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that same morning, evan woke up an hour or two after andie left the castle.
looking towards the direction andie would normally be at, he found that side of the bed empty. knowing andie, he didn't think much of it, but he still wanted to know where she was.
evan quickly got out of bed, searched the dresser, got dressed, and rushed out the room.
as he walked down the corridors, he found clay with his eyes glued to a piece of parchment.
"hey, josh!" evan greeted, causing the brunette to look up at the curly headed boy.
"good morning, evan. how was your rest?" josh asked, swirling up a conversation to distract him from reading the parchment.
"it was good — you?"
"well."
the conversation was slightly awkward; short responses, limited eye contact, it was the driest conversation they've had.
"oh, right! i've been meaning to ask, have you seen andie? she wasn't in our room this morning."
"i haven't seen her since yesterday, i would've thought she was with you..." josh responded, folding up the piece of parchment that was in his hand.
"maybe she's at the village? that's usually where she goes anyway."
"possibly, would you like me to join you in searching?"
evan nodded in response, "sure."
soon enough they found themselves in the village, andie crouched in front of a little boy to meet his gaze. they saw andie putting a small flower crown on the boy, who looked to be crying.
"hey, andie!" evan called out and walking over, josh in tow. the girl looked up at them, waving them over. "who's this?"
"his name's klaus, it's his birthday," andie explained and klaus hid behind andie almost immediately, only peeking around to steal glances at josh and evan. "he's eight."
"why's he wearing a dress?" josh asked. it was a genuine question, but klaus seemed to be unable to understand tones and what-not. his eyes began watering once more, before he started crying again and josh panicked.
andie hugged klaus, glaring at josh as she stood up straight. "klaus wanted to wear a dress so he's wearing a dress," she told him. klaus wiped his eyes, looking at evan.
"uh...happy birthday?" evan said, though it seemed more of a question than a statement, stepping slightly behind josh, leaning into his ear to whisper, "happy birthday. josh, tell him happy birthday. you made him cry."
josh kneeled to klaus' level, "i'm sorry for making you cry," he said sincerely. klaus seemed to be shooting daggers at him. "what!? i'm sorry, i said i was sorry!"
andie seemed to be very overprotective over klaus, they were like siblings.
"josh, don't get sassy with him."
josh felt terrible — even if she wasn't really mad at him, the idea of her being mad even temporarily really bothered him for some reason. the thought that andie could be angry with him scared him greatly.
andie seemed to ignore him, tending to whether klaus was okay or not.
"what are you two doing here anyway?" andie asked, kneeling next to the little boy, who seemed to be observing every single detail about the crown.
"i woke up and didn't see you on the bed, so i asked josh and he didn't know where you were either. so, we both assumed you were here and our assumptions were right." evan explained, looking down at his feet.
"right. did you guys need me or..?"
josh and evan shared a look, before turning towards andie, shaking their heads.
"okay, well — if you'll excuse me, klaus and i have something to attend to." andie spoke, gently taking the little boy's hand as she stood.
"wait — attend where?" evan asked, confused.
"i'm actually going to be teaching little klaus how to bake a cake in the village bakery! join us?" andie answered, lifting klaus from the ground to carry him.
"sure!" evan replied, giving klaus a soft smile.
andie whispered to the boy, "should we let prince — king josh join us in the bakery?"
klaus thought about it for a moment. he then shook his head jokingly, causing andie to giggle.
"what's so funny?" josh asked, clearly confused.
"well, according to klaus; you are not allowed to join us."
"ha. ha. very funny." josh chuckled, "can i make it up to you, klaus? it is your day after all."
klaus thought about it for a second, "give me money."
evan let out some inhuman noise mixed with a laugh, covering his mouth immediately while josh stared at him bewildered, "no. i'm not-"
klaus immediately began pouring, eyes brimming with tears. he stared up at josh, trying his best to make eye contact.
andie crossed her arms, holding back a laugh and josh immediately went to look at her reaction. "klaus-"
the little boy then covered his face and started making sniffling noises, even letting out a loud sob drawing attention from others in the street. evan scooted back to andie, letting josh deal with this on his own.
"klaus!" josh whispered. he reached under his coat and pulled out a pouch full of coins. "here, don't tell anybody though."
klaus' eyes widened has josh dropped a small handful of coins into klaus' hand. the little boy counted them about four times, looking up at the blond.
"holy shit," klaus said with wide eyes. andie and evan covered their mouths while josh seemed to jump back, surprised. klaus leaped from andie's arms towards josh, wrapping his arms around him tightly.
"klaus, i get you're excited, but if i hear any more words like those come out of your mouth again.." she began, attempting to discipline the boy, "we.. uh.."
evan leaned into andie's ear, whispering, "work on it.."
