Souvenirs From Dead Worlds

Sam landed the shuttle a good distance away from the city walls, allowing them a nice long stroll back. Sam felt calm and serene as they made their way through the sparse woods. He knew it couldn't last, of course; assignments, as a rule, did not end calmly. Getting laid, having a swim in a beautiful river, and just having Kias along with him for company had him feeling more relaxed than he could remember being in a long time, though.

It was nearing dinner time by the time they got back and they'd only had a small lunch, but Kias was exhausted and this time sleep won out. They'd only gone upstairs for a moment so that they could put the oil away and Sam could change his shoes before they ate. By the time he'd removed his shoes, found his other pair, and put them on, he'd turned around to find Kias curled up on the bed, asleep.

Sam chuckled and smiled fondly at Kias' sleeping form. In sleep, he looked as vulnerable as he had when they’d first met. Just a boy on the verge of manhood.

Sam gently tugged Kias’ shoes off, careful not to wake him. Such physical exertion wasn't something Kias was used to, Sam had to remind himself. Sam really ought to have made a greater effort to get Kias in shape before taking him on this assignment, but they really hadn't had much preparation time. At least he wasn't so skinny that hugging him meant risking getting stabbed by his unreasonably sharp and insufficiently padded bones anymore.

Kias would be hungry when he woke up, though, and Sam was already plenty hungry right then, so he decided to go down and get some food and bring it back up. It would probably be a better idea anyway. Even if Kias woke up he would be tired, and it would be easier on him if he didn't have to go downstairs and get into his role again. Sam lowered the lantern's light and left the room.

There was nobody in the lounge area when Sam passed through, giving him hope that it was too early for Kalem to be down yet. His hope was dashed when he opened the door to the tavern and his eyes immediately fell on Kalem where he sat at a table not far from the door. Seba was with him.

Sam genuinely considered just turning around and heading back up to their room, perhaps taking a nap with Kias and trying again later. But that would have been cowardly, and besides, Seba had already spotted him. Seba watched impassively as Sam lingered in the doorway until finally Sam let out a long sigh and headed into the tavern.

Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Sam entered the tavern, hoping he wouldn't be noticed. Last he'd seen, Kalem had had his chair turned to speak with a man at a nearby table. It was too much to hope for, though. He was a few steps away from the bar when he heard Kalem's voice. "Samuel!"

Sam paused in his approach to the bar and grit his teeth before forcing a polite smile onto his face and turning around. "Kalem."

"Sit with me a while?" Kalem was clearly less inebriated than he'd been the previous night, probably because it was still quite early, but Sam suspected it wouldn't make him much less of an asshole.

Sam considered declining, and likely would have if he wasn't still interested in using the guy's servant as a guide. "For a while. I have to bring Kias his dinner soon."

Kalem laughed, gesturing for Sam to sit next to him. "Shouldn't he be the one fetching you food?"

"He's quite tired," Sam said simply, claiming the seat.

Kalem made a soft hum of acknowledgement. "And how was my boy today? Did he do well?"

"Yes. He's a very bright boy. You should be proud."

Kalem chuckled and reached across the table to give Seba an affectionate pat on the cheek. "He is that. Above being smart enough not to cross me, though, his intelligence does not serve me."

"That's a shame." Sam stole one of the bread rolls off their table and bit into it. How long was long enough to be polite, but not so long that Kalem would think they were on their way towards friendship?

"Will you have use for him again?" Kalem inquired.

"If you don't mind, I could use his help tomorrow."

"Certainly." Kalem gave Sam a broad smile. "Shall I make sure he's available to you immediately after breakfast?"

Sam affirmed that yes, after breakfast was a good time, and then managed to excuse himself and get his and Kias' food without further incident. Sam was surprised that Kalem hadn't attempted to invite himself along to any of their activities seeing as he was clearly eager to make friends with Sam.

Sam gave Seba a sad smile and a pat on the back as he walked past. He was pretty sure Seba returned his smile, just for a moment, but then Kalem glanced over and Seba’s mask of indifference fell back into place.

