I need a drink!

[pinkroses]

Liam lowered his eyes to the bar when Arjan said it was his eyes that looked familiar, already knowing the answer before it was given. He glanced up again, not returning the grin he was given as he watched the pride in Arjan’s eyes. He hesitated for a moment before giving a small nod,

“Aye, she’s my sister…” he said, but then hesitated again before asking his question. “Is she alright?” he asked, not really sure if he wanted to know the answer. He had been fine just thinking she had abandoned him and was living happily somewhere, but Arjan’s description of her sounded much like the girl he had known. And she needed a healer. He hated that she had left him but she was still his sister, she had raised him like a mother and had been his best friend.

[Mayquiri]

"Last I checked she was." He replied, nodding slightly as he thought on Liam\'s worry.  Arjan should have known better then to act so excited.  After all, Mia had never mentioned any family.  He should have realized that the siblings were astranged.
 
Sighing faintly and finished off his cider, Arjan looked down at the food.  He should tell all he knew to the kid, from the sounds of things, Lee didn\'t know about Mia.
 
"She\'s pregnet.  I met her on the streets.  She was outside of the abortion place.  Filthy little thing, calls itself a \'clinic\'.  Anyway, I got her t\'come back t\'me shop.  We chatted for a while.  She had been liven with this man, didn\'t name him.  From what I know, he got her pregnet, then kicked her out because she wasn\'t \'convenient\' anymore.  Said she screwed her boss and it was his babe.  I think she was linev on the streets.  I offered t\'let her stay the night, but I musta scared her off, so I gave her a bit o\'soup and something to trade for a room.  I hope she\'s alright..."

[pinkroses]

His mouth dropped open slightly at the news that she was pregnant and his stomach turned over. She wouldn’t have done that, not willingly. She wouldn’t have wanted to live in sin like that, he knew her and everything she had been through. Mia would only have done that if she had no choice, or she had lied to Arjan about the father.

“How far ‘long w’s she?” Liam asked with a furious snap in his voice, leaning forwards towards Arjan, his hands balled into fists. “How long?” he repeated, raising his voice and ignoring the odd looks he was receiving from a few nearby customers. He knew more about life than Mia ever did, her experiences had made her want to shut it all out and not think, but they had made Liam thirst for knowledge. He knew that she could be pregnant for nine months, and if she was more than six months gone then their uncle was the father.

[Mayquiri]

Surprised at the fury from the small boy, Arjan sat back, not wanting to get hit again tonight.  "Not far kid.  Not far at all.  she was barely startin t\'show.  Calm down.  Yer gonna get us kicked out." He then said, raising his hands in front of him in an attempt to calm Lee down.
 
"By m\'guessin, she\'s mebbe two months along.  I didn\' get a good look a\'her belly though tell truth."

[pinkroses]

Two months. That was good… well, in a way. It wasn’t their uncle’s, but it meant that she’d found herself in the same situation she’d run away from and that wasn’t good at all. But Arjan was right, he didn’t want to get chucked out of another tavern tonight so Liam unclenched his fists and rubbed his sweaty palms on the knees of his grimy trousers, still scowling angrily. Two months. If she had any sense she’d get rid of it, but Liam was about to try to hunt her down to convince her too. In his opinion it was a good thing she was living on the streets, it meant she wasn’t still with the bastard who did this too her.

“She’ll b’ ok,” he murmured, looking down at the plate again, then quickly spooning another forkful of meat and potatoes into his mouth. He was angry at her and the whole situation, but there was nothing he could do to help her. Of course, knowing that didn’t stop him from wanting to know what was going on, but he’d quashed that curiosity so far and wasn’t going to go looking now.

[Mayquiri]

Arjan was about to take the kid\'s fork away when Lee calmed down, making the healer breathe a sigh of relief.  Likewise, the rest of the tavern went back to their business, content in the knowledge that the scene was over.
 
"I \'ope so." Arjan replied, sighing faintly as he too took another bite.  Looking over at Lee, the young man sighed again.  He didn\'t like seeing people so unhappy.  But he also didn\'t like knowing that this kid had to have a spectacular tale to tell, and no apparenbt will to tell it.  "Tell me about this girl, yer sister.  Mia." Arjan prodded gently, wanting to know as much as he could.  If Lee decided that Arjan was being to personal, he\'d simply say he\'d like a good tale for repayment for the dinner and patch job.

