Colin's posts

"That's a good idea!" Lindsay replied.

He then grabbed the quill and dipped it into the inkwell, before pressing it to the piece of parchment, and scratching out a note for Ashley. As he did so, Anya saw that his writing was... quite nice. It wasn't gorgeous or a work of art, or anything to that extreme, but it seemed like he knew what he was doing, as his strokes and letters were... elegant, but had some rough tinges to it.

Brother, you are still in Anya's home. You slipped and fell in the water, and were bleeding and unconscious, so I brought you back here. She put you to bed and tended to your injuries. So you're safe, you're where nobody will hurt you, and I am fine as well.

I'm sorry we argued, please don't hate me. And don't worry about where you are, it's fine. I promise. he wrote.

"Take it up to the room and put it on the small table beside his bed, and then come back downstairs." Anya told Lindsay softly.

Lindsay nodded in response, taking the parchment and running it up to the room, returning after about 30 seconds.

Lindsay paused for a moment, and then nodded.

"Yes." he replied. "Ashley and I can read." he told her. "I can read a lot better than him, though. I've actually been told in the past that I'm quite smart and apt when it comes to that." he then added.

"Why?" he inquired.

"Come on." Anya responded, moving away from Ashley. "He'll be fine, I promise. He just needs to rest this off and allow his system to repair the damage done." she assured Lindsay further.

Lindsay was a little hesitant at first, but her reassurance did seem to mostly quell his concern. He nodded, and the two of them left the room, making their way back downstairs.

Lindsay watched Anya tend to Ashley, and was on the verge of having a panic attack and a nervous breakdown at the same time, but when Anya asked her question, he was able to focus for a brief moment. At least to recant the tale.

"Well... well, I went down to the water to talk to Ashley, and I saw him swimming around and he looked like he was having fun and in a good mood, so I thought that this would go well." he told her. "And when I talked to him, he told me we would probably be leaving town at some point, but then I said that maybe we could stay and visit you more, but then he said that too many people know about us being thieves and we needed to go." he went on. "So then I replied with maybe we could actually live here and be with someone that cares about us and can take care of us, which was when he got really angry, saying that we've been surviving this far already, we can keep doing it." he continued.

"And that's when I said that we were slowly withering away, and I was scared how long we would last, and then he yelled at me, saying that if I loved you so much over him, then I should just stay here and he'll continue proving that he doesn't need anyone, but then I responded that because we're family we need to stick together and that it was okay for us to rely on the kindness of others sometimes, but that seemed to make him even angrier, and he started to move towards me like he was going to hit me, but he then slipped on something and fell into the water." he told her further.

"After a few seconds, he floated to the surface of the water, face down, and the water around him was turning red, so I panicked and jumped in, pulled him out of the water and brought him back here." he finished.

As he spoke, his words were getting quicker and quicker, his voice was quavering more and more, and by the end, he sounded like he was ready to burst into tears.

"I don't want to lose him." he said. "I don't want the last thing we talked about to have been an argument..."

"...you're right." Lindsay responded.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." he then repeated, though his tone was now a little more confident and assertive. "I AM going to talk to him, and see if I can't change his mind." he declared. "It's high time I made my opinion and wants known to him." he then said.

"I know he's just looking out for me, he always has... but maybe... maybe this time... he DOESN'T know what's best for us." he finished, before looking right at her once again.

"I'll be back after talking with him." he told her, before excusing himself and leaving to head for where Ashley had gone.

And he was gone for... a bit. A half-hour, at least. Which meant that the talk was probably going on for a while, and odds were good that they were having an argument about staying or going.

However, Anya really didn't have much more time to ponder it, as she heard Lindsay's voice calling out to her.

"Miss Anya! Help! Help, Miss Anya!" he yelled. This, obviously, immediately got her attention, and she rushed to the back door to see a rather frightening sight.

Lindsay, soaking wet, was carrying his naked, unconscious, and also soaking wet brother on his back... but Ashley was bleeding from his head. At a rather alarming rate.

She could tell that Lindsay genuinely felt bad about this. He didn't want them to be rude, especially to a person that was seemingly just being nice to them. And he didn't want to leave, either. She could tell that the thought of them having a home. A real home. Somewhere safe and warm, that they could always be at, and feel safe from the elements and the outside world... it was heaven for him.

But Ashley had just shut that down right away. Seemingly without a second thought.

It had seemed like Ashley had adapted to the mindset of a street urchin a little TOO much. To the point where it was a detriment to himself and Lindsay. And Lindsay was clearly in a mental battle between his instinct to survive... and his loyalty to his brother.

"...you're so nice, Miss Anya." he said, his voice quavering a little.

"One of the nicest adults I've ever met..."

Ashley just nodded in response, and left without saying another word, while Lindsay seemed to be just as stunned as Anya was. He was silent for about 5 seconds, before looking at her.

"...I'm sorry." he apologised.

"He doesn't mean to be rude." he told her. "He... he just has trouble trusting people." he said. "He's not used to people just... being nice to us like this." he went on.

"...for what it's worth, I was about to ask if it was truly all right if we stayed." he then admitted.

"But... but I don't want to be separated from my brother..."

Lindsay looked to be about to say something, but Ash then spoke up.

"Oh, we won't be inconveniencing you any more." he stated, as Lindsay looked at him, almost shocked. He started to say something more, but Ash quickly interjected and interrupted. "We'll leave after I clean myself up as well." he said further.