#

A click-thump sound stirred Kias' mind into slow consciousness, and he automatically feigned sleep while he tried to figure the situation out. Kias didn't remember falling asleep. He didn't remember where he was. He wanted to open his eyes and find out, but he didn't want whoever was in the room with him to know he was awake. The guy didn't sound huge, but he was certainly too big to be one of the other boys.

The bed Kias lay in definitely wasn't his own. His own bed was lumpy and had scratchy covers and smelled bad. This bed was evenly cushioned and had soft, clean covers. But... there wasn't anywhere in the house like that. Even the warden's bed was nowhere near this nice.

Well, Kias wasn't getting anywhere faking sleep and trying to think things out. Whatever the situation was, he would have to deal with it eventually. Kias gathered his courage and opened his eyes as he pushed himself up.

There was a moment of blinding confusion and then sudden, complete recollection. Of course he was in their room at the inn. Of course the man in front of him was Sam. Of course.

Sam had given Kias a smile when he sat up, but it was slowly fading now, replaced with a look of concern. "You okay?"

Kias realised that his chest ached, and then a moment later that it ached because he was heaving in rapid breaths.

Sam put the tray he was carrying down on the small table in the corner of the room and approached the bed. "Bad dream?"

Kias did his best to slow his breathing and calm the racing of his heart. "...Yeah."

Sam returned to the tray and poured Kias a cup of water before heading for the bed again. He handed the cup to Kias, making sure Kias had a firm grip on it before letting go. Barely contained and completely irrational panic fought against the idea of swallowing anything just then, but Kias forced himself to drink the water. Afterwards, he felt a little better. Sam sat down next to Kias on the bed and then gently directed him to lean back against his chest.

"You fell asleep up here," Sam said, weaving soothing fingers through Kias' hair. "We came up to put the oil away before dinner, and you lay down and went to sleep. We've been out all day buying souvenirs and swimming in rivers and partaking in other exhausting activities, so you were very tired. I decided to let you sleep, and went down and got dinner for us."

Sam's voice grounded Kias, firmly reminding him what was here and now and what was in the past, dead. Kias made a small sound in the back of his throat and pressed his face against Sam's hand. He felt ashamed for reacting the way he had and scared by just how far reality had escaped him.

He wanted to apologise to Sam for behaving so pathetically, but he was worried that would just make himself look even weaker. Talking to Kias gently all the while, Sam went back over to the table and got the tray of food. What disgusted Kias most was that the gentle treatment Sam was giving him was actually making him feel better.

Sam broke off a piece of bread and a piece of cheese and handed them to Kias. "I spoke to Kalem. He said we can borrow Seba again tomorrow."

Kias finished chewing his food. "What's the catch?"

Sam picked up a grape and held it out for Kias to eat from his fingers, smiling when Kias complied. "No apparent catch."

"There's always a catch."

"Yes, I know." Sam popped a grape into his own mouth, chewed, swallowed. "And I prefer the overt ones. But you get what you get."

Kias gave a hum of acknowledgement around the piece of meat he was eating. Though he didn't trust Kalem's motivations for allowing it, he was glad Seba would be coming with them again. It was very sad that Seba would have to die soon, but Kias would be happy if they could at least minimise Seba's time with Kalem in the meantime. Kias suspected Sam's reasons for keeping Seba around were somewhat more pragmatic, but that was okay. One of them had to put practicalities above emotion.

After they were done eating, Sam instructed Kias to undress and tucked him into bed. Kias wanted Sam to come to bed with him, to snuggle down with him and keep him safe and warm. Instead, Sam kissed Kias on the forehead before retrieving his book and pen from inside his coat and taking the lamp to the table in the corner. "Goodnight, Kias."

"G'night Sam."

#

The next morning Sam woke to the feeling of lips pressing slow kisses to the side of his neck followed by the gentle nip of teeth. Sam reached out a hand and buried fingers in Kias' long, wavy hair.

"Good morning," Kias mumbled against Sam's neck.

Sam stroked his fingers through Kias' hair and then out along Kias' smooth, naked back. "Very good morning."

