Sugar Plums

I

When I look around the house, it's cold and barren. If I was as naive as most my age, I might have been able to pretend this was just some random place I might have passed by one a walk.

But needless to say I would never lower myself to that level, this is where I live, as much as it disgusts me, this is the disgusting shack of a house that keeps my friend Klemmane, and I off the streets. At this point I don't know why I bother-As much as it dreads me to say, this disgusting shack is the one thing keeping me and Klemmane, off the dirty streets of the slums.

Klemmane, my friend, is probably the closest thing I have to family in this world, she's truly brilliant. But she acts like she's brainless a majority of the time, I tend to pass it off as her just being book smart -but not exactly smart in any other way-. I was standing in front of the bedroom door, a little irritated how dirty it was, the cracks evident in the wood, the paint on the wall practically peeing off, I see it everyday but it's still hard not to fucking gag.

Regardless, I reach out my left hand and open the door, quickly wiping it on my shirt, I make a mental note to clean the entire house when I get the time, I search the room with my eyes for a moment, and  I find Klemmane huddled under the bed reading a book, her blue hair in her face.

I don't think I'll ever understand how she's able to read in such dark areas. It's almost like she has night vision."Get from under there, your going to ruin your eyesight."I mutter, tugging at her shirt to get up. She rolls her eyes and gets out from under the bed."Your one to talk, your vision is so blurry you can barely walk sometimes, If I read under a bed for the rest of my life I'll still be better off than you."She remarked. As annoying as it is, she is correct.

"...Just do what I say, this has nothing to do with it"I muttered, trying to push the topic off. I wasn't exactly proud of how hard it was to see lately. At this rate I can barely make out Klemmane's face.

It's not like I could do anything about it, that's what happens after working every single night in a wisteria factory, those places are so dark its common to trip once or twice -its incredibly inefficient if you ask me-, besides with my paycheck I can barely afford to keep a roof over our heads, and it's not like Klemmane's working. I can't afford to rest my eyes or better yet buy some glasses.

Klemmane doesn't gets the hint, clearly not realizing it was a sore subject for me -I wish she would leave it alone- it seems like the gods answered my call when she started on a new topic."So...when I was out washing the clothes in the lake, I saw that the baker was giving away free bread. She had some old stale bread that was going bad..."she rambled on, and I wish she would just get to the point already, after a while she took out a loaf of bread and split it in half, handing me a piece."-and she gave me one, look Helia, actual bread."

She continued after a short pause to what I'm assuming is her catching her breath. I wonder if she knows it was okay to breathe when talking.

"When was the last time we had bread, I mean can you believe it?"she was almost ecstatic, I tried to find a time when I had last eaten bread, but I couldn't recall a single memory in recent months. I fidgeted with the piece of bread she had given me. It was as stale as she had said and would surely mold in a few days, but it was the most I could ask for. Besides who am I to complain, it was free food after all. I want to immediately eat it -I deserve it don't I? But I had things to do today, and it wouldn't serve me any good to gorge myself on what could easily be an entire day's meal if I pair it with some scraps. I take a small piece off my half and eat just that.

I don't bother to tell Klemmane she shouldn't indulge herself, I expect her to just be responsible and save most of it. I put my bread on my half of the bed, but first I wrap it in some cloth to keep it protected from any bugs that might get in.

Soon I would have to get to the other side of the city to continue taking my knight lessons. Then my night to early morning shift at the wisteria factories. I berate myself for not leaving earlier.

"I'm going out again, Klemmie." But before that I take a small trip to the bathroom, as I'm washing my hands I stare into my reflection.

It was the only mirror in the house, I heard that in most towns around here, well Kingdom if you can call it that, don't like mirrors, it's said to be vain. I don't really care about that fact all too much, I could stare at myself for hours and never grow bored. I don't have abnormally colored hair like most people in Janus, which is supposedly a sign of blessing from the gods.

I wouldn't exactly consider myself blessed.

I finish up in the bathroom and then exit the house, we lived on the outskirts of Janus, so it would be a long walk until I reached the nearest building. This part of the city isn't exactly pretty, This would be considered the slums in any other kingdom but where I and Klemmane live would be considered suburban to most in this area.

The houses are rotting and broken down, it smells of grime and filth. The streets are clean though, even though we don't have much, most in Janus value their community. It's a sign of respect to clean up your neighborhood.

I have and will never respect this place in my life.