He then pushed away from the table, and looked at Anya.

"I... hm. I suppose I should get towels as well." he then said.

"Or I can just use the ones that Lindsay did." he added.

The boys paused for a moment, looking at each other.

"Can you... define 'substantial'?" Lindsay asked.

"I mean, the meal filled your bellies and left you feeling satisfied, satiating your hunger completely." Anya responded. "A meal that left you feeling full and happy." she added.

"....3 weeks ago?" Ash then responded.

"Yeah, something like that." he said. 'We found a pile of stale bread behind a baker's, and we ate it all until we were full. Didn't even have much green on it!" he stated proudly.

The one she posed the question to nodded in response.

"Yeah." he said. "I will." he told her.

With that, the three then sat at the table, and started to eat... though the woman noticed that the boys were practically inhaling the food, as well as the biscuits that she put with the pottage. They eagerly finished their first bowls, and went for seconds, before the blonde stopped. And thought about something.

"Ah. My name is Lindsay." he introduced himself.

The redhead then paused, realising that they had not given their names, before looking at the woman.

"And I'm Ashley." he said, telling her his own name.

The two then went back to filling their bowls once more.

He nodded in response.

"Yeah, sure." he responded. He then made his way out the back door, and the woman saw his rodent-like features disappear with the glamour reinstating itself. He walked forward, rather briskly, until he saw the lake, with his brother still in it.

"Hey." he said. "Time to eat. Food's ready and it smells amazing." he told him further.

"Oh! Okay then." the blonde responded, climbing out of the water and drying himself off. As he did so, his brother saw JUST how much better he looked, now that he wasn't filthy-dirty, and he figured he'd do the same later.

The one that had been bathing changed into his clothes, and the two made their way back towards the home, stepping through the back door again, with the blonde sniffing the air enthusiastically.

"It smells SO good in here..." he said dreamily.

The boy accepted the towels and nodded in response.

"Okay then." he said. With that, he made his way to the back door that the place had, and stepped outside. As his brother watched him do so, he saw the plumage and markings disappear, as the glamour disguise activated once more.

"...wow..." he mumbled.

He then looked at the woman, and seemed a little awkward now.

"I..." he stammered.

"This... this is a really nice place." he told her.

"Seems like it would be very comfortable and warm and such." he added.

The redhead was the one to speak up first.

"I've done some stuff in... uh... well, I've prepared food." he told her. "I mean... well, I've never really been in a kitchen before." he admitted. "But... I've separated bad stuff from good parts of food on decently clean surfaces, so... if that counts, then, yeah. I have." he said further.

"...I'm going to go to the pond." the blonde told them.

"I feel kinda... gross and itchy." he said.

Normally that would be cause for concern, as it could mean there were parasites on his skin, but... from what the woman could tell, the boy's bodies were very inhospitable to external parasites. Plus, he was filthy. Much like his brother. And odds are all the dirt and grime that covered him was causing him to itch like he was.

"Yeah." the redhead then said.

"I might do the same in a bit." he commented.

The two of them paused for a moment as they saw her fangs and eyes... and then they looked at each other, when she commented about them being a bird and a mouse, respectively. The redhead had roundish rodent-like ears showing from underneath his hair, a tail extending from his lower back, and his front teeth were a little more pronounced that would be normal. The blonde, on the other hand, seemed to have small bits of subtle plumage around his collarbone, as well as a very prominent scar that almost looked like a massive burn, that extended from his back, and onto the side of his face and neck.

They then looked back towards her as she made her comment about the spiders... and saw that the place was, indeed, swarming with various different shapes, sizes, and breeds of spider. However, the two didn't seem to showcase any fear of them, and the arachnids seemed to be giving them a wide berth.

"I... uh..." the redhead muttered, as Lindsay stepped up to answer.

"Whatever we can get our hands on." he told her. "It doesn't matter, if we find it, we eat it." he went on, which resulted in her turning around and looking at them with an expression that said 'try again'.

"...although we really DO like pottage with beef in it." he clarified.

The boys were still a little stunned by the woman's generosity towards them. They weren't used to it, to understate it. They were used to shopkeeps and other adults being hostile and aggressive to them, and at the best, ambivalent and apathetic to them. But this? This woman was actively trying to help them. INSISTING that she help them. And it was confusing to them just how much it seemed like she wouldn't hear anything to the contrary.

The blonde was a little optimistic about this, thinking that they'd perhaps found a genuinely nice person in the world, while the redhead was sure that there was an ulterior motive to this. There HAD to be. Nobody did something like this for nothing, did they? Surely there would be a condition sprung on them at the last minute, and they'd be trapped in some sort of arrangement. Because it was clear this woman was not your average person. She said she had secrets... and all the spiders... there was something about her.

They had no idea what they were getting into, but they were at a point in their lives where they were at rock bottom. Whether this was something that was for the better, or for the worse, it was at least SOME sort of movement in their lives.

It didn't take too long before they were in the outskirts of the village. And they stopped at a place that... didn't look too bad. It was definitely a place of modest means, but it looked like it was VERY well-maintained. Seemed like the perfect bridge between the main part of the village and the outskirts of it... and it looked like it would be a REALLY cozy place.

But for the boys... it may as well have been a palace.

And the woman could see the awe in their eyes when she was clearly leading them towards it, with intent to go inside.