Kias squirmed under Sam’s touch and bit down on Sam's neck, then licked the spot he'd bitten. The ache left behind wasn’t quite painful and went straight to Sam’s dick.

"I ate the leftover food from last night. There wasn't much of it." Kias nipped at Sam's neck again.

"Ah." Sam unconsciously tipped his head to give Kias better access. "And if I don't feed you soon, I'll be for breakfast?"

"Uh huh,” Kias said, his breath tickling Sam’s ear as he tasted its lobe.

Sam wasn't sure he'd mind that so much, but he hauled himself up anyway, letting out a groan as he stretched his arms out.

"You're not going to make us bathe again, are you?" Kias asked after Sam had reluctantly shoved him off and started to get out of bed.

"It's been less than a day and we've hardly done anything but sleep during that time," Sam pointed out as he stood and retrieved his scattered clothing from the floor. "I'm not quite that excessive."

"If you say so," Kias said as he pulled on the shirt Sam tossed him and began doing up the buttons. "If we were on your world right now, I bet you would have."

Sam pulled his pants on. "Maybe." Sam glanced around the room before locating his shirt, which had somehow ended up under the table. "But I can take a shower in ten minutes there, and I can do it without the risk of underage boys walking in while I do it."

Kias snickered as he tied the string on his pants. "I don't know how he respects you at all after that display in the baths. If you can't even look someone in the eye when they're naked, you shouldn't get to hold any authority over them."

Sam lobbed one of Kias' shoes at him, the light leather acting as a rather ineffective tool for violence as it bounced harmlessly off of Kias' chest. "I didn't want him to think I was checking him out."

Kias sat down on the bed to pull his shoes on. "In future, it might be better to just keep your eyes on his face. If you act like there's something really wrong with even glancing in his direction when he's naked, he's going to wonder what it is. Your real reasons aren't something he's likely to decipher."

Sam slapped Kias on the back on the head on his way to the door. "Stop being so wise."

"Feel free to take over any time."

Sam opened his mouth to respond, then slowly closed it again when he opened the door to find Seba waiting outside. Seba was sitting alone in the hallway, back against the wall across from the door to Sam and Kias' room. His expression was unreadable and he looked tired, but he appeared to be dressed and ready to go. Sam wondered just how long Seba had been there.

"You're not terribly good at this 'after breakfast' thing, are you?" Sam asked, because being in character and annoyed was easier than just being sad for the kid.

Chewing his lip anxiously, Seba stood. "I’ll wait outside the inn if you prefer."

Sam let out another sigh, long and tired. "Have you eaten yet?"

Shaking his head, Seba murmured, "No."

Sam forced a smile. "I suppose you had best eat with us, then. We have a busy day ahead of us and I won't have you slowing us down because you haven't eaten."

Seba nodded quickly, biting back a smile that threatened to curve his lips. Sam was pretty sure Seba saw right through his act.

#

At Sam's request Seba was showing them around religious landmarks, something he seemed to know a lot about. Not that Kias understood a word Seba was saying, but he was talking to Sam a lot and pointing at things, so that was the sense of things Kias got.

Kias, on the other hand, was left to figure things out based on what he could see for himself.

Based on the number of uniquely decorated shrines, it looked like these people only worshipped a small number of deities, at least at this location. Kias counted eight. Where Kias was from, they'd had far more; more than Kias could name, and likely more than he even knew about. His mother had been a seamstress and had made food sacrifices to a goddess who watched over those of her profession. In the end, his mother's seamstress goddess hadn't watched over her very well at all.

Around here coins were left out in dishes in front of the shrines, which Kias surmised was either as a sacrifice to the deities or as donations for upkeep of the shrines. Whatever the reason, Kias couldn't figure out how they kept people from stealing the money. Kias found himself tempted to take it even though he had no need of it. He'd grown up as a thief by necessity, and seeing money left unguarded made his palms itch.

Perhaps it was simply that people respected or feared deities here. Kias had never been devout himself, but he’d known others who had been. The closest Kias had ever come to being religious was when the priest at the temple for the god of the destitute started giving out food to the homeless kids. For a while, Kias even would have said that was his god, though he supposed if at any point the food had stopped coming, he would have too.