[pinkroses]

He looked up, eye narrowed as he gave Arjan a suspicious look, wondering why he wanted to know about his sister so much. “Y’d better not b’ getting’ no’ ideas,” he said in an aggressive tone, the threat sounding a little silly coming from a skinny young teen, but it perfectly matched the glint in his dark eyes. “She’s been through hell, so y’d best leave her be,” he added, spearing another piece of potato with the fork but not eating it. He’d managed to keep his voice low this time and avoided grabbing the attention of the other patrons. He didn’t want to go out of his way to find and help his sister, but if this man was a threat to her he wasn’t going to let him get away with being lecherous towards his sister.

[Mayquiri]

"Wha?" Arjan asked, confused at Lee\'s reaction.  Out of all the possible reactions to his question, Arjan didn\'t expect Lee to think that Arjan wanted Mia int he way.  "Y\'got it wrong kid." He replied, grinning, then laughing after working out Lee\'s upset.
 
"Nev\'r really been muchuva ladies man.  W\'m\'health an job, sex ain\'t exactly high on my mind." He then explained, sighing faintly.  Besides, even if it was on his mind, he knew no person, male or female, was really interested in him.  He was to small, to greasy, to poor, and to diseased-looking in his opinion. "I jus like t\'hear stories.  I was thinkin mebbe y\'could give me one o\'you an yer sister in exchange fer the food and cut."

[pinkroses]

His scowl only deepened when Arjan laughed and he cocked an eyebrow when the healer said that sex wasn’t high on his list of priorities. Well, that made a change to most of the people Liam had come across in his life. Even those who didn’t have the looks or personality to get a woman could always pay for it.

“Humph,” he mumbled, glancing down at the plate when he heard what the story was in exchange for. Well, it would be better to tell him now than have him coming after him later saying he owed him. And a story was a better price (from Liam’s point of view) than money for the food.

“Our parents died when I was jus’ a lil’ baby an’ we was sent t’ live w’ our uncle,” Liam started, speaking quietly and mainly keeping his eyes lowered although they did occasionally flicker up to watch Arjan for a reaction. “She had t’ raise m’ like I was hers, cos he didn’t care ‘bout us one bit. ‘Til she grew up a bit more that is, an’ then he started paying her attention. Fuckin’ bastard, he’d not feed us right, beat us both, treat us like slaves and her like his own private whore, ‘part from she didn’t get paid for it none and wasn’t willing.”

He pursed his lips slightly as he blinked quickly, staring at a burn mark on the bar counter then gave a sigh and ran a hand through his dark hair. “I tried t’ stop him, but he’d just hit m’ for it and carry right on. I couldn’t do nowt. She ran away… I guess ‘bout half a year ago she ran away an’ left m’ there. Said she didn’t have enough money t’ take m’ wiv ‘er, but she’d come an’ visit. An’ she did for a couple o’ months. An’ I haven’t seen ‘er since she stopped comin’.”

Liam fell silent then and dropped the fork next to the plate.

“Good enough story for y’?” he asked with a bitter tone, looking up at Arjan with a scowl on his face, although the anger was no longer directed at the healer. After all, it wasn\'t his fault, and Liam could easily have lied (although he didn\'t know how much Mia had told him) but there was no point in telling half a story.

[Mayquiri]

It certainly wasn\'t what Arjan had expected.  The young man suspected that Lee had some rough times, but then agaion, being a peasent, who didn\'t hit a rough patch every once in a while?  He didn\'t expect that the poor kid, along with his sister, had things that badly.
 
Frowning when Lee mentioned his uncle\'s use of Mia as a private whore, Arjan suddenly understood.  Now it made perfect sense why she seemed to frightened and nervous when he had offered her a place to stay, he felt bad for startling the young woman as badly as he did now that he knew why she was scared.
 
When the child finished, Arjan nodded and set his fork on the table.  "men like that\'re bastards.  They should b\'killed, but I\'m afeared that it\'d offend Talon t\'take their souls." He said, trying to make a small joke as he looked over at Lee, unable to help but want to help.  Even though he prayed to Talon, the small healer liked helping people.  He believed that any person he could save, Talon didn\'t wish dead at that time.  And considering Talon had to do with death, not how people lived their lives, Arjan enjoyed making peoples lives better.  It helped to make up for his own short-comings.  Licking his lips and runing one hand through his hair, Arjan sighed heavily.  He wanted to help out Lee, but considering his life, he was afraid that Lee would merely spurn any help.  Arjan suspected that Lee was the type to either spurn pity, or be suspicious of people to a fault.  Perhaps both.
 
