TW: Violence, child abuse, mention of suicide.
The story is not violent in itself but the mention of it could be triggering so please do be careful.
"Who are you?" He was still frightened but had gathered enough courage to ask.
"Worry not, I'm here as..." The man, even though short, stood tall in front of the small kid, taking in his features, noticing his eyebrows twitching in fear. "... as a friend, I'll help you get out of here."
Minutes had passed and the boy was still taken aback by his response. "What makes you a friend?" Surprisingly he was easing by each passing minute and now could get a better sight of the man in front of him.
"I want to help you."
"You don't know me." He mocked sarcastically.
"That's true. Care introducing yourself to me?"
"I'm William Vangeance." The kid was not sold yet, but seeing that he was trapped in an unknown place with only one, he assumed, other human, William figured that he could at least give away his name, not that he had anything else to tell. "And you are?"
"I see, I'm Van Will, nice to meet you, William." The little boy only nodded, something about the smug face the man was giving him would've normally made him back away with worry, instead he felt strangely safe in his presence, staring unashamedly at the older man whose uneasiness grew palpable at each ticking second. That's when he asked:
"What's this?" Pointing at the shiny mask he has been wearing ever since they met. It was a splash of odd colors that somehow worked together, without once neutralizing their uniqueness. 'It's still tacky though.' He didn't want to say it out loud, this person was a stranger but hurting his feelings wouldn't get them anywhere.
"It was gifted to me." Van held onto the mask, hiding one of his eyes trapped in the blue window that the hamlet offered.
"It's weird." He bit his lips as soon as the words escaped his mouth, although the man didn't seem to mind, in fact, he gave him a soft look entrancing the kid, and chuckled.
"I heard worse insults than this. Honestly, I thought the same when I first saw it."
"And you still wear it?"
"It was a gift, William." His look softened even more, giving away the true nature of the foreigner standing in front of him; he was dreamy and charming, his voice soothing and tolerable enough to not freak the bird resting in the kid's arms, his posture was one of pride and his eyes spoke weights about his kindness. That is what seemed to appear, anyway.
"I think I can trust you, sir." He earned a questioning look. "You saved me earlier, made sure I wasn't hurt and didn't scare away my bird, and, you take deep care of gifts. You must be a nice person."
The thinking process of the boy was definitely simple, yet so sweet and innocent that it made the older man chuckle again, flashing the now fully recovered kid, with his most honest smile. It had a hint of sadness that did not escape the smaller one's observing eyes but he chose not to dwell on it. Van on the other hand was wondering where to start the conversation. If there was one thing he learned from talking to the little kid it would be, without a doubt, that he wouldn't be the one to ask the questions, at least not for the moment, so he extended one hand and looked hopeful at the boy nursing his bird, urging him to take it so they can finally walk away from the room they were hiding in. To his surprise the boy didn't protest, he did trust him very easily, but then again, that was a trait Van possessed too, 'when I was younger', he thought.
"What do you do for work, sir?"
"You can call me Will- Van would be just fine." This conversation would be harder than he had evaluated. "I'm a magic knight."
YOU ARE READING
The mills of his heart
Fanfiction"Who are you?" He was still frightened but had gathered enough courage to ask. "Worry not, I'm here as..." The man, even though short, stood tall in front of the small kid, taking in his features, noticing his eyebrows twitching in fear. "... as a f...