It all ended rather abruptly when some men had come offering jobs to the homeless kids. Kias had said no. Kias never did find out if the priest had invited those men into the temple. He hoped not. He'd liked the old priest. The priest had been exactly the kind of man who would think those men had really come to help Kias and the other kids as they’d claimed. It had likely not been long after that that the priest had run out of people to feed. Any homeless people left on the streets were too deep in hiding to enter the temple.

So Kias was tempted to steal the money, but didn't.

#

Sam spun the tiny dial on his ring to the right angle and pressed in two of the buttons disguised as jewels that ran along the outside of the far larger central jewel. The underside of the gaudy ring sent a slight fizzle of electricity through Sam's finger, indicating it was on the right setting. Now Sam could use it to discreetly take pictures. He would just look like he was playing with his ring.

The craftsmanship on the statues and carvings which made up the shrines were really quite spectacular, and someone had gone to the effort of cultivating flowers to grow around the two shrines which sat outside. Those two, Seba had informed him, were the god of flora and the goddess of the earth. There were some pretty heavy fertilisation concepts going on there. According to Seba, religious art for those two was some of the most pornographic stuff he'd ever seen.

"Do you worship any deities?" Sam asked Seba while they looked at a shrine decorated with a rather savage looking lion's head. Did they even have lions around here?

"Not any of these," Seba said. "I'm not from here. My people don't worship deities so much as we do elements. And we don't really worship... we just respect."

Sam nodded slowly. He'd have to remember to write that down later. Wherever Seba was from wasn't the society Sam was studying, but there was no reason he couldn't put it in his report anyway.

"May I have another sentence, please?" Seba asked after a pause.

Sam discreetly took a picture of Seba looking all politely eager, then instantly regretted it. He'd have to sort through those and label them later. Later, when Seba would be dead. "Hmm, I don't know. Can you remember the last one I taught you?"

"How are you? I am good, thank you," Seba replied in Sam's language without hesitation, as Sam had known he would. His recall when it came to languages was phenomenal.

"Good." Sam snuck a picture of a tapestry on one of the walls. "But before I give you any more language lessons, perhaps you'd like to tell me what you told Kalem that's made him so very willing to let me borrow you without question or price."

If Sam hadn't been watching Seba carefully, he would have missed the subtle tensing of his shoulders and the way everything about him became stiffer, more restrained. Yes, Sam was right. There was something Seba had neglected to tell him.

Seba wasn't meeting Sam's eyes, and his lips twisted together as though he was balancing up his options. Eventually he shrugged, a surrender. "I told him you might be interested in buying me. Not that you would, just... you might. So if you don't, well, there were never any guarantees."

"If I don't?" Sam asked. "I think we can be pretty damn well certain I will not."

Kias had appeared beside Sam, a concerned frown on his face as he looked between him and Seba. Sam cooled his annoyance enough to give him a reassuring smile.

"Well, no, I didn't think you would... probably." Seba was watching his fingers as they fiddled with the cuff of his shirt. "I could be useful to you, though. You said you travel quite a bit and I'm very good with languages."

"I'm sorry," Sam said, and he really, really was. "If it were up to me, I probably would take you with me. My father was rather displeased when I brought Kias home, though, and if I came back with someone else... I'd never be allowed off on my own again."

Sam was rather surprised by how honest he was being, even if he was substituting a few facts and making it sound a bit weird. It was essentially the truth.

"Oh," Seba said carefully.

"How much longer are you with Kalem for? These arrangements don't last forever."

Seba sighed. "It's supposed to be until I'm sixteen, and then he is supposed to give me some money and find me somewhere to stay. But... he won't."

"Why won't he?" Sam asked. He really wasn't too sure if there were actual laws about these things, or if it was merely custom.

"He won't be able to afford it." Seba went and sat on a low stone bench next to one of the shrines. "He has only what's left over from his inheritance right now, and he's fast drinking his way through that. I'll sooner be turned into a source of income than receive any of his money."

