they seemed kind enough. Were understandably perplexed by the sight of a preteen girl with an uncommon accent who struggled to sort out which words to use to convey her request for permission to stick around. She’d only approached them after seeing them interact with a young local, this place seemed relatively untouched by whatever weirdness warped the world. The arrangement was that, at Flicker’s request, contact between them would be minimal and that food would be left in one of the unoccupied bedroom suites for the kids to collect when it was ready by sunrise. (She hadn’t asked to be fed, the couple offered immediately to get her indoors to eat. Flicker couldn’t help but flinch, having to slowly explain that it’s okay. She’s not alone, she and her friends are just passing through.
“/There are more of you?\” The old woman in a green flower-patterned dress looked to her partner who tutted, “/No way for kids to be. No sense.\” While the old ladies’ demeanor was of genuine compassionate concern, Flicker winced when hearing “/Just skin and bones. Need to get some meat back on them.\”)
‘I think so,’ Flicker replied, Mono’s excitement showing in the little kicks of his feet.
As the boy went back inside, his stomach growled. He’d spent too long around the tempting smell of food being prepared and his belly was scolding him for not giving it any. Six dropped what she was doing (buffeting Seven with the pillow she’d been alternating between use as a shield and battering ram) and was on alert at the sound. ‘Need food?’ Six asked before Seven whapped her once more in the back with a small cushion.
Seven ignored Six’s retaliatory theft of the cushion from his hands, “<We can look downstairs for something to eat.>”
“=We can check the rooms.=“ Flicker offered, subtly steering the two younger kids to finding what she’d been told had been left for them.
Even with knowing that the food was meant for them, Flicker was still surprised at just how much went into the gesture. As the group crept downstairs, filing one after another through the hall with Six and Seven on high alert and double-checking each corner, they checked the rooms one by one. Any with sleeping occupants were quickly abandoned, Flicker realizing she should have thought about how Seven had a knack for bypassing locked doors and only kept honing that talent more to where she completely forgot that some of these doors were MEANT to be locked and ignored.
When they finally found the right room, which should have been obvious with the door left slightly ajar, they were met with a sight that was likely very novel to the younger among them. The room was quaint and clean. Not spotless, there were cobwebs in the rafters and a very old water stain in the wallpaper, but everything was tidy and upright. A dining table was set with an arrangement of dishes and silverware, enough for four, and in the middle were platters of bread and a large pot of prepared food which Mono and Six were already making a beeline for.
The younger two scrutinized the setup. It was too nice, deliberate even. Obviously meant for someone else, Six and Seven thought, not knowing how Mono and Flicker were exchanging exasperated looks at how their companions were so on edge. The decision that was silently made by Six was that they would pig out and get out of dodge asap before any adults would know they stole their breakfast, and Seven agreed with this sentiment.
Seven pulled a chair out for Flicker before getting to one for himself, getting up and seated in time to see Mono getting the pot open, unveiling a hearty rich stew. He couldn’t tell what sort of meat was used, he guessed some type of bird, because he could see a gizzard and giblets set aside in a small dish beside the pot. It smelled absolutely delicious.
Flicker helped Mono ladle portions out into their dishes, Six taking hers with them underneath the table after shoving a breadroll into her mouth. Seven slurped at his portion, even louder when he saw Flicker raise an eyebrow at him, before going quiet with serious consideration of just how nice it was. It had to be good, Mono thought, for Six to actually be eating the chopped up carrots. The boy dug in, dipping a hunk of bread into the stew and eating a big mouthful. It was.
The bread was dense but soaked up the stew’s juices nicely, a bone broth base with a savory fatty taste that was punctuated with seasoning that kept it from being too meaty. And, best of all, it was hot and fresh. They’d come by other hot meals on their travels, snagged snacks from unwary grownups that had their backs turned, but not too often did they take the time to sit and eat their fill. Six finished her bowl and came up for seconds, and then stayed up on the table beside Mono who was shredding bread into bite-sized pieces directly into his bowl.
Flicker plucked at the decorative embellishments on the pot, depictions of birds on branches, chewing through a bit-too-big mouthful. Out of the corner of her eye she could see one of the old women peeking at them from the hall. Maybe to make sure they weren’t making a disastrous mess, or that the food was being eaten. Old habits and experiences made Flicker feel a pang of anxiety but it was quickly quelled by Seven putting the insides of his bread on her plate, him having made a messy handheld bread-bowl that he poured more stew into. Of course, some of the juices started to soak through the crust and leak out, the kid hastily chomping at what he thought was an innovative faster way to eat. It definitely made him eat faster, racing against hot broth that dripped on his hands.
Flicker giggled. Six had gotten tired of the vegetables, sure it all tasted good but now that she had gotten adjusted to the taste and saw how plentiful it all was they started to take the time to pluck out the celery and carrot and drop them into Mono’s plate. He didn’t mind, eating it all just the same. After a while, all of them were full and content, a fact best expressed when they started to play with what was left rather than eat it, making little bread boats and arranging chopped vegetables into rows and stacks.
When a floorboard outside of the room creaked, Six went straight into action, taking Mono’s hand and pulling him down low beneath the table. Seven followed suit, crouching and sneaking towards the door to peek into the hall. Flicker got down and stood by her chair. Seven saw an adult hastily walking away, one he’d seen before, and was perplexed. Their group had been seen, must have been, but the adult had made no motion or comment on them and that confused him. Seven turned and gave Flicker a questioning look, to which she responded with, ‘I don’t think they’re dangerous.’
Seven checked the hallway again, looking both ways, then shrugged. Putting the furniture back where they found it (and leaving the messy plates where they sat), the group decided this was a good time to head out. All of them were practiced in scaling heights, a second-story window wasn’t much of an obstacle anymore and let them bypass having to creep out one of the building’s main doors. (Flicker wasn’t sure what the etiquette was for a situation like this. Should they say thank you? She wasn’t sure what the words for that were here.)
Six landed on the pavement with a little “hup”, Mono close behind, Flicker and Seven landing a little too close together and bumping elbows. The town surrounded them with a soft roar of lively noise. None of them knew the place and it seemed none were too partial to staying. It was hard to consider how they would even begin to try and fit in anywhere and none of them vocalized any ideas on what they wanted to find or were looking for. A kind of collective aimlessness that left them wandering between places, roosting in a secluded pocket of space for just a little while before they drifted somewhere else. Flicker considered how the inn owners seemed to want to be helpful, and how they were also bewildered by the sight of her group. Seven could sense there was something more to the breakfast, but not what. He’d spent too long just around other kids, figuring out how to behave around adults was confusing and he wasn’t sure yet if he even wanted to behave. Mono liked how much more “normal” this town was compared to other places he’d seen but wasn’t interested in rooting himself to the spot, and likely wouldn’t until Six did. Six who, more than any of them, seemed driven to keep going. For something, a better place, although Six was already much more content than she had been before.
They were full of good food and the sun was out, hand in hand with friends. It was nice.