wtf is a child doing here? | DOORS

extra.1 - watch where you're going.

(note: unrelated to the current storyline, this is only an additional piece i had stored away in my drafts.)

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I've told you before, Will, Seek rebukes sternly, his words firm but noticeably looser than they probably should be. The effect of disapproval and general disappointment is lifted the second he ruffles his hand through Will's tangled mess of locks affectionately and cradles him closer to his chest securely. You need to watch where you're going.

Meanwhile, Will simply shuffles a little agitatedly in the arms of the entity holding him like a ragdoll. The swollen area around his ankle makes him stiffen when a rattling sting runs up his leg like a persistent cramp.

"Damn—"

He doesn't get much else past his mouth before a hand is swiftly cupped around his lips and he's involuntarily silenced. At first, he looks up at Seek with visible confusion written over his facial features before his mind begins to catch up on what he'd just been about to blurt.

Seek is staring at him; a little taken aback, a little irritated, and a lot concerned. It's quite a peculiar look.

"M'Sorry," Will mumbles, shrinking back slightly. It's not that he's afraid that Seek might actually hurt him for his slip — well, maybe a small little tiny bit of him is a tad fearful — but it's more because he doesn't want to see any more disapproval on the entity's face.

Which is an interesting development in itself, but he pushes that fact to the back of his mind.

Seek hums dismissively as he continues down the hall, shifting his hold around Will's back and where his other hand is hooked around the crook of the kid's legs. Where did you learn that kind of language? He asks curiously, a tinge of passive resentment underlining his words.

Will doesn't feel like that resentment is directed at him, not with the way that Seek is holding him closer to his body more protectively now. "Around," he answers vaguely, not really wishing to disperse any personal relations to his past just yet. As an afterthought, he adds, "Mostly around teenagers or adults. My relatives don't really watch what they say in front of kids."

I see, Seek winced sourly. That's certainly not a good representation of how you should be properly behaving. I hope you have alternative suitable role models to look up to? I'm not quite well-versed in human relationships, but I'm given to know that there are other relatives besides the parents?

"Not really," the boy admitted meekly, his embarrassment at the prospect leaking through. "My dad left when I was a baby."

There's an awkward air lingering between them now, though Will can't tell if Seek can feel it too or if it's just him. Now he wishes he never spoke — he only said 'damn', that shouldn't count as a swear word, should it? There are many vulgar ones to be said other than that, he knows.

I see, Seek tells him suddenly. Will looks up to find the entity staring straight ahead, his legs carrying the both of them lightly through door after door. I'm sorry to hear that. It's funny how he's trying to avoid looking at Will, what with a great portion of his eye filling a great portion of the entirety of his face.

"It's okay," because it really is; he doesn't want this meaningless conversation about where he learnt to swear — if you can even call it that — to put this noticeable distance between them.

He could never quite understand how people could go on to say that blood relations are one of the strongest ties that connected people to their families. Stating that blood was thicker than water and all that hogwash.

Seek was made out of... well, something... and it wasn't out of blood. He wasn't even a human despite his humanoid form. That didn't mean that they couldn't get along as well as a family could. Or friends.

Or... whatever it is that they were.

Will looks up at Seek one more time and thinks; yeah, he could see them being friends.

Or a family. 

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