Work Text:
||₊‧ ꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱‧⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ Grian ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆‧꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ ‧₊||
Grian grinned wildly at his friends as he proudly held up a bag of bread he’d swiped. Pearl looked unimpressed but Gem also looked excited. They hadn’t eaten yesterday and Grian and Gem were hungry. Pearl had eaten an apple at least, but it hadn’t helped them much at all.
Being this excited for a loaf of bread with not how Grian thought his life would go when he escaped the watchers, but here he was. Then again, as often as he had tried to escape, he didn’t think it would actually occur. Their had only been so many failed attempts that could occur after all before the watchers installed worse punishments.
Grian placed the loaf of bread down between them, and Gem looked to their measly set of supplies. They didn’t have much to the three of their names, but they had a few condiments.
Gem however, had stolen a jar of jam, which Grian and Pearl had made fun of at the time. However, Grian was very thankful for that now, as they needed something to put on the bread.
Unless they wanted to eat straight bread, which Grian’s stomach wouldn’t object to right now, the jam was going to come in handy. However, first Grian needed to figure out how to toast the bread. Why? – well he didn’t want cold bread.
It was a fussy thing, but sometimes it was the small luxuries. The rest of their lives weren’t exactly easy at the moment. They didn’t exactly have a place to live other then the streets at the moment, who hadn’t been particularly kind.
Especially to three avian kids who weren’t even welcome in most parts of the city. They’d resorted to moving to the south, where everyone was too poor to look out for teenage kids. However, it also meant they didn’t care enough to stop them from doing what most would consider illegal.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Grian asked Gem, who nodded. Pearl seemed to have missed the memo.
“What?” She asked, and Grian grinned at his sister. She was still recovering from their weeks alone, and while he’d done his best to shelter her, there was only so much he could do. They would have to go ‘borrow’ an oven somewhere to cook the toast. Unless they found a toaster – but that would be a rare luxury in the south.
“Time for some breaking and entering.” He declared, filling her in. Pearl looked a little bit nervous, and Grian noticed the way that she leaned into Gem. Those two had become friends so quickly, and he was glad Pearl had another friend closer to her age.
“Where?” Pearl asked, clinging on to Gem at this point.
“Just somewhere downtown where we can find an oven.” Grian decided and begun to lead the way. They grabbed all their stuff first, not wanting to leave it in a vulnerable alley. They weren’t the only struggling kids on the street.
Gem grabbed the jam and her backpack, and Grian grabbed the bread, his backpack, and a collection of their sheets that they’d managed to salvage. Pearl grabbed her stuff and they set off downtown.
There were lots of people on the street, but three kids went largely unnoticed, even with their wings. Eventually, they came across a large building that Grian thought looked abandoned. He led his two younger charges inside and was glad to find he was right.
It looked like it had once been a unit, but now it was just abandoned always full of dust , junk and waste, and Grian made sure to watch his steps.
Inside, they found a basic kitchen set-up, but as expected, no toaster. Grian resorted to checking the oven, which, miraculously, worked.
“The oven works!” He cheered, before grabbing out a tray and placing slices of bread inside. Gem cheered with him and Pearl smiled fondly. She was just happy to be there.
“A hot meal, finally.” Gem smiled, and Pearl laughed at the way she mimed drooling. Grian sat up on top of the counter as they waited and unpacked their supplies.
“We might even be able to stay here for tonight.” Grian suggested. Gem looked around sceptically, but Pearl looked relieved. She was still struggling with the parting gifts of the watchers, and Grian was not good at healing.
“Let me go check the ‘bedroom.’” Gem decided, before wandering off. Grian offered his arms to Pearl who came and set next to him, if a bit awkwardly. It had been a long few weeks, and they were all a bit tired of each other.
Grian, while waiting for Gem, and holding Pearl, forgot about the bread in the oven.
“Grian.” Pearl murmured, moving away from him. Gem still hadn’t returned. “Is the bread burning.”
Grian wondered how he hadn’t noticed the smoke before and rushed back over to the oven. Inside, there was the beginnings of a raging fire, the bread long spent as fuel for the flickering flames.
“Shit!” Grian called, herding Pearl away. He couldn’t salvage what was left in the oven, so he needed to keep them safe.
“What’s going on?” Gem called from the other room, before wandering out to see them backing away. As she looked all confused at them, whatever old systems left decided that was the perfect time to kick into effect.
Alarms started going off and water began raining down from sprinklers on the ceiling. Gem squealed and grabbed her stuff while running out of the room, and Grian grabbed his own and Pearl’s stuff and quickly followed. He shivered as the cool air hit them, the water making the change in temperature stark.
“Remind me to never let you near an oven again.” Pearl whispered when they got out, and Gem caught the comment, snickering.
“Don’t let him near an oven ever.” Gem suggested. “We’ve lost half the bread.” She complained, holding up the half empty bag.
Grian just sighed and put his head in their hands. At least he hadn’t burnt down the building?