Sam took a moment to process what Seba was telling him. "...Ah." Of course, although the thought of Kalem using Seba to make money was a terrible one, it would likely not come to pass. Or, if it did, not for very long. Because of death related reasons. Which really, really was not better, but it was something Sam couldn't do a thing about. Well, unless he just took Seba with them, but that wasn't going to happen. Not again.

"I'll make sure he doesn't do that," Sam told Seba instead. "If he looks to be planning to, you tell me about it and I'll take care of it, okay?"

Sam felt like a dick as Seba nodded gratefully. Yeah, what a great guy he was, shielding some kid from harm on an extremely temporary basis until he was slaughtered horribly by drones. It was a lot harder to feel grateful towards Kias for teaching him how to connect with all kinds of people when this was the result.

#

After they'd finished exploring the religious side of this society and gotten lunch, Sam had taken them back to the inn, citing a need for a break before continuing the rest of their day.

He'd seemed rather sad, Kias thought, since having a discussion with Seba, though Sam hadn't yet told Kias what it had been about. Kias could think of plenty of sad things Seba could have told Sam to get him down, though. Sam wasn't immune to sad things, he was just very good at avoiding them.

They were on the bed, fully clothed, with Sam lying on his back and Kias flopped half on top of him. Kias nipped at Sam's ear, eliciting a small sound from him, but otherwise no response. So he tried licking instead.

"Hey!" Sam said, shoving at Kias' shoulder with one hand, but there was amusement in his voice. Kias sucked the lobe of Sam's ear into his mouth, wet and slobbery.

Sam laughed and squirmed away, shoving Kias away more firmly. Kias pushed back, struggling against Sam to get Sam pinned back down, at his mercy. But Sam was bigger than him and stronger than him and it only took a moment for Sam to roll them over, reversing their positions and pinning Kias under himself.

Hands moved to Kias' wrists, pinning them down loosely, the weight of the body above Kias pushing him down into the mattress. No. Kias froze, an instinct he'd learnt for self preservation, and clamped his eyes shut. Stay still. No. Stay quiet, don't fight. No, no... Everything smelt of filth and Kias knew if he opened his eyes, he'd see the wrinkly jowls of the blacksmith from down the street who liked Kias so much. The blacksmith always smelt of smoke and sweat.

Kias kept telling himself not to move, but the moment the blacksmith shifted, giving Kias the space he needed to shove him off, Kias took his opportunity.

But off wasn't enough. He was still bigger than Kias and still much too close. Kias wanted him to stay off. Kias wanted the man away from him. He lashed out.

Kias could fight very effectively when he wanted to, even now when he hadn't had much exercise in so long. When panicked, his fighting style reverted to something similar to that of a cat, all teeth and nails with a dash of fists, elbows, and knees for taste. It ended abruptly when the man toppled off the side of the bed, onto the floor.

The physical distance between them was enough to give Kias a moment to think. At first, the only thoughts that came to mind were of how deep the shit he was presently in was. He hadn't fought back in almost two years, and there were some fairly damn good reasons for that. But as he slowly pushed past those thoughts other thoughts began to creep in as well. Things weren't quite right. One of the buttons had come off of the shirt Kias was wearing in the struggle, and Kias stared down at it. This... wasn't his shirt. And then it was.

There was a flood of relief when Kias remembered where he was, who he was with. When he heard Sam groan from where he lay on the floor, dread rushed back to Kias so fast it nearly gave him vertigo. He felt like he was going to be sick.

Sam pushed himself up and hesitantly peered over the edge of the bed. "Kias?" There were scratch marks on his neck from Kias' fingernails, too superficial to cause bleeding but raising pink lines across Sam's skin. "You okay?"

After giving Sam a quick glance over to reassure himself that he hadn't injured him badly, Kias rolled over, bringing the blanket with him as he did and wrapping himself in it. His protective blanket cocoon shouldn't have been comforting. It should have just reminded him of all the times he'd wrapped himself up snugly to feel safe in the past. Somehow, though, it still helped.

"Kias," Sam said again, just as carefully, and Kias felt the edge of the bed dip behind him.