"I might b\'able t\'hep yfind yer sister." He said a few moments later, seriousness stealing back into his face.  He wanted to let Lee know that if things got to bad at his uncle\'s house, Arjan\'d be willing to let Lee camp out at his shop.  He always liked company, but didn\'t dare.  "An are y\'livin with him now?  Or does\'e not letcha get proper clothes an food?"

[pinkroses]

Liam nodded in agreement when Arjan said that men like that deserved to die, even though the healer was joking, Liam wasn’t. He would be more than happy to get his uncle out of this world if he had the means. “No, I don’t want t’ find her,” he said quickly, probably a little too quickly, but he didn’t want to be with Mia right now. He was angry with her and didn’t want her to feel like she had to deal with him whilst she was going through whatever she was and he had enough trouble looking after himself without caring for her too.

“Na, I ran away, couple o’ months ago. Couldn’t stand it no longer,” he said, frowning slightly when he heard the pity in Arjan’s voice and not commenting on his obvious lack of proper food or good clothes. He didn’t want the healer to feel sorry for him, although maybe it would be wise to play the pity card to get more out of him. But his pride just wouldn’t let him do that so easily. “Been living on the streets, but it’s better than it was.”

[Mayquiri]

The kid spoke to quickly for Arjan\'s tastes, but he did say no.  As overbearing as a few people believed the healer to be, he usually did respect boundaries.  Thinking for a few moments, Arjan began to nibble on his lower lip, quickly biting off some of the chapped, loose skin there.  He knew many people found it disgusting, or disturbing, but licking and chjewing his lips in such a fashion was such a habit to the man he didn\'t even realize he did it anymore.

"Streets can b\'dificult." He murmered, nodding slightly.  Arjan knew he sounded pitying, but didn\'t know what to do about it really.  "I dun\'t know much \'bout family beatins, but street\'s is tough.  Y\'got a trade y\'workin on?  Or are y\'jus a beggar-theif?" He then asked, lowering his voice slightly so it wouldn\'t carry far enough for people to notice.

[pinkroses]

Liam made a small ‘humph’ noise when Arjan said living on the streets was hard, wondering how much the man next to him actually knew about it. He had his bag full of herbs and stuff, probably made good business with that, well enough to be able to afford cider and hot food anyway.

He lifted his eyes to look at Arjan with a glare, but he appreciated the fact that the man had lowered his voice slightly. He was either assuming that the boy stole or he had seen him earlier. Either way it wasn’t a good thing for people to hear.

“No trade, I jus’ do this an’ that, whatever I can t’ get some money,” he replied after a moment. Whether that ‘whatever’ was stealing, doing an odd job or bedding an older woman whose eye he’d caught, if it got him something he needed he’d do it.

“What ‘bout y’? Y’ sell those things?” he asked, nodding towards the bag of herbs Arjan had, wanting to get the attention off of himself. If he admitted outright to stealing Arjan could easily just alert the guard and have him arrested, or someone might overhear and deal with him, and Liam definitely didn’t want that. He was enjoying sitting in the warmth of the tavern, even though not all of the conversation was too his liking.

[Mayquiri]

Of course Arjan hadn\'t expected Lee to tell him outright.  After all, They were in a semi-crowded tavern and Arjan was a complete stranger.  "Dun\'t git t\'angry with me fer sayin it." He said gently, not wanting to anger the boy, "If yer quick an they don\'t see\'y, y\'can almost git away with anythin."

When the cnversation turned, Arjan looked down at his pouches and nodded.  "Aye, Not these uns though.  Most o\'these are fresh.  Good on their own, but I dun\'t sell \'em raw.  I grind em up, mix e with others, or dry em an make a tea." He explained contentedly, nodding happily, "Ifen y\'want, I might be able t\'teach ye a bit about herbs.  Stuff t\'help with cuts, or belly-aches."

[pinkroses]

Liam leant an elbow on the bar as he watched Arjan, a fairly passive and disinterested look on his face, but he was listening with curiosity and interest. It might be a good idea to try and learn something from this man while he had the chance, but no one gave something for nothing. He seriously doubted that Arjan would just give away that knowledge, it made no sense. That’s why there were so many uneducated people around here, schooling cost money.

“An’ what’ll y’ b’ wantin’ in return for teachin’?” he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly before a small smile slid across his lips, “I ain’t got no money, but there are lotsa other things I could pay y’ w’,” he said, his knees spreading as he spoke and he rested his hands on the stool between his legs, making it pretty clear what he was offering. After all, it wasn’t like he could get pregnant like his sister and if it got him something Lee didn’t care whether it was a male or a female he was dealing with.