AU week - telling the tale.

[thewidewideworld]

Sin takes Athelstan's hand and leads him through a door and then another, and up a narrow flight of stairs that seem to be hidden in the walls. To another door that looks like it should be locked but isn't. (Or isn't locked anymore.)

The journey leads them into the roof and a flatish section of tiles where they can sit and look out over the lake, protected from the breeze.

"Come, sit with me." Sin strolls across the tiles, sure as a mountain goat till he finds a good spot to sit with their backs against a chimney.

Comments

[thewidewideworld]

Sin nods, contemplating the bottle and another deep draft of the strong drink but he sets it aside with deliberate care.

"There was a police raid. When I was fourteen. It was just lucky I was away on a pick-up when it happened or they would have taken me too."

"I didn't know what to do. The Emperors were my family, my life. Terrified to be on my own, I ran back to the man I had made the pick up from."

"Eli was a talented forger who made documents and passports for the gang. He was also a high school history teacher. And unlike most of the gangs' contacts, he didn't take payment from my ass." He sighs. "Eli had the most beautiful library. I was always early to his meets so I could sit and read while he worked."

"He took me in, even enrolled me in his school so he could keep an eye on me. I'd never been so happy in my life. I loved to learn and it was a challenge not to draw attention to myself by excelling in all my classes."

[athelstanthescribe]

"He sounds like a great man", Athelstan says softly. "He taught you to read, and everything else?"

[thewidewideworld]

"I must have been educated before the beating because I could read already. Eli taught me how to blend in at a school, how the write the way they expected me to."

"The identity Eli set me up with was female so I was a happy little school girl for almost two years." Something in his voice breaks and he reaches for the bottle again.

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan reaches for his hand at the same moment, but lets him take the bottle.

"What happened?" he asks very quietly.

[thewidewideworld]

"There was a trial, certain key witnesses turned up dead before they could testify. There wasn't enough evidence to hold them." He holds the bottle, not yet drinking from it.

"Constantine died in prison but his son Leo, he was in charge now."

"I knew too much about the gangs' operations. I was a threat to him. He found me. Eli tried to stop him." He takes a swig and pushes the bottle away, unable to speak for long moments.

[athelstanthescribe]

He can imagine what happened to a gentle soul like Sinric's describing, a teacher and a carer and an artist, trying to stand up to men like that.

"I'm sorry", he says softly.

[thewidewideworld]

Sin nods, needing a moment to compose himself.

"Eli taught a lot. Without him, I wouldn't have made it as far as I have."

[athelstanthescribe]

"And he held them off long enough for you to run?"

[thewidewideworld]

He nods. "He had a bike in the shed. I took it and I ran, ran as far as I could. Eli taught me enough about how to work the system to forge my way from school to school, changing my name and gender whenever I stopped feeling safe."

"The day before my seventeenth birthday, I saw on the news that the Emperors were no more. A feud between gangs. Leo was dead." He toy with the bottle. "I could have stopped running then but it had become too much a part of who I was."

[athelstanthescribe]

"At least you're not running for your life any more. You have that."

He reaches for Sin's hand again.

[thewidewideworld]

Sin forces a smile and takes Athelstan's hand. "No, that's true. And I've been lucky. I have friends in every corner. Thanks to Eli, I have four honours degrees. And I'm free." He lifts his head. "I'm free."

[athelstanthescribe]

"You did him proud", Athelstan says softly. "And I'm sure somewhere, he is."

He knows he probably should tell his own story in return, but - he's not good at just plunging in unprompted.

[thewidewideworld]

Sin chuckles a little bitterly. "Maybe. He certainly understood the need to bend the rules."

He takes another sip, smaller this time and sets the bottle out of his own reach. "Will you tell me about yourself? Or is my story too shocking to follow?"

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan, understanding, quietly takes the bottle and puts it out of sight behind himself.

"Your story's more sad than shocking", he says gently. "You didn't ask for any of it. As for me... I was born in Oregon, but I wound up in California by the time I was seven. I don't remember much about the time before that, or... or about my family before my uncle took me in."

[thewidewideworld]

"He was the religious one?" Sin asks softly, settling with his head resting on Athelstan's shoulder.

[athelstanthescribe]

"He was", he says quietly. "Uncle Cuthbert... they tell me it was a house fire. I was one of five kids, and it was - I've been told my mother threw me out the window and I guess she couldn't get to the others. I don't remember that day at all."

[thewidewideworld]

"Some times I think there's a reason we forget. Why our minds choose what to keep and what to let go of."

[athelstanthescribe]

"It's protecting ourselves", he agrees. "Mind, I might have hit my head in the fall, too, I don't know. By the time they let me out of the hospital, Uncle Cuthbert was there."

[thewidewideworld]

He nods and takes Athelstan's hands, massaging his fingers slowly as he speaks.

[athelstanthescribe]

"He took me home with him to California. And at first, it was fine. There were rules, but he was kind while I was recovering."

[thewidewideworld]

"But the rules became stricter, or did he becomes less kind?"

[athelstanthescribe]

"I'm not sure which it was. I think maybe he was getting me used to it slowly, maybe so I wouldn't tell anybody, because things did seem to get stricter. And after a while, there was the cane."

[thewidewideworld]

"Oh sweetheart." Sin sighs, holding tight to Athelstan's hand.

[athelstanthescribe]

"It wasn't only me", he says softly. "He wasn't unfair that way, my cousins got it sometimes too."

But looking back, he's not sure he didn't get it more.

[thewidewideworld]

"I'm guessing you learnt to blend in, to avoid the beatings?"