Kias curled tighter in on himself. He'd attacked Sam. Sam had made one little misstep, something that would have been perfectly normal for anyone else, and Kias had completely lost control. "Leave me alone."

There were several long moments of silence, and then, "Okay." Kias felt the bed shift again as Sam moved off of it. There were another few moments where Sam didn't move, just stood next to the bed. Kias had his back to Sam and his eyes squeezed shut, so he didn't know what Sam was up to.

"I'm sorry," Sam said eventually. Kias heard Sam's footsteps as he headed for the door, heard the door open, heard the door shut again. After that, he was alone in the room.

It only took Kias a couple of minutes to calm down enough that he wanted comfort rather than space, and exactly that amount of time to regret telling Sam to leave him alone. Of course Sam had listened. Sam was far better at listening to what he was being told directly than at decoding social nuance.

Slowly Kias unwrapped himself from the blankets, then sat up and examined his clothes. They were mostly intact except for the button that'd been torn off of his shirt. It was one of the middle ones, so it left an awkward gap that gaped open just enough to show a small patch of skin. They'd have to get it mended. If Kias could get hold of a needle and thread, he could even do it himself.

Kias wanted Sam. Kias was really embarrassed about what had happened, and he felt guilty for hurting Sam, and talking about what had happened would be really, really awkward. But... he wanted Sam. Kias still felt unsettled, unstable, and vulnerable, but he was sure once he had Sam with him to balance him out and make him feel safe, he'd be just fine.

It was likely Sam was just downstairs trying to give him some space, Kias decided. There was no reason for him to be anywhere else. As much as Kias really didn't feel like being around anyone but Sam at that moment, it looked like if he wanted Sam he was going to have to go and get him.

There wasn't much activity in the inn at this time of day. It was too late for lunch but too early for anyone to be coming home to settle in for the evening, so Kias managed to avoid encountering anyone as he headed downstairs in search of Sam. As he approached the couches in the lounge area, a head poked over the back of the couch facing away from Kias.

"Hello," Seba said in Kias' language, resting his crossed arms on the back of the couch. He had a book in one hand and two of his fingers wedged between the pages to save his place.

"Hello," Kias replied. He'd taught Seba quite a few words, but he'd only been able to teach words for what he could point to, which denied him the vast majority of actual useful language. Sam had taught Seba a few more functional words in Kias' language, though, and Kias thought he could probably get across what he needed to in this situation. "Where is Sam?"

Seba's face immediately brightened in understanding. "He—" Seba stopped and frowned, clearly lacking the words he needed to communicate what he needed to. Eventually, Seba just made a sound of annoyance and pointed towards the door leading out into the town.

Sam had left? He'd left the inn without Kias? Without even telling Kias where he was going? Kias schooled his face into a neutral expression, but his heart was thundering inside his chest. They knew that at some point in the not too distant future those metal monsters that Sam called 'drones' would be coming here to kill all human life and that they would be given very little warning before it happened. And if Sam wasn't with him when that occurred, what then? They had no way to find each other and Kias had no way to defend himself against those things. Kias wasn't sure if he was more angry or scared.

"Are you okay?" Seba asked, drawing Kias' attention. Another phrase Sam must have taught him.

Of all the responses Kias could give to that question, 'yes' and 'no' were likely to be the only ones Seba would actually comprehend. The trouble was, neither really matched his current state. Was he okay? Well, he was certainly holding it together. He'd be all right. Probably, anyway, assuming nothing happened before Sam came back and Kias strangled him. But was he completely fine? No, not at all. So Kias stayed silent.

Seba frowned and climbed off the couch, then walked slowly around it to meet Kias. Seba glanced down at where Kias was fiddling with the gap in his shirt left by the missing button, and his frown deepened. "Come on," Seba said, lightly taking Kias' arm and urging him towards the stairs.

Those words Kias was reasonably sure Seba had learnt from listening to Sam rather than from a direct and intentional language lesson. Just that day Sam had told Kias to 'come on' within earshot of Seba when Kias had been lagging behind. Kias wasn't sure how Seba had been able to distinguish the difference in meaning between it and 'hurry up', which Sam had also used. It was quite possibly just luck. Kias followed Seba up the stairs.

After they reached the top of the stairs, Seba led Kias along the corridor to Sam and Kias' room before drawing back and indicating for Kias to go in ahead of him. Seba followed afterwards and shut the door.

Kias looked Seba over critically, trying to figure out what the boy was up to, but all he saw on Seba's face was gentle concern. With a bit of encouragement, Seba got Kias to sit on the bed before sitting down next to him.

Seba placed a comforting hand on Kias' shoulder and squeezed gently. "Are you okay?" he asked again.

"Yes," Kias responded after a moment of hesitation. It was starting to feel more true.

Seba smiled, but it was more kind than happy. "Good."

Kias made a sound of agreement and stared down at his toes. It was stupid because there was no way Seba could actually protect him from anything he'd be unable to protect himself from, but having Seba with him did make him feel safer. Just because he wasn't alone.

"Kias," Seba said, drawing Kias' attention and his gaze. Seba tapped at one of the buttons that ran down the centre of his own shirt. It took Kias several confused moments to figure out what Seba wanted.

"Button," Kias finally said, then repeated it again more slowly. "Button."

Seba nodded and gave him a grateful smile. "Where is your button, Kias?"

Kias couldn't help but give Seba an impressed smile for the sentence he'd managed to construct. It may have only been a simple sentence, but Seba had only been learning for a couple of days. Kias retrieved the button from where he'd left in on top of the small, low table next to the bed and handed it to Seba.

"Thank you," Seba said, and stood. He looked contemplative for several moments, obviously unable to come up with the words he needed. Eventually, he held his palm out towards Kias in an obvious 'stop' gesture and said, "No come on."

Kias tried to keep a straight face for a brave couple of seconds, then burst out laughing. Seba, when Kias glanced at him between peels of laughter, looked embarrassed, but he was smiling too.

"Stay here," Kias told Seba once he'd managed to calm his laughter. Seba quirked his head to the side questioningly. Kias held his palm up to Seba as Seba had done to him a moment ago. "Stay here," Kias repeated.

A look of understanding passed over Seba's face and he smiled and nodded. "Stay here, please," he told Kias, and then he was leaving the room. He didn't bother shutting the door behind himself, so Kias was fairly sure he intended to come back.

A short while later, Seba returned with a small box in hand. He shut the door behind him and sat next to Kias on the bed again. He tapped Kias' arm. "Shirt."

Kias gave him a quizzical look, and Seba's brow wrinkled in concentration. "Give me shirt," Seba said, and then, after a couple of seconds of deep, lip chewing thought, said more confidently, "Give me your shirt, please."

Kias grinned at him and was too busy being proud of Seba's language advancement to think to ask why he was handing over his shirt. Not that Seba would have likely had the words to answer such a question anyway.

"Thank you," Seba said absent-mindedly, laying Kias' shirt out across his lap. He opened the little box, revealing small needles and tiny spools of fine thread. It was a sewing kit. Though Kias could sew, he got the impression that right then Seba would prefer to do it for him.

For a boy of fourteen, Seba was very graceful. His movements were restrained and careful and as he sewed the button back on his eyes and hands remained steady. He was nothing like Kias had been at his age. At his age, Kias had been a filthy homeless kid running around the streets swiping fruit from stalls. He hadn't been refined or controlled at all. Hell, he still wasn't. He doubted he ever would be. Kias wondered how much of Seba's behaviour was simply who he was and how much had been trained into him.

Seba made a happy, satisfied sound and handed the shirt back to Kias. He'd done a good job of it. The thread Seba had chosen matched closely enough with the original thread that Kias couldn't have picked which button had been sewn back on if he hadn’t known. Kias' mother had taught him the basics of sewing as a child, but he suspected Seba was more skilled than he was. That was okay. Kias wasn't terribly competitive about sewing.

"Thank you," Kias said as he slipped his shirt back on and started doing up the buttons again.

Seba smiled at him, broad and genuine. "You're welcome, Kias."